opening night

How can you prevent getting weary in the face of a daily stream of news about the climate catastrophe and polarization? How do you stay hopeful in a world filled with disaster? In the play Atlantis made by the theatre group De Veenfabriek they present you with a detailed rescuing plan. Actress Niki Verkaar plays a scene from this play and tries to find answers to the questions in her head.

The Guardian wrote about  the work of science journalist Gaia Vince  that it“ should be read not just by every politician, but by every person on the planet, because it lays out, much more clearly than any existing scientific assessment, the world we are creating through global heating.” Gaia dives into her research and the radical proposal she suggests: mass migration.

“The fixation with your identity limits your identity,” writes fashion stylist and columnist Ayishat Akanbi. According to Ayishat we create narrow ideas about identity to grapple with the uncertain times we live in. She thinks we need to get rid of these rigid ideas and make way for true autonomy.

How do we break with entrenched beliefs? And how do we gain more understanding for those who do not share our ideas? According to philosopher Lammert Kamphuis we need ‘perspective agility’ to deal with these rigid times.

Author Aya Sabi writes as if her life depends on it. In her debut novel Half Leven [Half Life] she searches for past and suppressed memories and explores themes such as displacement, estrangement and the memories of three generations of women. For our festival she tries to get a grip on the world we leave behind and the future ahead of us.