Fables

Ibe Rossel is a writer. In 2021, she published her debut ‘Shakespeare kent me beter dan mijn lief’, a collection of essays in which she explores what (young) people today can still learn from literary classics. She is currently working on a new book to be published by Das Mag in 2025. Ibe is a regular panellist at Uitgelezen, the monthly live book programme of Behoud de Begeerte and Viernulvier. She previously wrote a column for De Standaard magazine. As a freelancer she works/ed with Kluger Hans, KANTL, deAuteurs, TAZ and Malpertuis, among others.

Sarah Yu Zeebroek is an artist, illustrator and musician. She obtained a master's degree in visual arts/illustration at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent. She illustrates for newspapers and magazines as De Morgen, Vrij Nederland, Humo, NRC Handelsblad and Knack Focus. She makes/made artwork for various music bands theatre companies, museums or cultural centres. Sarah is also a musician in her own band Hong Kong Dong, which she founded with her brother Boris Zeebroek and her husband Geoffrey Burton, and also performs as a guest musician in music projects such as Bolis Pupul and L.Jacobs.

Naomi van der Horst studied Drama at KASK School of Arts Ghent. The performance “Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, created with Flor Van Severen, Mitch Van Landeghem, Imke Mol and Gilles Pollak, received the Youth Prize at TAZ 2019 and was selected for Het Theaterfestival. Together with the above, Naomi forms the theatre collective WOLF WOLF with whom they made another “Voorjaarsontwaken” (also selection Het Theaterfestival) and “Dromers”. As an actress, Naomi played in “Pied de poule” (Studio Orka) and “De kleine prins” (Theater malpertuis).

Sophia Bauer is a performer and theatre maker and graduated from KASK Drama in 2022. She starred as Bongi Perez in the show ‘Up Your Ass’ (Lieselot Siddiki and Nona Demey Gallagher). She previously starred in Tibaldus' ‘Operette’ (2021) and Geert Belpaeme's ‘De Dieren’ (2020). Together with Marieke Schraepen, she forms the artistic duo “Marieke&Sophia”, with whom they created ‘Motherbaby’ in 2023, a sung performance about the sky-high expectations on mothers.

Osama Abdulrasol is an Iraqi composer, producer, qanun player and visual artist. Only when he fled Iraq did he learn to play musical instruments, discovering his musical talent. He studied western music in the UK and eastern music (qanun) in Iraq. In 2013, he won the City of Ghent's Culture Prize. He writes music for film and theatre, he arranges/produces music - Arabic, Jazz, experimental, Indian,... - for musicians from very diverse backgrounds. As a musician, he toured/performed around the world with orchestras and theatre names such as the Antwerp Philharmonic, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, Goran Bregovic, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Dick Van der Harst, Waed Bou Hassoun, Ghade Shbeir or Les ballets C de la B, among others.

Erik Desimpelaere is a Belgian composer, conductor and pianist. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (piano), the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (composition) and Conservatory of Amsterdam (orchestral conducting). Since 2020, he has been director of the music conservatory of Kortrijk. Erik composes and arranges music for various line-ups: from symphonic orchestra, music theatre, wind band to chamber music and solo repertoire and is often asked as guest conductor with orchestras and ensembles. With his brother double bass player David Desimpelaere, he forms a music duo that performs a mix of original (new) compositions and transcriptions.