Rudy Kousbroek
(Pematang Siantar, 1929 - Leiden, 2010) came to the Netherlands in 1946. In 1951 he published his first collection of poems Tien variaties op het bestiale (Ten variations on bestiality). He has a varied oevre to his name, consisting of many essay collections concerned with diverse subjects. One of which was Het Oostindisch kampsyndroom. Terug naar Negri Pan Erkoms (1995) (The East-Indies Camp syndrome. Back to country of origin), about our colonial past. It offers a refreshing insight on the how and the why of Kousbroek's unique vision of the colonial past. As part of a 400 years Netherlands-Japan relationship Kousbroek, together with film-maker Hans Keller, made the royal journey again. This resulted in an unparalleled journey through time, full of revelations and discoveries. The book In de tijdmachine door Japan (In the time machine through Japan) (2000) forms the background of the film that Hans Keller made for the VPRO. Kousbroek died in 2010.
Past events
In memoriam Henk van Woerden
Painter, writer and non-conformist thinker Henk van Woerden suddenly died in November. He was an advisor and a boardmember of Winternachten. Rudy Kousbroek, Michaël Zeeman, Asli Erdogan, Joost Nijsen and Nicole van Woerden-Müller will read from his work. Breyten Breytenbach will talk about Van Woerden as a painter. Greek music by To Trigono. Dutch/English spoken.
