ZID Theatre puts 'Change/Change' centre stage at ExploreZ Festival 2024

Twelve days full of inspiration, connection, diversity and entertainment for a wide audience

Amsterdam, 15 February 2024 - ZID Theatre presents the ninth edition of the multidisciplinary and international ExploreZ Festival in Amsterdam. For twelve days from 7 to 18 May 2024, visitors can enjoy a rich mix of theatre, music, dance, workshops and artist talks, with the theme 'Change/Change'. Makers from various corners of the world, as well as many up-and-coming talents from the Netherlands, will show their work at the festival. 

The aim of this beautiful festival? To actively and sustainably encourage participants, makers and visitors to engage in positive changes in their surroundings through art and culture.

ExploreZ Festival 2024: 'Change/Change'

ExploreZ is a 'glocal' festival, combining local knowledge with global insights, leading to new solutions. The 12-day festival presents a wide range of cultural expressions: from theatre to dance, music to visual arts, and everything in between. This year's theme is 'Change/Change'. Reflecting this idea, the festival represents current themes such as climate, gender relations and the rapidly changing social, political and technological changes we face as a society, community and individual. The productions premiering during ExploreZ Festival 2024 highlight this theme from different perspectives.

Karolina Spaic, founder and director of ZID Theatre Amsterdam and the ExploreZ Festival: "The 'Change/Change' theme is more relevant than ever. We are all experiencing that many things are no longer the same as a year ago. The changes in our living environment are clearly noticeable, we face a daily plethora of information both on and offline, the effects of climate change are becoming more visible, and the pressure of wars is forcing more and more people to leave their homes. How do we, as artists, deal with these events?"

A stage for makers from various countries

ExploreZ offers a stage to makers from different countries, who do not take this for granted, are personally involved and feel the need to engage in dialogue about the here and now. They bring their own culture and worldview to the stage, with stories that usually do not get the chance to be heard. "ExploreZ is a festival that literally connects all people through art. We want to increase the opportunities of newcomers, migrants and refugees within the cultural sector, Dutch society and the world. At the same time, we want to ensure that residents of neighbourhoods 'outside the ring' meet each other, that they get to know these new fellow residents in an artistic way and that they use their talents together for the beautiful productions created for the ExploreZ Festival," said Karolina Spaic.

Interaction, co-creation and engagement

The ExploreZ festival presents ten performances from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Croatia. The premiere and performances of WATER by ZID Theatre take centre stage.

WATER

The universal power of water - mythology, facts, predictions and conspiracy theories - climate change

WATER is a multidisciplinary event created in collaboration with the European project Green E.Th.I.Cs , consisting of four parts: a performance, an installation, an interactive section and a theatrical dinner on climate change. The performance is an organic response to the ongoing challenges of climate change and the daily stream of news about it.

Explodium

New, young makers, mostly with refugee pasts or people with a migration background, will show their work-in-progress or just-made, short performances during Explodium. These young makers, some from the ZID training programme FATE (Future Academy on Tour), provide inspiration to young people from similar backgrounds and share experiences about the changes they experienced while settling in the Netherlands.

The Best of Explorez & Bread & Songs - Podium Mozaïek, 8 May 8pm

A crossover of music, songs and rituals and newly developed performance material by various music and dance groups and artists. Festival creators and artists will show short previews of their performances.

Exhibition: A Bucket List of Amsterdam-West, the city and the world in association with Amsterdam 750 years

A multimedia exhibition where past, reality and fantasy intermingle, and residents tell stories. The project focuses on the search for the relevance of traces of the past for life here and now. It reflects on the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam, a city that has always been a melting pot of cultures and people from different corners of the world. With theatrical and interactive flash mobs at various locations in Amsterdam West; aimed at a wide audience.

Each performance explores the current world in its own way, puts it under the microscope and is presented in the most creative and unique way. Young talents and city dwellers are inspired and given the chance to develop themselves further, use their own talents and learn new skills. After the ExploreZ festival in Amsterdam, two productions of the festival will travel on to Utrecht, Haarlem and The Hague as ExploreZ on Tour, in combination with a fringe programme including workshops and talks for a wide audience. 

International, inclusive and current

ZID Theatre is the driving force behind ExploreZ Festival and its mission is to use art as a mirror of society and the world we live in. They believe it is important to bring creators, participants and audiences together and create a place for interaction and dialogue. This creates new insights and inspiration for everyone. Every year, ZID Theatre highlights a topical theme by translating social issues into artistic projects for different audiences. This year it is 'Change/Change'. With its performances, ZID mainly shows work that has not been shown in the Netherlands before: it promotes dialogue and connects artists with urban talents and city dwellers.