Crossings

On 19 June the participants in the Crossings session at Noorderpark are:

Monica Akihary is a Dutch vocalist of Moluccan origin. Together with composer-guitarist Niels Brouwer, she forms the core of BOI AKIH and received the prestigious Boy Edgar Prize in 2023. In 2017, Boi Akih performed at the Holland Festival in Paradiso with the specially composed piece Controlling the Swing. Monica has lived on the edge of Noorderpark for 18 years and feels as much at home there as she does in Ambon, where her family is from.

Originally from Italy, Giacomo Cardoni has lived in Amsterdam since 2013. In Noord, he is part of the Vliegtuin, an artists' collective on Distelweg. In January, his worst nightmare came true when his studio on Distelweg went up in flames. Together with the community of the Vliegtuin, he is now rebuilding his art house.

Mohamed Zouini was born in southern Morocco and spent his childhood on a small family farm. When he was 12, he moved to the Netherlands. In the Kleine Wereld area of Amsterdam Noord, he saw the community centres disappearing. This was something he wanted to do something about. In April 2023, he opened Buurthuis de Bol in the neighbourhood where he himself partly grew up.

Linda Carolus has been the owner of three cafes. Due to illness and personal losses, she lost everything and was homeless for some time. Twelve years ago, she ended up in Amsterdam Noord, where she eventually had a home again. Since then, she has dedicated herself to the neighbourhood by organising City Pass outings and budgets, among other things. She is also a DJ and spins every last Saturday of the month in Huis van de Wijk De Meeuw.

Joke van der Helm grew up in a small village near Leiden, but moved to Amsterdam when she was 25 and soon found her home in the Vogeldorp in Noord.

Basak Layic was born in Istanbul. After completing her studies in script writing in Istanbul, Başak moved to Amsterdam in 2017, where she has since established herself as a writer and performer. Her work centers around intertwining profound questions within intimate human narratives.

Niels Caszo was born in Bombay, but has been living in Amsterdam for some time. In two months time, Niels will officially become a Dutch citizen.

Saartje Van Camp grew up in the Flemish Noorderkempen, but has been living in Amsterdam Noord for almost 20 years, where she works as a cellist, singer and theatre maker. She composes music, writes lyrics and creates performances for adults and for children.

Samuel Harlen was born in Goiás, a big city in Brazil. He now lives with his mother in Amsterdam Noord.

On 15 June the participants in the Crossings session at Nelson Mandela park were:

Chander Peroti, 48, a resident of Amsterdam Southeast, has been a rap artist under the name Kiddo-Cee since 1991 and recently released an album called "1104, The Postcode Where It Started". Besides his career as a rap artist, Chander has also been working as a mentor and teacher of Citizenship at a MBO level 1 and 2 for 15 years. He also mentors trainee teachers who aspire to become teachers or social workers.

Tahrim Ramdjan, 25, is a general reporter for Het Parool, a lawyer and is working on a literary debut with Uitgeverij Pluim about identity. For instance, he discusses what it is like to be gay and Muslim, but also to go to secondary school in Amsterdam-Oud-Zuid as a boy from the Bijlmer. Tahrim enjoys telling stories in many text forms: sometimes his own, often other people's.

Neumine Marshall was born and raised in Brabant and has been a proud resident of South-East for 18 years. Neumine is an entrepreneur, podcast host, secretary, local politician, and survivor of the benefits affair. Everything she does, she does out of love for her community.

Koenraad Wiering, 33, grew up in a small village half an hour outside Amsterdam. For the past seven years, Koenraad has lived in the Bijlmer and has been involved in the Heesterveld Creative Community, among others. Koenraad is an artist, musician and DJ.

Carolyn Muntz, 68, is originally from Melbourne Australia, but has lived in Amsterdam for 28 years, where she has dedicated herself to the jazz and improvisational music scene for 20 years. In Zuid Oost, she is committed to improving the reading enjoyment of children from the neighbourhood in the library of a primary school.

Manoah Salampessy, 34, has lived in Amsterdam for eight years now, most of which in Zuidoost. Manoah has a Moluccan background regularly dedicates himself to the Moluccan community, for instance he collaborated on the exhibition Rumah Tua - Onderweg naar thuis which is now on display at Imagine IC in Amsterdam Zuidoost.

Terra Dakota Stein, 34, is a born and bred Amsterdammer and grew up in the Banne in Amsterdam North, but has recently moved to Southeast, where her parents met and where she feels completely at home. Stein works as a lawyer and is involved in several initiatives in the city.

Hendrika, 13, lives with her two sisters, her brother and her parents in Amsterdam Zuid Oost, where she is also part of the Mu6 choir led by Natali Boghossian.