Lost in Transition

Trump is shining on the cover of The Times, with his back turned away from us, his bleached blonde hair in the spotlights. The Trump brand sells. Populists are very good at their identity politics and they use any dissent to their own advantage. Their fixation on identity can be called extremist. Who is to blame? The Mexicans, the Muslims, the gays, et cetera.

In this day and age narcissism and pigeonholing reign supreme. An inward-looking attitude is omnipresent. It is expressed through our obsession with ‘self’, writes Thijs Lijster. The world is in transition; its complexity and instability make us unsure of who we are and less involved with other people and with our environment. We buy and construct ourselves in the gym, in the beauty industry and on Facebook. And the strange paradox is that we also want to be authentic: genuine and sincere. But is that not an impossible dream?

What is your identity? How is it determined and what influence does our changing world have on our identity? Another question is what role our origins, roots and gender play in who we are. Or what role does our relation to other people and with other people play? And what can other cultures teach us in this regard?

During Lost in Transition we will explore these questions together with artists and academics. We will discuss fluid identities, self-appreciation, hyper self-awareness, creatures of the night, LHBTQQIP2SAA, interdividuals, migration, gender-neutral toilets, machos, The New Uncanny, personal branding, social media, Eastern wisdom and Ubuntu.

Guests in this program:

Thijs Lijster (philosopher, RUG), Thijs Ebbe Fokkens (visual artist), Ruben Jacobs (sociologist, author, HkU), Chris Keulemans (journalist/author), Sigrid Merx (theatre scholar, UU), Dan Hassler-Forest (media scholar UU), Anastasia Mikova (documentary maker a.o. Human), Simone C. Niquille (graphic designer, researcher), Stijn Sieckelinck (pedagogue/philosopher, UU), Daniëlle Bruggeman (media scholar, researcher fashion & identity), Trudy Dehue (history and sociology of science/psychologie, RUG), Coco Kanters (anthropologist UU), Selm Wenselaers (producer, dramaturge, genderalist), Isis Germano (dramaturge, researcher, UU), Julius Thisssen (visual artist/performance), Tabea Martin (choreographer), Willem Popelier (photographer), Margret Wibmer (visual artist/fashion/performance), Elke van Campenhout (‎artistic researcher/dramaturge/ ‎a.pass – advanced performance and scenography studies), ICHEE (International Centre for human Quantum and Encounter Engineering – international collective choreographers/scenographers), Monali Meher (visual artist/performance), Daria Bukvić (theatre maker), Arno van der Hoeven (Assistant Professor Media & Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam), Our Machine (graphic designers for music and festivals), Igor Vrebac (theatre maker), Lana Coporda (choreographer), Sabine Wassenberg (philosopher, author), Anne La Berge (flutist, composer), Yoram Mosenzon (Nonviolent Communication Trainer), Kapwani Kiwanga (artist, filmmaker, anthropologist, researcher), Boris Saran (actor), Faarjam (musicians), Einfach Kurt (musicians), Rosa te Velde (design researcher), Jennifer Tosch (founder Black Heritage Tours), Jeroen van den Eijnde (Professorship Product & Interior Design ArtEZ), Tina Lenz (Design anthropologist), Olfa Ben Ali (visual artist), by BY (art collective), Simone Antangana Bekono (poet/performer), Donya Batta (poet/performer), Geertjan de Vugt (KNAW).