13 Jun

11:00

Museum Catharijneconvent

Lange Nieuwstraat 38, Utrecht

A festival centered on the power of connection, exploring what brings us together through a day of performances, art, music, and conversations.

Catharijne & Co Festival: Community & Art

More info & tickets

After a successful first edition with the theme Love & Art, we are taking the next step. Because what do you do with love? You share it! With friends, neighbors, your faith community, or colleagues. This creates something bigger: a community.

The power of connection is central during the Catharijne & Co Festival: Community & Art. In a world where individualization seems to be the norm, we are looking for what brings us together and what can arise from it.

A day full of performances, art, music, and conversations. Be surprised, participate, and experience for yourself what it's like to be part of different communities.

Please note: for some program components, there is a limited number of places. So be on time if you want to be assured of a spot.

Talk: The Art of Living Together

What is it like to build a new community with people you didn't choose yourself? In a care home, you become part of a new social world, whether you want to or not. Volunteers at the Bartholomeus Gasthuis share in this personal talk (30 minutes) what it's like to reconnect with strangers. They talk from their experiences about the distance and closeness they see among residents, about small encounters and unexpected close bonds. An honest and relatable conversation about living together, and what community means when you don't assemble it yourself.

Music: Stella LUFT

A gentle form of community in music. With her alternative electronic pop, Stella Luft creates music inspired by the idea of 'third spaces' from the club world: moments on the dance floor where you land, breathe, and perhaps feel space to meet new people. Let yourself be carried away by deep basses, layered electronics, and powerful vocals, and move between energy and stillness. Come closer together through the music, or let it take you to a place just for you.

Theater: The Pink Bubble (De Roze Bubbel)

Step out of your daily bubble and be taken on a theatrical tour of the 'Zin in...' exhibition. Together with creators from the queer performing arts platform De Roze Bubbel, guest curator Joris Christ, as his drag persona Tante Ger, will guide you through the exhibition with a delightful mix of art, drag, music, and stories. Between glitter and vulnerability, a surprising space emerges where you as a visitor explore together. About meaning, faith, and being queer. And how a community can arise precisely in that encounter.

Performance: 41 Dreamhunters

What do the beans tell about you? Step into a special ritual where chance and meaning come together. In this performance, artist Koštana Banović invites you for a personal bean reading from the Roma community: an ancient fortune-telling practice where fate reveals itself in chance. What begins as an interpretation of patterns unfolds into the sharing of stories. The bean reading becomes an exchange: a moment where you not only listen but also share. Thus, this personal ritual grows into an artistic form that enables exchange between people.

Talk: The Art Church (De Kunstkerk)

For those looking for inspiration, reflection, and a creative community. In the inspiration service of the KU/RK, you won't find a minister or priest, but passionate preaching about art. Using a work of art as a source of inspiration, Bowie Redman Barbiers questions life, reflects on the themes that art presents to us, and together we find inspiration for everyday life. Be inspired and discover how art is also a form of meaning-making.

Pop-up installation: FAAM

Together with FAAM and Utrecht-based makers Leon van Oldenborgh and Marieke van der Burg, Museum Catharijneconvent is developing a meaning-making installation that will travel through Utrecht. During Catharijne & Co, a first test version can be experienced. Come be a guinea pig and help us with further development!

Talk: Communities as (Moral) Anchors

About shared values, moral differences, and the search for connection. People are social animals: we derive meaning, direction, and connection from the groups we are part of. Shared moral values are important in this. But what is seen as 'good behavior' can differ per group. In this lecture by Félice van Nunspeet, you will discover how our social identity is formed by shared values and moral beliefs. How do you talk about that? And what are shared values, especially in a society where polarization often gets the attention?

Talk: Why Your Community Looks Like You (and How to Make It More Diverse)

Discover how you can break through your bubble. Our communities are often less diverse than we think. Groups of friends usually consist of people with a similar level of education, the same interests, and often a similar background. In this lecture, Tobias Stark shows why this is the case, even if we are open to others. Based on scientific insights, he examines how preferences, opportunities, and social networks shape our contacts. And what you can do yourself to make your own community more diverse.

Workshop: Community Hotspots

Find each other by sharing your favorite hotspots. What places in the city give you a sense of meaning? Thirty030 invites you to creatively mark your spot on a shared map of Utrecht and share it with others. After the festival, you will be linked to a stranger thanks to your chosen spot. At the beginning of your visit, you leave a personal trace; at the end, you discover someone else's. Step out of your bubble and be open to a surprising encounter!

Workshop: Zen Together

Movement, relaxation, and meeting. Step out of the hustle and bustle of the day and get moving during this lovely workshop by Yoga Moves. With simple exercises and attention to breath and rhythm, you shift the focus from your head to your body. Together, we create a moment of peace in the middle of the museum, and space is created to recharge. You can just participate in your own clothes; no experience is necessary.

Workshop: Sing Yourself Strong

Discover how quickly music connects people during this interactive singing workshop. Under the guidance of singing teacher Marjolein, you will work with simple breathing and voice exercises and sing multi-part music together. It's not about how well you can sing, but about doing it together: listening to each other, tuning in, and strengthening the feeling of togetherness. And all that among the art! Everyone can participate, with or without experience.

Performance: The House of Misconceptions

What happens when you really try to see someone? Let go of assumptions and truly meet each other. In this interactive performance by Abdalla Daif and De Voorkamer, you become part of a dynamic game between theater, storytelling, and participation. One question is central: how do we learn to really see someone before we put a label on them? Creator Abdalla Daif invites you to look beyond those labels and experience how prejudices arise and can be broken. A shared experience in which difference does not create distance, but rather forms the basis for encounter and community.