It was a lovely spring evening, yet many people made it to Mimiks theater for the second edition of De Facto Live On Tour. From their chairs, they mentally traveled with us from Kurdistan, to the angular borders of Moresnet and the wish for a united Korea all the way to the imagined future coastline of the Netherlands.
De Facto at Mimik, Deventer
Jerney HakkenbergThe evening opened with music by virtuoso Emrah Ogüztürk on his kaval, a Kurdish shepherds flute. He was accompanied by Caner Ulucan on the grand piano and later on in the evening, he shared more on the musical instruments he brought with him and on his youth in the disputed region of Kurdistan.
Emrah Oguzturk explaining about the kaval to Jorie Horsthuis.
Jerney HakkenbergWriter Philip Dröge took us to Moresnet, a tiny territory that used to exist where the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium share a border. Its angular territory provided a sort of free state where many people saw opportunities, from Esperantists to smugglers. ‘Put a border around a territory, and a people will emerge’, Dröge commented, as the inhabitants of Moresnet started calling themselves ‘Moresnetters’. He visited the area and many archives and wrote a very interesting book about it.
Jorie Horsthuis interviewing Philip Dröge about Moresnet.
Jerney HakkenbergMany of the De Facto evenings are about territories that want to separate from another country, but sometimes a genuine wish to merge also exists, as graphic designer Floor Koomen showed us with her presentation on the flag for a United Korea.
Graphic designer Floor Koomen zooming in on the flag of a United Korea.
Jerney HakkenbergPhotographer Michael Rhebergen was interviewed by journalist Jorie Horsthuis about his project on the future coastline of the Netherlands. He traveled along the imagined coast to meet future coastal inhabitants and with us, explored the borders of our imagination to grasp the possible threats of the future. Check out his project and book The New Coast here.
And as always, there was a quiz by researcher Suzanne Hendriks about quaint countries, conflicted cartographies and some feverish flag waving. The quiz ended in a tie, to which there was a shoot out question, won by a member of the audience, taking home some Basque chocolates and a load of fun facts.
Some fierce flag-waving at the quiz by Suzanne Hendriks.
Jerney HakkenbergWe were happy to have photographer Jerney Hakkenberg present and of course a big thank you to Mimik for hosting us. We are grateful to our funders Stichting Erven Witteveen, Jeannette Hollaar Fonds and Deventer Cultuur Club. We even have some new embassadors! If you are interested to know how you can contribute, you can read about it here.
Harrie Kiekenbosch wrote a review about the evening on the online platform Hier in Salland, have a look here.
We hope to see you at one of our next events!