Late Thursday with Slam Poetry and Open Mic

A guide takes you through the current exhibitions at S.M.A.K.

• Start at 19:00 at the reception desk.
• Duration: 1,5 hours.
• Places are limited, please register via reservation@smak.be (max. 4 registrations p.p.).
• Price: entree ticket + 6,5 euro per person (also children & Ghent citizens)

Four spoken word artists draw inspiration from works in the current exhibitions. Allow yourself to be carried away by the texts and rhymes of Anna Borodikhina, Petit Jean, Emerald Liu & Nata Mandaria. Discover more about the speakers at the bottom of this page.

• Start at 19:00
• Duration: 15' per speaker
• Price: included in your entree ticket

Want to share one of your own texts? In the entrance hall, we will close the evening together with Slam-T with an open mic. Participation is free and everyone is welcome. We do not work with a pre-announced line-up.

• Start at 20.30
• Participation is free, and so is listening

Anna Borodikhina is an Antwerp-based spoken word artist, slam poet, rapper (Anna Khina), theater maker, teacher, and host with Tatar-Russian-Ukrainian-Polish roots, born in Kazakhstan. For more than ten years, she has been bringing her words and music to stages across Belgium and the Netherlands. She has won several awards for her poetry and stage work, which center around themes such as activism, migration, queerness, and belonging

Emerald Liu is a Chinese-Belgian writer and poet whose work revolves around various forms of care, driven by a desire to establish an open dialogue between cultures. Her work has appeared in publications such as Hard//Hoofd, Deus Ex Machina, and nY magazine. She has previously performed at Kunstenfestival Watou, Dans! Dichter! Dans!, and the Nacht van de Geschiedenis. She is currently a poetry editor at Kluger Hans and Poëziekrant. In 2026, she served as one of the jury members for the Herman de Coninck Prize 2026.

Petit Jean is a Dutch-speaking slam poet and rapper from Brussels. He releases work both as a solo artist and with his group Het Charme Offensief, and has also been giving workshops on rap, slam poetry, and creative writing for over 10 years.

Nata Mandaria is a writer, performance maker, and socio-cultural worker. Drawing from a place of softness, she uses language in a merciless way to create absurdist worlds that remain digestible and accessible to a wide audience. Her practice lies at the intersection of Western European pop culture, Georgian stories, West Asian materials, and internet culture.