The Year of Resistance

When do you stand up in resistance? Do you demonstrate, or do you prefer to move in other ways?

In 2025—The Year of Resistance—Marte, alongside curators Rory Ronde and Didi Kreike, delved into new forms of personal and universal resistance.

What is The Year of Resistance?

In The Year of Resistance, we awoke the rebel within ourselves. When do you stand up in resistance? Where do you draw the line? And how do we remain in protest together?

Marte Boneschansker, Didi Kreike, and Rory Ronde invited everyone along. Every third Thursday of the month, we gathered in our studio in Amsterdam Oud-West for a rich and defiant programme. Think of a 'no-dinner', a rebellious walk, a rest-is-resistance spa, or a collective future-dance. Across eight sessions, we activated each other's inner revolt and rebellious spirit through the arts. These sessions formed the foundation for the performance OPSTAND (REBELLION).

"For me, resistance isn't just about opposition, protest, or resisting what you don't want—it's also a form of self-affirmation and autonomy. Saying 'no' to another is saying 'yes' to guarding your own boundaries."

— Marte

The Programme

Together with guest curators Rory Ronde and Didi Kreike, Marte put together a diverse and defiant programme. Across eight sessions, we reactivated the resistance within ourselves, from the personal to the universal.

Session 1: HOW TO DREAM

Awaken the rebel within. What does the day after your revolution look like? Our Dream Panel provided tools for utopian thinking. Didi enters into conversation with artist-provocateur Bambí Benko and maker/performer Christophe Meierhans about the day after the revolution. During this first session, we met the group and dreamt of a new world together. How do you build a utopia? We wrapped up the opening with the Afrofuturistic band I.L.L.N.O.L.E.D.G.E..

Session 2: HOW TO CONNECT

What brings you to the barricades, and with whom? During the second session, we explored our personal 'boiling point' and engaged with our doubts surrounding resistance. Does protesting even make sense? When do you get moving? In this session, we also dodve deeper into our group connections and the influence we have on the world around us. Led by Rory, Didi, and Marte.

Session 3: HOW TO EXPRESS YOURSELF

In this session, we translated resistance into image, language, music, and movement. Demonstrating is one way, but what other avenues of protest exist? How can we use art to give expression to our feelings of injustice and powerlessness? Dance your protest. Draw your protest. Sing your protest. Do you dare to give artistic shape to your defiance? Featuring physical performer and theatre maker Çiğdem Polat, graphic designer Joost de Haas, and artist, musician, and poet Marc Alberto. Led by Rory.

Session 4: HOW TO EXPERIENCE

In this session, we tested new material for the performance OPSTAND. The community was our first test audience and participated in an extensive feedback round with scenographer Geartsje van der Zee. Their input was crucial for the further development of OPSTAND.

Session 5: HOW TO USE YOUR BODY

How do you use your body in resistance? Where does physical resistance arise for you, and where are your boundaries within it? During this session, Didi explored how physical presence can constitute or evoke resistance. We moved through resistance alongside dancer and choreographer Connor Schumacher. We worked with the boundaries of consent: what happens when you give someone permission to cross your boundaries? When do you feel a YES, a NO, and a MAYBE?

Session 6: HOW TO HACK THE SYSTEM

This was an open session! For one evening, we opened our doors to let new guests join a session of The Year of Resistance. This was a hands-on session: armed with phone and laptop we erased our digital footprints and searched for open-source alternatives to tech giants with dubious reputations. We examined where your data is stored and what profiles exist about you, learned about propaganda, and discovered how AI can be harnessed for progressive impact on social media. The session opened with three field speakers explaining their work, after which we split into three action stations for an evening of (digital) change. Non-members could reserve a ticket via a 'Pay what you want' model.

Session 7: Performance OPSTAND

With The Year of Resistance, we attended an exclusive try-out of the performance OPSTAND. We immersed participants in a sensory, intimate theatre experience, taking them through all the perspectives on resistance gathered over the past months. Afterwards, we reflected together on the form and content of OPSTAND.

Session 8: HOW TO HEAL

The final session of The Year of Resistance focused on care, attention, and aftercare. Rest is resistance: how do you keep your candle from burning at both ends? How do you tend to your wounds after an act of resistance? What do you do when resistance fails? In our post-resistance spa, there was room for reflection, self-care, and connection. In the evening, we shared a meal together, featuring a series of food interventions designed by culinary artist Maureen de Jong (curator of The Year of Shadow, 2024) where rest is resistance came to life on the tongue and in the heart. Through our relationship with the earth, we read our letters together, sink into deep rest, and looked back on the past year.

REBELLIOUS DRINKS (REBELSE BORRELS)

Every other month, we gathered at Bar Bario, a safer space/cafe/expo space near our studio in Amsterdam West. During these informal gatherings, we met for conversation, togetherness, and getting to know one another better. It was also a space for mutual support (dare to ask!) and sharing what is alive within the group. The Rebellious Drinks were there for anyone looking for a deeper dive into the community.

The Curators

Rory Ronde: Composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist releasing music under the alias Kofi Anonymous. As a guitarist, he is part of bands such as New Cool Collective, Wouter Hamel, Eva van Manen, and The Inkcall. His music can also be heard in various podcasts, including the award-winning podcast De plantage van onze voorouders.
Rory: "I believe it is crucial that we as a collective bring about major systemic changes to keep our planet and society livable. We can no longer conform to this same system that damages us across all levels of existence (ecological, economic, social, interpersonal, and personal). My task as a musician and maker is to send out a signal. As a curator of The Year of Resistance, in collaboration with the participants and Marte's team, I hoped to find new ways to bring this about."
Rory developed the music for the performance OPSTAND.

Didi Kreike: Graduated in 2018 as a performer from the Toneelacademie Maastricht. Following graduation, Didi developed as a (site-specific) theatre maker under the wings of Over het IJ and Likeminds. Driven by a love for underground subcultures, they founded R3LN4CHT (@relnacht) in 2023, creating work at the intersection of performance and night culture.
Didi: "I was thrilled to contribute ideas to The Year of Resistance. In my own work, I focus heavily on (stretching) boundaries, morality, and spectatorship—themes where I feel a lot of overlap with Marte's work. I've been on the barricades for individuality and radical forms for a while now, so this exchange as a curator was going to be a real kick!"
Didi was a curator for The Year of Resistance.

Marte Boneschansker: Creates one-on-one experiential theatre originating from documentary material. Armed with a microphone, they develop intimate, physical audio works that bridge the gap between theatre and installation. In their community The Year of Resistance, they explored how her audience can become co-owners of their artistic process by bringing participants and other artists into their research on activating resistance. How can we stay together?
Marte is the creator of the performance OPSTAND.