Training for the Contact Zone – Amsterdam Edition!

Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) has successfully wrapped its first training: meet our TCZ alumni and trainers. On September 23rd (online introduction) and September 29th and 30th, and 1st October 2025, the first Training for the Contact Zone organised by H401 took place in Amsterdam.

The first training resulted in an immersive three-day experience that brought together (self-)reflection, open dialogues, as well as creative methodologies and practices of care. The Amsterdam days were filled with lectures, exploratory walks, mindfulness exercises, communal meals and workshops led by professionals, each in their own field.

Mario Panico, Memory Studies scholar at the University of Bologna (IT), kicked off the training with an online introduction. His participatory discussion brought to the surface questions and best practices surrounding the themes of multivocal narratives and resignification practices within the Dutch post-colonial and WWII discourse.

The training proceeded on the first on-site day , navigating the theme of multivocality in the Dutch artistic landscape with curator Vincent van Velsen and subsequently with an exploratory walk and a participatory cartography exercise, led by our partners PELE and Conexiones improbables.

To conclude the first day, Maxim de Heer shared with us the concept of commensality: eating together as a way to explore and create contact zones by bringing people together in an informal space for dialogue. His carefully crafted menu reminded us all how food can spark conversations about culture, memory and togetherness.

As an alternative table speech, artist Merapi Obermayer presented her “How Are We Doing?” emphasising the need to stay in contact with each other and care for each other.

The second day started by grounding ourselves within our own contact zone with a mindfulness session with Mirjam Blok. This internal reflection prepared us for the afternoon group reflection on practices of care and co-participatory methods with Het Geluid Maastricht.

On the third day, Fleur Ravensbergen engaged us with her workshop Dialogue in Conflict and Cultural Heritage. Together, we practised active listening and reflected on the key skills needed to become a Contact Zone mediator.

Conclusively, we wrapped up the training trajectory with an evaluation session with all the (soon to be) TCZ Alumni to listen and process their last insights on the need for spaces like Contact Zones.

All photo credits ©LNDW Studio