Invitation PhD defence of Alina Cristea (hybrid event)

12 - 20 February: Exhibition  
12 February 17h00: PhD Defence 
12 February 19h30: Reception & exhibition opening 
18 February 18h30: Conversation with Urbanistas Brussels 

You are cordially invited to the public defence and exhibition by Alina Cristea of the research project Bucharest—The City with One Inhabitant. The City-Me. On February 12 at 17h00 (BE), Alina Cristea will defend her dissertation at LUCA School of Arts (Brussels campus/online). Please register your attendance here. 

 

Bucharest—The City with One Inhabitant. The City-Me explores the idea of the city-me: a deeply personal connection between an individual and the city that shapes their identity. Inspired by Mircea Cărtărescu’s reflection—who described Bucharest not just as his city, but as “the city I” (orașul eu in Romanian)—Alina Cristea, a Bucharest-born visual artist, develops this idea further into a lens for artistic research and self-reflection. 

Through autobiographical experience, visual practice, cultural analysis, archival study, and speculative reconstruction, Bucharest emerges as both a lived place and an inner landscape—one that the author mentally inhabits, and that inhabits her in return. The city-me intertwines personal memory, collective history, and political context, offering an intimate account of shared urban experience. 

Rooted in Bucharest but shaped by migration, Alina’s research introduces the concept of the city-me to explore how urban attachment persists beyond physical residence and influences diasporic identity. Although grounded in a single city, this idea resonates with anyone who carries a city within them—one embedded in memory, habits, personal maps, and the formation of the self. 

The research will be available as a limited-edition book. You can pre-order your copy here. 

The doctoral defence will take place on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 17:00 (BE time) in the Auditorium C-3.15 at LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (Paleizenstraat 70, 1030 Schaarbeek). It will be followed by Alina's exhibition opening at the Sint-Lukasgalerie (Paleizenstraat 116, 1030 Schaarbeek).  

 

The day’s programme will unfold as follows: 

17:00 – 18:55: Public defence 

18:55 – 19:10: Closed meeting of the examination committee 

19:10 – 19:30: Proclamation & laudation by the supervisor and chair of the examination committee 

19:30: Reception and exhibition opening at the Sint-Lukasgalerie (Paleizenstraat 116, 1030 Schaarbeek) 

 

The examination committee consists of: 

Prof. Dr. Carl Van Eyndhoven (Chair of the Examination Committee, LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven) 

Prof. Dr. Liesbeth Decan (supervisor, LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven) 

Lect. Dr. Mira Sanders (co-supervisor, KU Leuven – Faculty of Architecture) 

Lect. Dr. Ileana Marin (co-supervisor, University of Bucharest/University of Washington) 

Prof. Dr. Nel Janssens (KU Leuven – Faculty of Architecture) 

Sarah Vanagt (LUCA School of Arts) 

Dr. Geert Goiris (Royal Academy Fine Arts Antwerp) 

 

Cover design: Laura Broux; Image: Alina Cristea