On September 23rd (online introduction) and September 29th and 30th and 1st October 2025 the first Training for the Contact Zone organised by H401 took place in Amsterdam.
It addressed the entanglement between memory, identity and heritage. Starting from the notion of Contact Zone, the opportunities, challenges and questions they hold, the Amsterdam pilot training dived into the Netherlands’ colonial identity and its efforts to address its legacy.
With a wide variety of Trainers, it worked on several Modules from the TCZ Curriculum by:
- building together on the basis of our contact zones (Module 1),
- challenging multivocal narratives (Module 5) and exploring best practices of community participation (Module 3).
- addressing the tensions and opportunities that the culture heritage holds (Module 5).
- conclusively by practicing together skills for cultural mediation (Module 2).
The first training resulted then in an immersive three-day experience that brought together (self-)reflection, open dialogues, as well as creative methodologies and practices of care. The Amsterdam days were filled with lectures, exploratory walks, mindfulness exercises, communal meals and workshops led by professionals, each in their own field.
Drawing on notions of commensality, cultural mediation, mindfulness, and collective cartography, the participants and trainers shaped a safe space to explore their place within contact zones and their interactions with others.
Read more here.
