Biography
Josefien Cornette - Josse (°1994, Belgium) is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator. They studied visual arts (Mixed Media) at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent and art history and gender and diversity studies at Ghent University.
Josse identifies as a disabled maker. Born with the rare congenital disability Fibular Hemimelia, their practice is deeply shaped by embodied experience and artistic research. They shape their world, art and work according to their sensitivity.
Their practice can be understood as a poetic and critical exploration of care, vulnerability, and interdependence. Their work develops hybrid methodologies that move between artistic and academic fields, experimenting with forms of researching, archiving, writing, and storytelling. Their practice engages with critical disability studies, trauma studies, death studies, crip theory, and queer theory.
Alongside their artistic practice, Josse regularly teaches, mentors, and guides artists, writers, and students in developing practices that engage with disability narratives and accessibility. They are currently affiliated with the Research Center for Open Arts and Futures at Erasmushogeschool Brussel.
Josse frequently participates in public debates, guest lectures, and workshops. They serve on the board of Sophia, the Belgian Network for Gender Studies, and the Disability Filmfestival.
Their work has been described as both sharp, caring, rebellious and poetic. They received the DiverGent Thesis Prize (2020) for their manuscript A House Called Pain and were awarded at the Tallinn Drawing Triennial (2015).
Josefien Cornette - Josse (°1994, Belgium) is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator. They studied visual arts (Mixed Media) at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent and art history and gender and diversity studies at Ghent University.
Josse identifies as a disabled maker. Born with the rare congenital disability Fibular Hemimelia, their practice is deeply shaped by embodied experience and artistic research. They shape their world, art and work according to their sensitivity.
Their practice can be understood as a poetic and critical exploration of care, vulnerability, and interdependence. Their work develops hybrid methodologies that move between artistic and academic fields, experimenting with forms of researching, archiving, writing, and storytelling. Their practice engages with critical disability studies, trauma studies, death studies, crip theory, and queer theory.
Alongside their artistic practice, Josse regularly teaches, mentors, and guides artists, writers, and students in developing practices that engage with disability narratives and accessibility. They are currently affiliated with the Research Center for Open Arts and Futures at Erasmushogeschool Brussel.
Josse frequently participates in public debates, guest lectures, and workshops. They serve on the board of Sophia, the Belgian Network for Gender Studies, and the Disability Filmfestival.
Their work has been described as both sharp, caring, rebellious and poetic. They received the DiverGent Thesis Prize (2020) for their manuscript A House Called Pain and were awarded at the Tallinn Drawing Triennial (2015).
©Ekkow PhotographyConditions of Care
Care is understood not only as aid or support, but also as guardianship — the responsibility to protect the conditions under which bodies, practices, and communities can exist.
For this reason, Josse works according to a number of ethical principles that safeguard their practice and the communities it engages with.
Accessibility is considered a fundamental responsibility of the inviting organisation. Access must be embedded in the planning, budget, communication, and presentation of a project from the outset. Accessibility work is labour and should be recognised and compensated accordingly.
Crip time is integral and complete. Projects may unfold at rhythms that resist normative expectations of speed, urgency, and constant availability. Respect for fluctuating capacity, flexible timelines, and sustainable pacing are therefore necessary conditions for collaboration.
Collaborations are expected to demonstrate an active commitment to dismantling ableism and other intersecting systems of exclusion, including racism, sexism, transphobia, and class inequality within cultural institutions.
Tokenistic diversity frameworks or symbolic representation will be declined. Disability, trauma, and lived experience are not resources for institutional legitimacy.
Transparency, fair compensation, and sustainable working conditions are non-negotiable. Artistic labour, research, teaching, and advisory work are professional practices and should be recognised as such.
Care is understood not only as aid or support, but also as guardianship — the responsibility to protect the conditions under which bodies, practices, and communities can exist.
For this reason, Josse works according to a number of ethical principles that safeguard their practice and the communities it engages with.
Accessibility is considered a fundamental responsibility of the inviting organisation. Access must be embedded in the planning, budget, communication, and presentation of a project from the outset. Accessibility work is labour and should be recognised and compensated accordingly.
Crip time is integral and complete. Projects may unfold at rhythms that resist normative expectations of speed, urgency, and constant availability. Respect for fluctuating capacity, flexible timelines, and sustainable pacing are therefore necessary conditions for collaboration.
Collaborations are expected to demonstrate an active commitment to dismantling ableism and other intersecting systems of exclusion, including racism, sexism, transphobia, and class inequality within cultural institutions.
Tokenistic diversity frameworks or symbolic representation will be declined. Disability, trauma, and lived experience are not resources for institutional legitimacy.
Transparency, fair compensation, and sustainable working conditions are non-negotiable. Artistic labour, research, teaching, and advisory work are professional practices and should be recognised as such.