City Talks Amsterdam: Breaking the Barrier
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!
Location The Bookshop
Run time 60 minutes
Genre Perspective
Language English
Breaking the Barrier
Humans have never existed in isolation from the world around them, yet modern society often pretends otherwise. This edition of City Talks
invites you to rethink our relationship with the non-human world. In a time of climate crisis and ecological collapse, what can we learn from stories that challenge the illusion of human dominance? How can we move toward a more symbiotic way of living, one where care, ethics, and resilience are deeply interconnected? Together with our guests, we will explore the entanglements between people, animals, and the environment - and what it truly means to exist in a world where humans are not the only ones who matter.
Moderator: Geoffrey van de Ven
-|-
This edition’s theme is inspired by ITA Ensemble’s The Wall, based on Marlen Haushofer’s visionary novel, which presents a world where the boundaries between human, animal, and nature dissolve. The Wall runs from March 21 – April 27 at ITA.
Monai McCullough is a plant stylist, green designer, and ecological researcher known for her deep connection to the natural world. With years of experience curating green spaces and working different botanical mediums, Monai brings a thoughtful approach to decolonising horticulture. Her work is rooted in the belief that nature is not just something we admire, it’s something we need to (re)connect to, in order to tap into the creativity that can change the world.
Nathalie Faber is a filmmaker and art curator producer whose work explores the intersection of art, media, and society. Her latest documentary De Natuur Bestaat Niet delves into the crisis of our relationship with nature - framing it as a relationship crisis in need of therapy. In the film, she brings this conflict to renowned Belgian psychiatrist and relationship therapist Dirk de Wachter, who holds therapy sessions with four protagonists to explore how to restore their bond with nature. Beyond filmmaking, Nathalie has an extensive career making exhibitions, books, and cultural projects.
Alexander Cromer is a spoken word performance artist, poet, MC, and researcher. As a PhD candidate at the artistic research program PhDArts (Leiden University / KABK), his research focuses on current and alternative modes of spoken word performance, listening, voicing, and sound production within the context of Black radical imagination, ancestral healing, and performance theory. Through a combination of text, sound, and performance, Alexander creates intimate spaces where speculative pasts, presents, and futures intersect — rethinking relationships between the human, non-human, and more-thanhuman worlds.
Edwin Sander is a chef who is not only deeply passionate about food, but also celebrates its origins and honours the land it comes from. Through product development and farm to table experiences hosted in fields, orchards, and gardens - right where ingredients are grown - he brings people closer to their food, inviting a more reciprocal relationship with the land. Edwin recently launched Favamole, a sustainable alternative to guacamole made from Dutch-grown fava beans. By working with local organic farmers and encouraging regenerative practices, he shows how cooking and eating can become acts of restoration - nurturing healthy ecosystems, strong communities, and a more resilient food system.
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.
