Astrid Luypaert

Astrid Julia Luypaert graduated as an art historian and archaeologist at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She joined BILD as a PhD student to research intersections of art and care.

In her doctoral research, Astrid explores grief within the work of professional artists. She seeks to understand how the arts offer alternative frameworks for farewells and loss, moving beyond individualization and medicalization.

Currently, her focus lies on the creation and performance process of Funeral, a theatrical ritual by the Ghent-based collective Ontroerend Goed. This production tours globally, bringing people together to collectively bid farewell to whom and what they miss. Through interviews and archival research, Astrid maps out how the company gives new meaning to collective mourning—balancing the surprise and unpredictability characteristic of their theater with the predictability and tradition typically associated with ritual.