The Rage of Europe - about the innermost outsiders of Europe

Warsaw, Berlin, Brussel, Bucharest: points of view and interpretations about rage in Europe. With poems and music as counterpoints.

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Information

Date and time Saturday 20 January 2018 22:00 tot 23:00 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1

Rage is wafting around Europe. Rage in many forms and voices, but perhaps also from a common source. Led by author and cultural historian David Van Reybrouck, writers from various European cities delineate and interpret this rage from their own environments and perspectives.

Some Europeans think that our continent is denying its origins and heading towards cultural suicide by opening itself to the culture of strangers. Others believe that Europe is mired in colonial reflexes and prejudices, and falls short in terms of welcoming new citizens. Yet others see only a Europe of interference and technocracy, bereft of passion, imagination and democratic vitality.

Multitalented author and playwright Van Reybrouck wrote high-profile books such as Congo: A history, and essays such as "A Plea for Populism" and "Against Elections". Fatma Aydemir's debut novel Ellbogen (Elbow), about escalating violence in the U-Bahn, recently divided critics and readers in Germany. Grazyna Plebanek, originally from Warsaw, lived in Stockholm for a few years and in Brussels since 2005, where she works as a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. Until 1989, art historian, poet and essayist Magda Carneci published under a pseudonym in Bucharest; these days, she is, among others, Editor of Revista ARTA.

As counterpoints, Rodaan Al Galidi recites some of his poems, Gerda Dendooven creates illustrations and Stefka and Amer Shanati play their music.

Magda Cârneci

(Romania, 1955) wants to connect people and ideas with her poetry and work. Her volume Chaosmos, translated into Dutch, is about a chaotic world that is highly ordered in a larger cosmic sense: thus, a chaosmos. Cârneci studied art history in Paris and is one of the leading members of the Romanian 1980s Generation. After the 1989 revolution that finished off Ceaușescu's communist reign, she became active in Romanian political and cultural life. She later moved to Paris, where she became Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute and a member of the European Cultural Parliament. Cârneci is chair of the Grupul pentru Dialog Social (GDS), a Romanian NGO that aims to protect democracy, human rights and civil rights. She is also the chair of PEN-Romania and editor-in-chief of Revista ARTA. Her work has been translated into French and English.
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Rodaan Al Galidi

(Iraq, 1971) fled his country in 1998 after completing architecture studies, was given asylum in the Netherlands and settled there legally in 2007. Since then he has published poetry, novels and collections of his columns. He received the 2000 El Hizjra literature award and the 2011 Literature Prize of the European Union. In 2013 he published Liever niet, antwoordt de liefde (Maybe Not, Was Love's Reply), an anthology of refreshing love poetry. His novel Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg (Two Blankets, Three Sheets) tells of his experiences as an asylum seeker in the Netherlands. Al Galidi published the short story collection Duizend-en-een-nachtmerries (A Thousand and One Nightmares) in 2017 and a poem collection Neem de titel serieus (Take the title seriously) in 2018.
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Marjolijn van Heemstra

(Amsterdam, 1981) - writer, poet, and journalist – gained attention in 2009 with her first poetry collection Als Mozes had doorgevraagd. In 2012, her debut novel De laatste Aedema was published. In her work, she explores how we can think differently about ourselves and the world. Since 2019, she has written about how space can help us see the Earth from a new perspective, in a.o. her essay Wat is ruimte waard. The theatre play based on this book, Maankoorts, premiered in June 2024. Since 2019, Van Heemstra has been a space correspondent at De Correspondent. She creates podcasts (including Sør, Stadsastronaut en Als geschiedenis in je opstaat) and recently conducted research on the value of the night. In 2025 she performs her stage play Observaties van een theaterrat.
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Grażyna Plebanek

(1967) is a Warsaw-born novelist, columnist and playwright living in Brussels. A graduate of Polish philology at Warsaw University, she is the author of best-selling novels Girls from Portofino and Illegal Liaisons, published in the UK, US and Canada. Plebanek is also the author of the novels Box of Stilettos, A Girl Called Przystupa and The Boxer as well as a collection of literary essays, Robbermaid’s Daughters. In 2017 she published her sixth novel, Miss Fury. Her books show the difficult truths about the integration between cultures. She writes a regular column in the Polish weekly Polityka, as well as in Poland’s daily Gazeta Wyborcza and in Trendy magazine. She was awarded the Zlote Sowy Literary Prize for her contributions to promoting Poland abroad.
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Fatma Aydemir

(Karlsruhe, 1986) made a splash with her controversial debut novel Ellbogen (Elbow). The book won the Klaus Michael Kühne Prize. Aydemir, granddaughter of Turkish labourer immigrants, writes about a girl with Turkish antecedents who is so frustrated by the discrimination she encounters daily that, during a drunken spree, she pushes a student in front of the metro and then flees to Turkey. She feels no remorse. "Ellbogen is a punch in the gut. Or rather, two. One for the misogynistic Turkish community. And one for the hypocrisy of our oh so liberal society," wrote the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Aydemir studied German and American Studies in Frankfurt. She writes for the newspaper taz about Turkish pop culture. She also set up the bilingual webportal taz.gazete as a reaction to the restriction of press freedom in Turkey.
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David Van Reybrouck

(Belgium, 1971) is an author, historian and archaeologist, known for his multifaceted contributions to literature and intellectual discourse. He is currently Philosopher Laureate of the Low Countries. Upon his appointment, he published De wereld en de aarde (The World and the Earth, 2025), in which he makes a groundbreaking proposal to radically broaden our thinking—and our politics. For the greatest security issue of our time is not the world with its mutual conflicts, but the earth, which is becoming increasingly disrupted. His oeuvre covers a range of genres, including historical non-fiction, poetry, and theater. Among his best-known works are Congo (2010), about the country's bewildering history, and Revolusi (2020), which places Indonesia's struggle for independence in a global perspective through eyewitness accounts. In addition to his literary work, Van Reybrouck is known as ‘one of Europe's leading intellectuals’ (Tagesspiegel), whose ideas relate to themes such as democracy, climate, and colonialism. He regularly publishes opinion pieces in international publications. 

Go to the website of David Van Reybrouck
Instagram: @david.vanreybrouck
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Stefka

is the stage name of singer-songwriter Stephanie Ruijsenaars. Stefka studied classical voice and piano in Maastricht and theatre arts and Spanish in Amsterdam and Madrid. She first sang in Spanish. Inspired by the work of poets such as Pablo Neruda and Lorca, she wrote her own songs, which resulted in the 2005 album Del Recuerdo del Amor and the 2008 single-CD "Del Llanto". Later she switched to Dutch, in particular setting to music texts by Joke van Leeuwen, a writer whom she had researched during her studies. These songs are found on the album ...terwijl ik wachtte (While I Waited). She sings about being new to a city, about waiting, and about people she didn't get to know. She created the musical performance Eerst was er Thuis (First there Was Home) together with Syrian-Palestinian oud player Amer Shanati. Stefka frequently works with musicians from all corners of the world and appears regularly in theatre and on radio.
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Amer Shanati

(Syria) is a Palestinian-Syrian oud player, composer, bandleader and music professor. At the first refugee centre he landed in while seeking asylum, he distinguished himself as gifted musician. Since then, he has performed at the Concertgebouw and been heard on the radio. He lives in The Hague, where he founded The Hague Orchestra for Peace, in which musicians from various countries play music and new compositions with the aim of creating bonds. They see music as the perfect means of attaining peace, because people from differing cultures can easily reach one another with it. Shanati wants to expand his message with his Foundation Amer Music for Peace. He studied at the music institute in Homs, Syria, and at The Hague's conservatory. Together with Stefka (Stephanie Ruijsenaars) he created the poetic musical performance Eerst was er Thuis (First there Was Home), in which four musicians seek a lost home.
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Gerda Dendooven

(Kortrijk, Belgium, 1962) won the 2017 Woutertje Pieterse Prize for her picture book Stella. In it, a drowning person is fished out of the sea and taken in by a foster family. She has been teaching graphic design at the Hoger St.-Lucas Institute in Ghent since 1992. Dendooven is famous for and has won many awards for her children's book illustrations. She received the Gouden Penseel (Golden Brush) in 2000 for her work in De verliefde prins (The Prince in Love) by Ron Langenus. She also writes plays and children's books and illustrates adult books and newspaper columns.
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