City Talks Amsterdam: Carnival of Resistance
Every last Thursday of the month, you're welcome at The Bookshop for City Talks Amsterdam. For this monthly talk show, we invite guests - from scientists to artists and from journalists to economists - who come to talk about a social topic or urban trends. Together we dive into a theme and ask how it affects Amsterdam and its residents.
Themes that came up last season include the influence of money, political activism and artificial intelligence. We invite you to grab a drink, join the conversation and get inspired!
Festival Brandhaarden
Location The Bookshop
Run time 60 minutes
Genre Perspective
Language English
Carnival of Resistance
Can celebration be a radical act of resistance?
Join us for a special edition of our monthly talk show City Talks Amsterdam, where we explore the powerful intersections of city life, resistance, and celebration. Through dynamic conversations with our speakers and audience, we’ll blend art, spirituality, and urban life.
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This edition is part of festival Brandhaarden, inspired by the works of acclaimed choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas. Drawing on recurring themes in her work - such as human evil, oppressive systems, and liberation - we connect these ideas to the upcoming Carnival season. Together, we’ll uncover how these concepts resonate in Amsterdam’s streets, histories, and communities, and how they shape our world today.
Host: Geoffrey van der Ven
Jill Mathon is a (copy)writer, researcher, journalist, and book author, deeply committed to social issues and known for her fierce advocacy. Born in Brabant - a region celebrated for its vibrant Carnival traditions - she practically grew up in her parents' café. Yet, if you ask Jill where to experience the essence of Carnival, she won’t mention Lampegat or Oeteldonk but rather Rio de Janeiro, where the celebration is a powerful act of defiance and liberation. What stories lie behind the feathers, parades and samba blocos?
Originally from Lebanon, Sarah Safi Harb has been practicing Raqs Sharqi (belly dance) for most of her life and teaching it for over 14 years. She integrates her Lebanese heritage, knowledge of yoga, and holistic dance practices into her classes. To Sarah, dance is a form of activism, empowerment, and joy. Her vision is that every person has their own unique way of moving and dancing. She encourages people to find their own style and express their uniqueness, as it’s not about how you dance, but how you feel and what you express through dance.
Jonathan Tjien Fooh is a poet, writer, and researcher dedicated to untangling systems of oppression and breathing life into erased (hi)stories. As part of the research team Re/Presenting Europe: Healing the Afterlives of Colonialism, Jonathan draws on his Javanese-Surinamese heritage to explore how storytelling, spirituality, and Javanese animistic practices create spaces of resistance, healing, and joy beyond Western understanding.
Taka Taka is a dragtivist, educator, queer theorist, and independent curator. As the art director of the legendary House of Hopelezz, mother of Amsterdam’s first drag king house The House of Løstbois, and co-founder of the non-profit Drag King Academy Amsterdam, they also founded The Closet, a creative haven for queer teens supported by Foundation Erwin Olaf. Taka Taka sees drag as an amplified voice - one that communicates, challenges, and proposes new methods shaped by local conditions. They have shared their knowledge and methodologies on drag mothering, gendered character-based practices, and its intersections with HIV through interviews, lectures, essays, and workshops at various Dutch and international art institutions and academies - dedicated to creating spaces of empathy, creativity, and celebration.
Brandhaarden
Brandhaarden is an international theatre festival that brings performances from notable foreign theatre makers to Amsterdam. The festival provides a unique overview of a single creator, house, writer, region, or theme. In previous editions, we highlighted directors such as Katie Mitchell, Milo Rau, and the collective Rimini Protokoll, writer Édouard Louis, the Southern European region (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), and city theatres such as Münchner Kammerspiele, Volksbühne Berlin, and Peter Brooks Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
The Bookshop
The Bookshop is ITA's new cultural living room on Leidseplein. This compact stage offers a space for innovation, reflection and new perspectives. Here, makers, performers and visitors meet for special programmes, from experiments to intimate performances. The Bookshop is a place for everyone, with a focus on accessibility and openness. It is a gift to the city, made possible by the support of more than 500 donors and various funds and partners.
Together with inspiring guests from the LGBTQIA+ community, we explore the themes behind the theatre experience. Two episodes per session — with a free drink during the break!
Together with inspiring guests from the LGBTQIA+ community, we explore the themes behind the theatre experience. Two episodes per session — with a free drink during the break!
Together with inspiring guests from the LGBTQIA+ community, we explore the themes behind the theatre experience. Two episodes per session — with a free drink during the break!
