Kees Biekart
is a political scientist connected with the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, an international training and research centre for global issues that is part of Rotterdam's Erasmus University. Biekart is interested in social change and social movements, and especially looks at how activists in the so-called "emerging economies" (such as of South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, India and Indonesia) strive for more equality and the right to partake of the new-found prosperity. Together with his international students, he looks for alternative ways to support political democracy at a grassroots level in these countries. He constantly seeks out new forms of research, including "storytelling," which has become an important method for him.
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Archive available for: Kees Biekart
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ISS Storytelling afternoon
With: Iman Mersal, Kees Biekart, Lamin Kuyateh, Robin Block
On 16 June 2022, the International Institute of Social Studies was once again host the International Storytelling Afternoon. During what has become a much-loved classic at Winternachten Festival, visitors, writers, students and teachers told each other stories.
For this edition, the stories focused around the theme Whose House Is This? Feel free to take "the house" as a metaphor and to explore it from different angles: the house of the family, the house of society, of democracy, of literature... The theme question Whose House is This? called for stories about feeling at home (or not), leaving your home, or finally finding it in an unexpected place.
Come and listen to stories from all over the world and, if you like, share your own story!
Maximum 5 minutes and in English only - no other rules.
On behalf of Winternachten Festival, authors Robin Block and Iman Mersal were present and share their stories too. Kees Biekart was the moderator of the afternoon. Lamin Kuyateh provided musical interludes. -
International Storytelling Symposium
With: Asmaa Azaizeh, Kees Biekart, Lamin Kuyateh, Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ, Rosalba Icaza Garza, Zuleika Sheik
This program at the Institute of Social Studies has become a much-loved classic at Winternachten Festival. Visitors, writers, students and teachers tell each other stories. This time around, the theme was "decolonisation", which has quickly become a key word in the world of museums, universities and society at large. But how are you dealing with this individually? How are you decolonising your thinking or your life, at your workplace or at home? What are you experiencing, and what challenges do you encounter?
Llsten to stories from all over the world and, if you like, share your own story! Maximum 5 minutes and in English only - no other protocol. Among the participants were writer, poet, essayist and literary scholar Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ - who was born in the US and grew up on Kenya. Asmaa Azaizeh, Palestinian poet and essayist, Zuleika Sheikh and Rosalba Icaza, teachers at the Institute of Social Studies, also talked about their experiences with "decolonising the mind". The stories were interspersed by muscial performances by Lamin Kuyateh.
The 25th anniversary edition of Writers Unlimited festival payed special attention to liberation and, more specifically, to the decolonisation of (Western) thinking. How free is our mind, what does that freedom mean, and are we really free or are we trapped in the framework of our culture, society and history? This theme was partly based on Decolonizing the Mind, an essay by Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ''s father, the Kenyan writer and social activist Ngugi wa Thiong'o. The essay is about colonised language and its still-noticeable influence. With this theme, the festival also established a link to its early editions, which focused on The Netherlands' relationship with Indonesia, Surinam, the Antilles and South Africa.
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Imagine Africa is the Future - International Storytelling Symposium
With: HemelBesem, Jan Pronk, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Kees Biekart, Lamin Kuyateh, Otieno Ong'ayo
Africa is often in the news with regard to wars, drought, famine, poverty and migration to Europe, as we see in the images of boating tragedies in the Mediterranean. But even though many problems remain to be solved, Africa is going through a process of socio-economic transformation. 'Africa is the Future' is more than just a slogan on a T-shirt. During this storytelling symposium organized in collaboration with the International Institute of Social Studies, academics, writers, poets and politicians from Africa and Europe speak to and with the public. They shared their stories and ideas about the future from and about the African continent, interspersed by muscial performances by Lamin Kuyateh. English spoken.
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World Storytelling in ISS
With: Çağlar Köseoğlu, Efe Murad, Kees Biekart, Magda Cârneci, Mira Feticu
Listen to stories from near and far. They were told by African, Latin American and Asian students from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, as well as by four Winternachten festival guests: poets Efe Murad (Turkey), Magda Cârneci (Romania), Mira Feticu (Netherlands) and Çaglar Köseoglu (Netherlands) who contributed with stories about writing poems in revolutionary times. Kees Biekart, Associate Professor in Political Sociology at ISS, hosted the conversations. English spoken.
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World Storytelling in the Institute of Social Studies
With: Kees Biekart, Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas, Salena Godden
Listen to stories from near and far. They will be told by African, Latin American and Asian students, as well as by Winternachten Festival guests Salena Godden (UK) and Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas (Poland). Do you have a story that fits the bill? Come down to the ISS and get registered. In English
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World Storytelling at the Institute of Social Studies
With: Kees Biekart, Petina Gappah
Listen to stories from near and far on the theme of "With the Best of Intentions". They will be told by African, Latin American and Asian students, as well as festival guest Petina Gappah. Do you have a story that fits the bill? Come down to the ISS and get registered. In English
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World Storytelling at the ISS
With: Kees Biekart, Maaza Mengiste, Nii Ayikwei Parkes
There's nothing better than telling one another stories. Stories from
near and far by students of the International Institute of Social Studies, by foreign writes, and by the public. The theme of this English-language afternoon of storytelling is "At Home," about feeling at home. The ISS students and the writers have prepared their stories. Do you have a story you'd like to tell. Join us!
The ISS students come from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They live in The Hague for a year and a half, and bring many stories from their home countries. Foreign writers like Ethiopia's Maaza Mengiste, a festival guest, will also participate. Kees Biekhart hosts, and there will be music.
This programme is in English. Do you have a story that fits the bill? Register at the ISS. You have five minutes to tell your story about "At Home." -
World Stories in Theater Dakota - I Did It My Way
With: Antjie Krog, Kees Biekart, Linda Christanty, Neco Novellas, Rodaan Al Galidi
Nothing better than telling each other stories. Stories form afar and closer to home told by students of the Institute of Social Studies and the Haagse Hogeschool, by the audience, and by foreign writers. I did it my way is the subject of the stories: about an important moment of choice in one's life.
Students of the ISS, mostly coming from southern countries, are guided in telling their stories by drama experts of De Kosmonaut, who give them workshops in the months preceding the festival. Students of the Haagse Hogeschool write their stories together with drama teacher Martine Zeeman.
Three writers, guests of the festival, also participate: poet Antjie Krog (South Africa), poet Rodaan Al Galidi (Iraq/the Netherlands) and writer Linda Christanty (Indonesia).The programme is bilingual: Dutch and English. The storytellers are accompanied by the music of the Mozambican singer/guitarist Neco Novellas. Do you have a five-minute story that fits in? There's no need to register. Just shout!
