We're all related

What does family mean to you? Is it the warmth of home, the smile of a beloved aunt, or perhaps discovering yourself in a chosen family of friends and like-minded people? During Boekfest 2024, we invite you to explore the multifaceted world of family, beyond blood relatives in search of the colourful palette of all that family can be and the (surprising) ways family plays a role in our lives.

The event will start with the Leescl-UB, hosted by study association Helios (Dutch Language & Culture), in which we delve into this year's 'Boekenweekgeschenk' (Book Week Essay): Gezinsverpakking. Together, we will dive into the many layers of this beautiful story. Then, artists Roos Groothuizen and Nastia Cistakova take us on an absurd pub quiz, in which we learn that family goes beyond shared DNA, rather it is found all around us, even in the most unexpected situations. Next, when the best family experts receive their well-deserved prizes, it is time to relax. Enjoy a drink and a soup, let yourself be carried away by the music or try your hand at something new: discover the art of drag makeup in an ongoing workshop, guided by an amazing drag performer from the Queer Arcana family. So, join us and celebrate the diversity and richness of family and literature at Boekfest 2024!  

This edition of Boekfest is a collaboration between the University Library and VOX-POP.

Programme

16.30 - 17.30 LeesclUB Boekenweekgeschenk Gezinsverpakking with Helios [NL]

Together with study association Helios and professor Gaston Franssen, we delve into the the Boekenweekgeschenk Gezinsverpakking. An extraordinary Boekenweekgeschenk, written by not one but by six authors. The entire Chabot family was asked by the CPNB Foundation to write a book in line with the theme 'In our family'. Upon registration, you will receive the book for free from the library.

16.30 - 17.30 Interactive workshop: a collective story [EN] 

Would you rather work with language yourself than dive into the books? In this playful interactive workshop, we join forces to write a collective story together!

17.30 - 18.00 Multilingualism intermezzo [EN/NL]

Join us for an interactive session exploring the fascinating interplay between multilingualism, literacy, and the human brain. Together with Michal Korenar, we will explore how speaking multiple languages shapes our thinking, emotions, and brain. The session will be an opportunity to appreciate the complexities of our multilingual capabilities and the profound effects they have on our lives. Whether you're multilingual or aspiring to be, come explore the rich cognitive tapestry woven by the languages we speak!

18.15 - 19.45 Pub quiz [EN]

Play along with the Family Quiz! Family-friendly or family-villain? Artists Roos Groothuizen and Nastia Cistakova have prepared the most absurd and unusual questions on the theme of family. Who was the bloodiest mobfather? What is the difference between a childbearer and a child bear? And which therapist can solve the child-parent issues in my code????? Slide in with a drink and a charged smartphone, put aside your generational trauma, and who knows, maybe you will walk away with the grand prize this evening.

20.00 - 21.00 Experiment with Drag Make-up with Queer Arcana! [EN/NL] - ongoing workshop -

Play with gender and expression as you evolve into different versions of yourself! During an ongoing drag make-up workshop, you can do a simple look that takes ten minutes, or stick around for an hour to completely transform yourself! Under the guidance of an experienced drag coordinator, you will learn basic and advanced make-up techniques. Queer Arcana will provide make-up, mirrors and light. This is an entry-level workshop, so no experience required!

20.00 - 21.00 Literary DJ performance 

Recuperate from quizzing while enjoying a drink and a special poetic DJ act! Together, we explore and blur the boundaries of music and language.

About the contributors

Gaston Franssen is professor of Dutch literature and intermediality. He obtained his PhD in 2008 with Gerrit Kouwenaar and the politics of reading, and he regularly writes essays and reviews on poetry for a variety of magazines and platforms such as DeReactorg.org and PlatformLeest.org. 

Margot Ponssen studies Dutch Language and Culture at the University of Amsterdam and is also a Communication Studies graduate. It goes without saying that she can speak and read, but she also writes. In her writing, she does not strive for clarity, but for sharpness. She believes that the reader should also do some work. Since her year as a VOX-POP student programme maker, she has stuck around. Whenever she gets the chance, Margot complements the scientific ideas discussed in the VOX-POP programmes with something we can touch, see, hear or smell: something we can do! Previously, she organised a collage art workshop and a clothing swap at VOX-POP. During Boekfest, she will accompany you in writing a collective story.

Michal Korenar is an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Humanities and works at UMC Amsterdam. As a neuroscientist and linguist, he is interested in how our brains learn and use different languages. Michal investigates whether knowing more languages can enhance creativity or help prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer's. He is passionate about applying this knowledge to benefit society. Outside of work, you'll likely find Michal singing in a choir or cooking goulash.

Artist duo Roos Groothuizen and Nastia Cistakova will host the family pub quiz.

Roos Groothuizen is a media artist fighting for digital human rights. In her own practice and with the art collective Telemagic, she explores the human side of invisible algorithms, information filters and unfair distribution. Among other things, she developed 'I want to delete it all, but not now', an escape room about the power of Big Tech that you can't escape.

Nastia Cistakova is an artist and illustrator who dips her socially critical work in a sauce of misery and absurdity. She has made a video game about a potato with a quarter-life crisis, paintings about romantic spam emails, and video art about real fake animals. She illustrates for De Correspondent and De Volkskrant and has also published her first illustrated children's book, 'Soctopus', with author Jowi Schmitz.

Queer Arcana is a theatre-game collective that organises theatre shows in which a group of drag performers play Dungeons and Dragons live on stage. The collective seeks to increase the visibility of queer gamers and explores what happens when you merge different subcultures through artistic expression. Queer Arcana uses gaming to strengthen social cohesion and as a way to explore yourself.

Factory Girl is interested in music as the unspoken language, using her sets to explore mercurial narratives that take inspiration and direct samples from literature and other media to create points of emotional tension and resolution. She weaves together everything from harsh noise to folk, jungle, juke, trip-hop, dub, noise and an array of ambient sounds.