Do you feel supported by our society? Or do you feel rejected, marginalised, or stifled? Many of us carry a broken heart due to the dehumanisation we witness daily, the deepening divides between generations and social groups, and the marginalisation of what truly matters: well-being over profit. Hyster-x invites some of its members and the public (yes, you) to share their experiences in a workshop and literary evening focusing on these pains. Can collective resistance transform grief into unifying activism? How do we find joy and love in difficult times? We will engage in conversation and search for hope in creative self-care and mutual care.

About the evening: Maatschappijn is an evening of literary performances in dialogue with the audience.  

Margot Delaet facilitates a lively conversation between the members of Hyster-x and the audience through artistic performances. Uschi Cop reads excerpts from her debut novel Dodeman, in which a fictional radical collective searches for solutions together. Ella Salvador shares a work in progress entitled De Pauw en het Water (The Peacock and the Water), about love for life. And Anna Borodikhina presents her poetry performance called Gesprek met wat zwijgt (Conversation with what is silent). In between, they talk about how their creative work came about and what the collective means to them.

Language, in the face of a broken heart, offers not only a communicative function but also a healing one. This workshop creates a bridge between body and mind. Through accessible writing prompts that build on one another, Emerald Liu helps you explore and put into words the sensory experiences of (social) pain. We will pause with these experiences and then examine how language can be used as a bridge within ourselves and with our surroundings. These texts may, if desired, be shared during the evening program.

The crowning glory of the regular programme is an open mic session, for which you can register at the beginning of the evening. This is an invitation to share what moves us about this theme; you and your words are very welcome!