Brussels festival targets positive representations of fat people

Brussels festival targets positive representations of fat people

For four days in October, the Recylart in Brussels will host a festival aimed at fighting fatphobia and creating spaces for thinking about fat in a more positive way.

The Fat Friendly anti-fatphobia association and the Dis mon nom collective will take over the Recyclart on 7-8 October, and again on 13-14 October, offering various activities highlighting fat people.

"Big bodies are clearly considered repulsive, far from beauty standards; they are also constantly pathologised. People feel a big body is necessarily sick, basically," said Pelphine, member of Fat Friendly. "We want to get out of pathologisation."

A conference on health and fatness will be organised on the last day of the festival, 14 October. That day will also see the launch of a collaborative tool developed by Fat Friendly: a map of the accessibility of public spaces for fat people.

"A lot of places are inaccessible to us with, for example, chairs that are not appropriate," Pelphine explained.

The programme includes talk groups dedicated solely to fat people, and also a live fat model drawing session on 7 October, a musical evening on 8 October featuring only fat female artists - including Barbara Butch -, conferences and a big drag show.

Aside from discussion groups, all activities are accessible to everyone. The entry fee for the musical evening is €10 while the other activities are accessible for a "free and conscious tariff" or for free.


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