Voice4Thought Festival 2016: ‘People in Motion’

After last year’s successful edition Voice4Thought is back with its second annual festival. This year’s theme is ‘People in Motion’. From 21-25 September the festival will be held on various locations in Leiden. Artists, scientists and journalists will collaborate and share their contribution through music, film, modern dance, visual arts, workshops, panel discussions and debates. Also check out the ASCL Library selection on 'People in motion', a list of literature on the festival's theme.

Festival

Artists, scientists, journalists and activists from different backgrounds will come together during the festival. They are all ‘people in motion’: refugee, migrant or traveller. Together they create a voice which explains what it means to be ‘in motion’ in our current times. Scheltema, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (RMO), Lumière Hall in the Nieuwe Energie and the Lipsius builing of Leiden University will be the decor of the festival. The audience, both young and old, can submerge themselves in the world of V4T by joining the academic discussion or visiting the movie night organised by the African Studies Centre Leiden. They can also enjoy modern dance and concerts with diverse (inter)national artists, in co-production with the record label Antilounge from The Hague. Furthermore, there will be an art exposition as part of the Kunstroute Leiden, which will give the visitor a unique view on the theme of the festival. In addition, a workshop for high school students will be held in Leiden in collaboration with LeidenGlobal, and a blog workshop will be hosted. The combined blogs will shape a story about and with ‘people in motion’ and will be published on the V4T website.

People in Motion

In Europe, many of the new migrants’ liberties are clipped. Migrants have to abide by the political choices which are made about their lives; choices made by others, without getting the chance to protest against them. In the Netherlands and other European countries, many migrants live in a kind of in-between ‘state’ in which they can’t express themselves and where the joie de vivre is slowly being extinguished. V4T strives to give these people a voice and start a dialogue, in particular to give a reflection upon migration and mobility in this day and age. Our hope is that people will think critically about the current issues and problems around migration and about the situation of migrants and other ‘people in movement’.

Festival programme

Wednesday 21-9
15.00 – 17.00 Opening V4T Festival, dance performance and drinks (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden)

Thursday 22-9
10.00 – 17.00 LeidenGlobal Scholierenconferentie 2016 (RMO)
19.00 – 22.00 Movie night ASCL: Film Stranded in Canton (Lumière Zaal)

Friday 23-9
15.00 - 17.00 Panel Discussion ‘Policies for “People in Motion” kill creativity and progress’ (Lipsiusgebouw)
17.30 - 19.00 Dinner and networking opportunity (Scheltema)
19.30 – 22.00 Intimate concert featuring various artists and Band4Thought (Scheltema)

Saturday 24-9
11.00 – 16.00 Bloggers workshop (Lipsiusgebouw)
12.00 – 01.00 Exhibition ‘People in Motion’, part of Kunstroute Leiden (Scheltema)
20.00 – 01.00 Concert V4T featuring e.g. Ernst Jansz (Doe Maar) (Scheltema)

Sunday 25-9
12.00 – 17.00 Exhibition ‘People in Motion’ (Scheltema)
Evening concert in collaboration with Kytopia

More information will follow soon! Keep an eye on the Voice4Thought website.