The Year of Grief
2022
Leading up to the walking audio performance ROUW (GRIEF), which Marte developed in 2022, The Year of Grief launched in February 2022: a programme exploring grief and loss from every perspective.
What did the programme look like?
The Year of Grief was structured around the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages overlap—grief comes in waves—they are erratic and fluid. You can accept something completely, yet still feel anger flare up again. Across ten sessions, we explored loss in all its forms and facets, translating personal grief into a collective experience.
The Year of Grief was an ongoing dialogue between Marte and the members: balancing a thoughtfully curated programme with dedicated space for sharing personal stories of loss. Marte invited various theatre makers and artists to work in the studio—functioning as a Temple of Grief throughout the year—and share their artistic process with participants. Together with her scenographer Geartsje van der Zee, Marte created a new, safe space for every gathering where the physical, embodied experience of loss is explored.
The Sessions
Session 1: Denial (Part 1)
First gathering + grief dinner. Shula Tas read excerpts from her book Waar Gezongen Wordt (Where Singing Happens).
Session 2: Denial (Part 2)
A night walk through De Nieuwe Ooster cemetery and a museum visit to the Tot Zover Funeral Museum. Featuring a conversation with museum director Guus Sluiter, and Tatjana Almuli read from her book Ik zal je nooit meer (I Will Never You Again).
Session 3: Anger (Part 1)
Lecture and workshop by Barbara Raes, an artist with a practice centered around unprocessed loss. Barbara develops farewell rituals with Beyond the Spoken: a workspace for unacknowledged loss where she collaborates with artists to craft bespoke rituals for unrecognized turning points in life.
Session 4: Anger (Part 2)
Roundtable session where people shared personal stories of loss. What are you angry about? Where do you feel that anger in your body? Additionally, Jason Winter guided us into the world of healing dance, exploring how movement can support our grief process. Jason's session was for everyone, including 'non-dancers'. Jason believes everyone can dance; his goal was to send us out the door with greater confidence and a sense of freedom.
Session 5: Bargaining (Part 1)
Presentation by resident artist Guillermo Blinker a.k.a. OTION. Guillermo is an MC, singer-songwriter, dancer, and poet. During his residency, OTION investigated the relationship between grief and ritual.
Session 6: Bargaining (Part 2)
Roundtable session where people shared personal stories of loss. What rules do you impose on your own grieving process? How visible is your grief? Adilça Rodrigues Soares read from new work. Writing and performing under the pseudonym DeedovichPoet, nothing is taboo—from mental health to sexuality. She writes in the language of her emotions: Dutch, English, Cape Verdean Creole, and Portuguese.
Session 7: Depression (Part 1)
Residency presentation by Joske de Koning. Joske creates and performs her own work as a solo artist, in the collective King Sisters (with her sisters), and with poetry bands The Selfkickers and Vezel. Joske's artistic research focused on death growling (grunten): raw and rugged, a vehicle to release the grief living inside us. She shared what she discovered during her residency.
Session 8: Depression (Part 2)
Roundtable session where people shared personal stories of loss. Do you dare to gaze into the depth of your loss? And how do you find movement again? Together with Susanne Duijvestein, we discussed ecological grief. Susanne is a holistic funeral director and teacher of sustainable funerals. In her practice, she applies grief work to climate change and biodiversity loss, developing farewell rituals that connect us with nature.
Session 9: Acceptance (Part 1)
Presentation by resident artist Bart van de Woestijne. During his residency, Bart focused on the fading of memories and the deceptiveness of human memory.
Session 10: Performance ROUW (GRIEF)
Membership included a ticket to the performance ROUW (GRIEF) in Amsterdam.
Session 11: Acceptance (Part 2)
Year-end closing and retrospective.