Institute of Associations
The Five Encounters

The Five Encounters is a series of layered gatherings bringing together art, conversation and experience, organised by Institute of Associations in co-production with Pop Up Cinema and DansBrabant. Around The Five, a multidisciplinary performance by Merijn Bisschops, explores five urgent themes that divide and connect our times. Each encounter opens from a different perspective. Sometimes philosophical, sometimes activist, sometimes playful or vulnerable. The topics? Sexual freedom, cancel culture, the (fe)male gaze, pigeonholing, and the paradox of freedom.

Each meeting is a mini-universe with its own atmosphere, location and programme: from dance film to panel discussion, from workshop to art intervention. The Five Encounters and individual programme sections can be visited separately, together forming an ongoing exploration of freedom, identity and expression. Check below for an overview of all encounters.

3. Who pierces the bubbles?
Sunday 29 March 2026, 2 p.m.
@ Hall of Fame, Tilburg

Are you alt-right or woke? Climateist or nitrogen junky? Black or white? Do you prefer to consume champagne art or commercial uniformity sausage? Our bubbles are safe, but also suffocating. In self-affirming circles, we find identity and applause, while algorithms inflate polarisation ever harder. Are we still making an effort to understand the unknown or are we in love with our own rightness?

A production by IoA, in co-production with DansBrabant & Pop Up Cinema. Made possible by the Municipality of Tilburg and the Province of North Brabant.

THE FIVE ENCOUNTERS

1. Have we become more prudish?
Sunday, 30 November 2025, 2 p.m.
@ Blue Collar & Area51, Eindhoven

2. Does the (fe)male gaze exist?
Thursday, February 5, 2026, 7 p.m.
@ Mezz, Breda

3. Who pierces the bubbles?
Sunday 29 March 2026, 2 p.m.
@ Hall of Fame, Tilburg

4. Do we want to see everything?
Thursday 23 April 2026, 7pm
@ Willem Twee Poppodium, 's-Hertogenbosch

5. Are we limited by our freedom?
Sunday, June 28, 2026, 2 p.m.
@ Hall of Fame, Tilburg