Doctoral defence of Ula Sickle

What tensions emerge when live, dance-based practice enters visual arts institutions? In 'the Grey Zone', Ula documents her research into the specificity of choreographic practice within exhibition spaces—situated between the black box and the white cube—in a grey zone that remains in constant dialectical evolution with contemporary culture.

The choreographic exhibition’s distinctive mediality—along with its permeability to online platforms and mobile communication—not only reflects but can actively engage with the mediated environments we inhabit today. Choreographic exhibitions alter the habitual positioning of artist, institution and spectator, opening up new possibilities for exhibition making, modes of audience reception, and potential for institutional critique.

Choreography and live performance navigates this grey zone —a space of highly individuated and distracted attention—in ways that render our contemporary condition perceptible. But can these mediated environments be momentarily transformed by choreographic performance—and if so, how?

Members of the Examination Committee: 

• Dr. Hans Maes (vice-dean research, LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven, chairman of the examination committee)
• Prof. dr. Rudi Laermans (supervisor, KU Leuven)
• Prof. dr. Steven Devleminck (co-supervisor, LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven)
• Prof. dr. Stéphane Symons (KU Leuven)
• Prof. dr. Veerle Van der Sluys (LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven)
• Prof. dr. Bojana Cvejić (Oslo National Academy of the Arts)
• Helena Kritis (WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels)

The doctoral defence takes place on Friday, June 13 2025 from 10.00 until 13.00 in the auditorium of LUCA School of Arts at the Faculty of Architecture. You are welcome for both the defence and the reception starting at 12.30. You can register for the defence until Thursday, June 12 by ordering a free ticket here.