Dalilla Hermans

Dalilla Hermans (b. 1986) is a storyteller in many forms: a writer, painter, theater maker, and performer who moves between words, color, and sound to explore memory, identity, and belonging.

Her latest project, 'Cocoa Butter and Dreams', brings these worlds together in a collection of paintings, poems, essays, and a spoken word album that trace Blackness as concept, construct, and consciousness.

Since 2017, Dalilla has published seven books, written and directed three theater productions her(e), Us (k)now and Queen (M)other, contributed countless opinion pieces to various publications, and penned over 800 short columns for De Standaard. Her words and images often meet where the personal becomes political, where softness becomes a form of resistance.

She has also hosted and created podcasts, curated a lecture series, and moderated numerous panels and debates. In 2023 and 2024, she served as project coordinator for Bruges' bid to become European Capital of Culture 2030. In February 2025, her most recent play, 'Wij/Zij', which she created and performs with her husband, premiered at Arenberg.

Born in Musumba-Nyambuye (Rwanda), raised in and around Turnhout (Belgium), and now based in Bruges, Dalilla is known in Flanders for her public voice, from De Slimste Mens ter Wereld to her outspoken activism.

Yet she would say she is, above all, a woman trying to build worlds on canvas, on stages and pages, and at home with her three children and her husband, Willem.