February 24–27, 2025

Personal Commons is a workshop led by Brussels-based Belgian-Spanish artist Olivia Hernaïz, offered to students of the Belfort School of Art in collaboration with Le 19, Crac.

Over the course of a week, Olivia Hernaïz invited students to develop collaborative projects starting from personal questions. Conversation was at the heart of their research—both as a starting point and as a final destination. Drawing on emotional experiences, family memories, bodily recollections, and even political opinions, the students became both the subjects and the objects of each other’s research. Nothing was predetermined. Collection, exchange, and collaboration among students drove the creative process.

“Dialogue is at the core of my work. My projects are excuses to engage in conversation with others.” — Olivia Hernaïz