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Institute of Associations

Institute of Associations (IoA) is a production house for interdisciplinary art, reflection and encounter. Based in Tilburg, artistic leader Merijn Bisschops creates projects that combine music, film, dance, literature and visual arts. No fixed stories, but contradictory experiences that broaden your view: on yourself, on each other and the world around you.

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At IoA you will discover what happens when art forms challenge each other and forge new connections. A film unfolds as a dance performance, a book sounds like experimental music, a multidisciplinary performance reveals itself from a different perspective every time. What begins as a personal story or a theme that resonates with everyone, grows into an inescapable experience that awakens your senses and triggers unexpected associations.

Mind the gap
The space in between is not a void, but a vantage point. IoA deliberately seeks for that middle. Not to smooth the extremes, but to make them visible and examine them. That is where friction, nuance, and astonishment arise. What chafes is allowed to chafe; what deviates is given the chance to flourish. For between comfort and discomfort, between the familiar and the strange, movement is set in motion.

Do you also want to discover what IoA unleashes within you? Come listen, get lost, or move along with our next projects.

 

Agenda
Past events
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The Five Encounters

Sunday 28 June 2026
@ Hall of Fame, Tilburg, between 14.00 uur - 20.00 hrs

5. Do we want to see everything?

punkrock band Chattermag, philosopher Marjan Slob, visual artist Hester Scheurwater, theologian Tabitha van Krimpen, philosopher and jurist Jurriën Hamer, moderator Sanneke Huisman, martial artist Merel Severs in collaboration with DansBrabant, Zwerm & Karen Willems,workshop art collective YAFF,Pop Up Cinema: movie Funny Games - Michael Haneke

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De Ontmoetingen

Zaterdag 13 december 2025, 12.00 uur
@LocHal, Tilburg

Zijn we gelukkig ongelukkig?

Marissa van der Sluis, Lisa Doeland, Silva Westera, Jean-Marie Molina Schmidt, Tegest Pecht-Guido & Merijn Bisschops, Quartetto Maurice (IT) i.s.m. De Link, Genevieve Clare Murphy, Alice Davies (i.s.m. Festival Circolo), Najiba Abdellaoui, Houda Bibouda, workshops en een filmprogramma van DansBrabant & Pop Up Cinema.

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Of ze nu zijn ontstaan door onze opvoeding, een DSM-label of TikTok: we slepen vastgeroeste zelfbeelden met ons mee. Ze vertellen ons hoe we zouden moeten zijn: gelukkig, sterk en succesvol. Die fixatie heeft een keerzijde: de stem die ons continu influistert dat we niet goed genoeg zijn. Hoe meer we geluk najagen, hoe sterker we voelen wat ontbreekt. Wat gebeurt er dan in onze gedachten, in ons lichaam, in de stilte waar we niet van weg kunnen scrollen?
 
Featured productions
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Zwiespalt

A body full of contradictions. A performance like an open nerve, with choreographer/dancer Tegest Pecht-Guido.

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The Five

A response to the acclaimed novel The Five by A.H.J. Dautzenberg in music and dance video, performed by Zwerm & Karen Willems.

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Displacement

A diptych for piano, soundtrack, and video about emotional displacement, created for pianist Saskia Lankhoorn.

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