As usual, the Abraham Kuyper Lecture marks the final chord of the year of the Writer in Residence (Vrije Schrijver). Van Brederode fulfilled this role for the academic year of 2024/2025. In her closing lecture, she argues for more space to play. Play without direct purpose, but as a way to strengthen empathy, imagination and interconnectedness.
Désanne previously said in an interview with VU Magazine:
"It is important that we play more without a clear goal. I also think that playfulness is the solution to many problems. That a lot of polarisation does not benefit at all from even more talking, even more clarifying. In fact, where people can meet, space is often created."
After her lecture, VU literature scholar Jacqueline Bel and alumnus and 'change expert' Sander Balkenende reflect on the theme. Balkenende's work focuses on rituals in the workplace, also exploring the boundaries: when rituals lose their power or overshoot their purpose. Moderator and writer Ernest van der Kwast links the various contributions into an inspiring whole.
Linked to the Abraham Kuyper Lecture this year was a column competition for students. Some students read the column they wrote about their own ritual.
VU Choir
The evening will end with a performance by the VU Choir. The choir will perform pieces from Karl Jenkins' impressive The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. The piece is about peace and thus ties in perfectly with the theme of connection.
Admission prices
External relations: € 15.00
Employees and alumni VU: € 7.50
Students VU and members VUvereniging: free of charge (this will be checked)
Please note: no refunds possible
About the Abraham Kuyper Lecture
With the annual Abraham Kuyper Lecture, VU Amsterdam, in the spirit of its founder, aims to keep alive the social debate that is so characteristic to VU. To this end, a Writer in Residence (Vrije Schrijver) is invited every year to reflect in an essayistic manner on a topical theme in which the university as a social institution finds itself.
The language of the lecture will be Dutch, but translation will be available for English speakers.
The Abraham Kuyper Lecture is made possible in part by: VUvereniging | Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities