nieuws /// za 20 april

Greetings festival visitor!

Great you’re here, because we have all sorts of things to tell you. But first we have a few questions.

WHO ARE YOU?

So now maybe you’re thinking: that’s an easy one!* I’m Manon / Robert / Joey / other, I’m a musician / mailman / pensioner / other, I’m an athlete / traveller / lacemaker / other, I’m Frisian / Dutch / cosmopolitan / other, I’m family / friend / foe / other.

But suppose you were to disregard what you do and who you know – the badges you can sew on your coat for display – then who are you? How do you view the world around you? Are you a thinker? A wanderer? A dreamer? Other?

This year we asked ourselves the same question for Explore the North: Who are we? How do we view things? And what do we show you by doing so? And from the moment those question marks started floating around, a whirlwind of even more questions erupted. Because that’s one of today’s major issues: taking a stand. The independent journalist seems to have gone extinct. Our internet behaviour is analysed with clever algorithms, leaving Google and Facebook to serve up news that suits our taste. And news is only considered news if enough people click on it. If all of our information is being filtered, to what degree can we still determine our own identity?

Explore the North seeks the answer in the arts, home base of the free thinker. This year’s programme is packed with questions, in the shape of curious performances, intimate concerts, incisive interviews and resounding poetry. Dear thinkers, wanderers and dreamers: remain your curious, searching and adventurous selves! The path of the imagination will easily lead you to wonderful insights and new ideas.

The 2017 Explore the North team

‘Or you’re thinking: What a **** question! If I have to have an opinion on that, I’d rather plop down on the sofa and read Sartre. Good on you!

OBAMA HARMONIZED BY CHASSOL (FULL SPEECH)