An incredible Week At Sickhouse, this is what we want to be

The last few days @ Sickhouse were so beautiful! We hosted 3 very different events with 3 different groups of guests and together they say a lot about the space(s) we created in Enschede.

Thursday the students of Amnesty international of the University put together an activist exhibition, inviting artists to react to the campaign around sexual violence : “Let’s talk about Yes”. Not only many visual artists, poets, singers, performers answered the call, but many people felt concerned, listened and cared. It was intense and beautiful. Thursday thanks to this wonderful group of students led by Yara Hisham and Alexandra Mulder, Sickhouse was an emotional space to shelter the pain and the struggles of many victims.Reminder : Around one in ten female students have been penetrated without consent at some point during their time at university, Amnesty International reports. One percent of male students report non-consensual penetration. (Utoday 06-2021)The group of students is working hard on getting the UT to sign the manifesto that ensures better protection of studentsFriday Nkhensani Mkhari were in Enschede. Curator and artist from South Africa, they were the curator of Misava last year as part of The Overkill. Due to the pandemic they could not make it to Enschede then, but last week, we were really happy to meet them irl and to listen to their stories. They curated a screening night “Bona” with video art from artists from the African diaspora. We cooked together meals from these artists' original countries, we talked about home and the spaces that can become home. Friday Sickhouse was a space to share about dreams, history, Europe, artistic empowerment in decolonisation processes, appropriation, responsibility… Saturday the wonderful Niels F. Rodenburg and Jolanda Mensink hosted the very much expected Queerdoh event. A night where queers of Enschede could unpologatically be themselves, a party where bodies, identities, plurality were not questioned but celebrated. Saturday, thanks to incredible (and for some a first on stage) singers, performances, musicians and play doh, Sickhouse was a sparkling and warm safe space.Sickhouse is very proud and happy to host these events and give room to make them possible. We need to keep doing this, talking about this, celebrating this. We need to preserve space to do this. We strongly feel, after such a week, that there are many people that need such an emotional, confronting and celebrating safe space.