A new collaboration with the education department at Holland Festival.

Under the programme HF x UvA: Writers Residency: a group of dramaturgy students from the University of Amsterdam (and guests) share their reflections on a selection of festival performances. They are invited to submit a review within 24 hours.

During the kick-off day, the group gets to experience an embodied writing workshop, and engage with Simon van den Berg about writing a review and the role of art criticism.

About the workshop:
In this short workshop we will attune to the embodied, unspeakable and yet much needed to be translated when writing about an abstract art experience. Staying close to your impressions is what can bring your unique voice to the front. What is not yet formed in words but very much present in the experience: trust your gut, skin tension, breathing pace, peripheral auditory perception; your neighbor's cough. All counts to tell how it is to be you in a theater seat, in the park walking between musicians, or immersed in a sound installation. Whether in an abundance of stimuli, among rich images and multilayered sound, or in an intimate setting, we all respond and curate our own spectacle. How can you invite others into your inner world, weaving with prefrontal cortex processes?

Right after this experience, there will be a conversation with Simon van den Berg will discuss with the group his views on the roles and functions of arts criticism and what to strive for in a review.