Public defence doctoral thesis / Exhibition
Grounds for Jewellery: Research into Material, Spatial and Experiential Process as Practice in Contemporary Jewellery
30 April 2026, 14h-19h / 1-3 and 7-10 May 2026, 14h-18h

Liesbet Bussche has the pleasure to invite you to the public defence of her doctoral thesis on 30 April 2026 at PXL-MAD School of Arts Hasselt: Grounds for Jewellery: Research into Material, Spatial and Experiential Process as Practice in Contemporary Jewellery. The public defence is followed by the opening of the accompanying exhibition in MAD-Gallery.

In her doctoral research project Grounds for Jewellery, Liesbet Bussche rethinks contemporary jewellery as a process-oriented and experiential practice in the context of the material turn. She investigates how materials and the material world are noticed, shaped, processed and experienced through walking, making and writing. These methods both reframe the relationship between humans and nonhumans and acknowledge the role of the situated, subjective researcher. By tracing and activating the transformations of shells, bricks, natural stone, metal artefacts and dust, Bussche interrogates entrenched narratives in contemporary jewellery, such as the primacy of the finished object, and articulates a contribution to the discipline’s discourse.

The PhD research in the arts was conducted at Hasselt University and PXL-MAD School of Arts Hasselt under the supervision of Prof. Dr David Huycke and Dr Karen Wuytens. Dr Jeroen Boomgaard and Benjamin Lignel served as committee members. Prof. Dr Nicolas Cheng and Dr Rosa Tolnov Clausen will act as external jury members for the defence.

The research study was supported by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Hasselt University (BOF20DOC01).

PROGRAMME

Doctoral defence:
30 April 2026, 14h-16h
Please register via this link

Exhibition opening:
30 April 2026, 16h30-19h

Exhibition:
1-3 and 7-10 May 2026, 14h-18h
Or by appointment: liesbet.bussche@uhasselt.be

Location:
PXL-MAD School of Arts Hasselt
Elfde-Liniestraat 25, Building G
3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Defence: AudiTorium
Exhibition: MAD-Gallery

Photo: Liesbet Bussche, Making Building Rings, 2024
Graphic design: Rob van Leijsen