Herengracht401

14/08/2026

🎙️ Diving into the Contact Zones – Connexiones Improbables

Our Diving into the Contact Zones podcast series brings together the voices behind the Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) project. Hosted by Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest), each episode explores a partner's local activities, workshops, and lessons learned, and how these shaped the shared TCZ curriculum for cultural mediators.

In this episode, Lukas Dedyn, Project Coordinator at Connexiones Improbables, and Alex Carrascosa—artist, activist, and professor at the University of the Basque Country—reflect on the development of the curriculum and discuss how artistic thinking and multipartial cultural mediation can help us engage with contested heritage.

Drawing on experiences from the Basque Country, they explore how cultural mediation is not about resolving conflicts, but about creating spaces where different perspectives can meet. Through artistic practice, memory becomes something we actively engage with, and everyone—not only museum professionals—can contribute to how places, histories, and their many layered narratives are understood and shared.

🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube – link in our bio!

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+ Adult Education.

09/08/2026

🎙️ Diving into the Contact Zones – H401

How can inclusive, decolonial heritage work be realised? What tools do we need to engage with contested histories? Our Diving into the Contact Zones podcast series brings together the voices behind the Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) project. Hosted by Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest), each episode explores a partner's local activities, workshops, and lessons learned, and how these shaped the shared TCZ curriculum for cultural mediators.

In this episode, Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest) speaks with Micol Manunta, project coordinator of the Training for the Contact Zone project at H401 in Amsterdam, and multidisciplinary artist Minal Naomi Wickrematunge, who facilitated H401's TCZ pilot training.

Together, they reflect on the Contact Zone concept at the heart of the project and why it is especially relevant in post-colonial and post-totalitarian contexts, where contested histories, unequal power relations, and questions of whose voices are heard continue to shape collective memory. Minal also shares insights into the ongoing colonial continuities in Sri Lanka and explores how artistic and participatory practices can create new ways of engaging with identity, belonging, and difficult heritage.

🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube – link in our bio!

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+ Adult Education.

06/08/2026

31/07/2026

We warmly invite you to “𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲”, a talk and collage exhibition by Victoria Capriles , presented as part of the 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 & 𝘔𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀? Through a selection of collages created during her own experience of forced displacement, Venezuelan human rights lawyer and visiting researcher Victoria explores migration, memory, belonging, and the everyday practices through which people rebuild their lives.

The exhibition presents a selection of collages from Victoria’s ongoing research, exploring displacement, belonging, and everyday peace. Following the exhibition, Victoria will be in conversation about her work as a human rights defender and researcher, discussing collage as an arts-based research method and its role in understanding experiences of mobility and peace.

The conversation will be moderated by 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗼́𝗻-𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗲𝗹, curator of the exhibition, who leads the advocacy work of a civil society organisation focused on mass atrocity prevention and freedom of religion or belief, bringing together advocates, policymakers and art practitioners.

✉️ RSVP: [email protected]
🗓️ Friday, 18 September 2026 | 17:30
📍 H401 – Herengracht 401

** H401 assisted with the research as partner of the Peace & Mobilities Consortium. For all partners and more information about this project go to: https://peaceandmobilities.org/

12/07/2026

📌 Day 2 of 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙕𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨, the final conference of the Training for the Contact Zone project, shifted the focus from reflection to action.

🔹 The morning began with a series of excercised facilitated by Carina Moutinho and Fernando Almeida (PELE) where participants meet one another, shared experiences and establish a common framework for the conversations ahead.

🔹 We continued the morning with 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙖𝙡: 𝘼 𝙍𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙖𝙥 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤, where Luiza Moroz (Culture Action Europe) and Marie-Hélène Soignet (Humán Platform) introduced the Contact Zone Manifesto: a collective vision for embedding democratic participation more deeply in cultural policy, institutional practice, and public life.

🔹 Next, project coordinator Micol Manunta (Herengracht401 ) took participants 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, offering a closer look at the Contact Zone methodology and the principles, tools, and experiences that have shaped the project over the past three years.

🔹 The morning concluded with the panel 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙, where project partners reflected on what happened when the methodology met local realities, showing how the Contact Zone approach evolved through practice, and what these experiences can teach us for the future.

✨ And this was only the first half of the day; we have many more highlights to share—stay tuned!

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Onderwijs & Training Adult Education programme.

📸 Photos by Francois de Ribaucourt

12/07/2026

✨ And that’s a wrap!

The final day of 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙕𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨, the closing conference of the Traininf for the Contact Zone, invited us to look ahead: how do we carry the Contact Zone beyond the project itself?

🔸 We began with 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙕𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚?, a workshop in which Roberto Gómez de la Iglesia (Conexiones improbables ) invited participants to explore how the Contact Zone approach can take root across different sectors and communities, reflecting on questions of power, trust, institutional change, and how we move from safe spaces to brave ones.

🔸 The conference ended with 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘿𝙤 𝙒𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚?, where practitioners Romy Roelofsen and Gableroelofsen (Het Geluid Maastricht) and Benjamin Caton (Decolonial Indonesian Dutch Commemoration) shared their experiences of engaging communities through artistic practices that recognise participation as a cornerstone of democratic life.

As this chapter comes to a close, we want to thank every speaker, participant and partner organisation who contributed their knowledge, curiosity and commitment throughout the Training for the Contact Zone journey.

📌 Missed the conference? Recordings of the live-streamed sessions, together with the project's publications and resources, are available on the Training for the Contact Zone website. Find the link in the comment below. ⤻

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Onderwijs & Training Adult Education programme.

📸 Photos by Francois de Ribaucourt

05/05/2026

Erasmus+
We're still reporting from our incredibly productive partner meeting hosted by Συναγωγή Ετς Χαγίμ/Synagogue Etz Hayyim in Chania, Crete.

Next year, we’ll engage around 100 participants in participatory trainings focused on addressing difficult heritage and memory.

The training implementation is led by PELE Association, and on Day 2 of our partner meeting, Maria João Mota—co-founder of PELE (2007), a nationally and internationally recognized collective in the field of participatory and community-based artistic practices—presented the plan for developing the TCZ training concept.

The TCZ consortium is composed by:
• Culture Action Europe (Brussels, Belgium),
• Conexiones improbables (Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain),
• Συναγωγή Ετς Χαγίμ/Synagogue Etz Hayyim (Chania, Crete Greece),
• Goethe-Institut Bucuresti (Bucharest, Romania),
• Humán Platform (Budapest, Hungary),
• PELE (Porto, Portugal),
• Herengracht401 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

🔵 TCZ is an Erasmus+ project and is co-funded by the European Union.

05/05/2026

Mapping the Contact Zone 📍🗺️

Within the framework of the Training for the Contact Zone project, we created a digital map where we invite our heritage enthusiast community to contribute their own Contact Zone entry.

𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫!

A Contact Zone is any social and cultural space where diverse perspectives, experiences, and histories come into contact, co-exist, and are negotiated. 👥

Contact Zones can emerge in moments where people cross lines of difference and build bridges for understanding one another.
Our interactive map allows you to share and reflect on those moments. ✨

By sharing your story, you can help us visualize how contact zones appear in everyday life, across cultures, and within communities. You can also explore and read stories written by others about their experiences.

Access the map here: https://map.contactzone.eu 🌍

🔵 This map is part of the Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) project, an Erasmus+ initiative co-funded by the European Union.

05/05/2026

𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐂𝐙 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 — 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.

💡 The conference took place on 2-3 December at the Goethe-Institut Bucharest. Over two special days, heritage and museum professionals as well as TCZ's own Community of Practice were invited to meet the TCZ project team and begin building a transnational network for collaborative action within the heritage, museum, and cultural sector at large.

🔹 Drawing on the concept of the Contact Zone — spaces where different identities and perspectives meet — the event highlighted the role of dialogue and cultural mediation in fostering mutual understanding, inclusive participation, and collective action.

🔹 The conference presented the results of the Training for the Contact Zone project (TCZ), which developed and tested a curriculum and training format designed to equip professionals with practical tools to engage with complexity and difference.

🔹 Through talks, keynotes, screenings, and interactive workshops, participants reflected on cultural heritage, narrative justice, and cultural rights, shared insights from pilot trainings, and discussed who gets to tell community stories. The programme encouraged critical reflection, collaboration, and learning, laying the foundation for future actions that support cultural democracy and stronger connections between communities and institutions.

📩If you are involved in the heritage and museum field and would like to connect with our team, get inspired, share experiences, and become part of our network, please contact us at:
📩 [email protected]

Foto credits: Larisa Balta

🔵 TCZ is an Erasmus+ project and is co-funded by the European Union.