TV NL EN

The Great European Storytellers

Discover upcoming programmes on Europe’s future with inspiring writers and artists

During Forum, we explored “Artists Against the Tyrants” with Nino Haratischwili and Anne Applebaum and many more. This season, we continue that ongoing inquiry with some of the most compelling writers and artists of our time.

We seek out independent thinkers who create an antidote to authoritarianism: voices that challenge the belief that nothing can ever change, that strongmen will inevitably prevail. Through their work, they remind us that resistance, imagination, and courage remain powerful forces against resignation.

In the coming weeks, we welcome Georgi Gospodinov, Mircea Cărtărescu, Ece Temelkuran, and Oksana Zabuzhko. Each of them, through their own distinct forms of storytelling, confronts the urgencies of our time. How does the past shape the present? How can fiction bring suppressed identities to life?

Anne Applebaum at De Balie during Forum on European Culture

ma 30 mrt / 20:00
Idee & Verbeelding

Theatre of Democracy: Łukasz Twarkowski

‘Theatre is an experience. A performance is never just an image.’ Łukasz Twarkowski is one of the most compelling theatre makers today, always trying to push the boundaries of the art form. In conversation with Łukasz Twarkowski.

Meer Info Tickets
wo 1 apr / 20:30
Idee & Verbeelding

Mircea Cărtărescu: Master of Modern Surrealism

In conversation about the epic novel Theodoros

Can obsession turn an impossible dream into reality? In conversation with the master of modern surrealism Mircea Cărtărescu about Theodoros, a novel about the rise of an unlikely emperor.

Meer Info Tickets
vr 27 jun / 20:30
Politiek & Democratie Idee & Verbeelding

Georgi Gospodinov: the Weaponization of Nostalgia

How is nostalgia used as a political weapon? The acclaimed Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov (Time Shelter, The Physics of Sorrow) explores the relationship between collective memory and identity in contemporary Europe.

Meer Info Tickets
wo 22 apr / 20:00
Idee & Verbeelding

Dear stranger with Ece Temelkuran

Featuring an immersive installation by Studio Julian Hetzel

A conversation with Ece Temelkuran about her personal experience of exile, and the political realities shaping our present moment. With an immersive art installation, by Studio Julian Hetzel, exploring the feeling of being “unhomed.”

Meer Info Tickets
zo 3 mei / 15:00
Geopolitiek & Mensenrechten Idee & Verbeelding

Oksana Zabuzhko: on Ukraine’s past and present

Much of Ukrainian history has been misunderstood or overlooked. In conversation with Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko about her historical novel The Museum of Abandoned Secrets. How are traumatic events in Ukraine’s past remembered – or deliberately silenced? And how do unresolved histories continue to shape lives and identities decades later? 

Meer Info Tickets
do 23 apr / 20:00
Geopolitiek & Mensenrechten

Pavel Krisevich: Russian Prison Art

Artist Pavel Krisevich was held in Russia’s prison system for 3,5 years after staging performance art in support of political prisoners in Russia. Last year, Krisevich was released and will now speak at De Balie.

Meer Info Tickets