ENCOUNTERS: Zooming in on International Cultural Collaboration

Everything starts with an encounter. At DutchCulture, we create conditions for makers and cultural professionals to meet across borders because that’s where new work, new thinking, and new alliances begin.

Between 16–22 November, we are pulling that everyday work into the open with ENCOUNTERS, combining existing cultural programmes into a week-long programme. This offers a chance to show why international cultural collaboration matters, and to do it together rather than alone. That’s why we’re working closely with a wide range of partners to shape the week’s programme.

We are living in a time when societies are turning inward. A growing focus on security, closing borders and retreating behind national lines is reducing the willingness to invest in international cooperation. This puts real pressure on international cultural relations.

A similar shift is taking place in our personal lives. Online algorithms and filter bubbles can leave us disconnected from others, contributing to isolation and loneliness. We use artificial intelligence to save time, but do we use that extra time to meet in person? Meanwhile, the spaces that make encounters possible cannot be taken for granted. Across Europe, community spaces and cultural institutions are under financial and institutional pressure.

These trends push us in the same direction: towards isolation and away from human connection. ENCOUNTERS explores what we can do differently. What kinds of encounters do we need to sustain international cultural relations and create more space to meet face to face? Coming together is about more than sharing a space. It can change us. When two worlds meet, something new can emerge.

13 November 16:00 – 19:00 | Opening Reception
To kick off ENCOUNTERS, we gather with our main collaborators and partners to explore the programme and a central question: how can we open ourselves to the world?

16 November 13:00 – 14:20 | Towards Decolonising Heritage Protection
Cultural Emergency Response (CER) invites Egyptian partner Amany Abd El Hameed, an Egyptologist and heritage researcher, for a conversation on decolonising heritage protection and recognising the often-overlooked contributions of local communities.

16 November 15:00 – 17:00 | Coactive Museums
A workshop with the Ukrainian Institute, ICOM UK, ICOM Ukraine and the Museums Association brings heritage professionals together to challenge colonial narratives and the mislabelling of Ukrainian cultural heritage. Through shared learning, participants explore how to address and undo the legacy of imperialism in their institutions and practices.

17 November 09:30 – 12:30 | Staying Connected II
The City of Amsterdam is preparing a survey of the city’s cultural sector to understand its needs and experiences in working internationally. The findings will inform the new Kunstenplan. This is a first step towards safeguarding the sector’s international connections at a time when public investment in cross-border collaboration is under pressure.

18–22 November
DutchCulture contributes to Amsterdam Art Week’s programme for in-depth exchange and internationalisation, bringing international curators, collectors and press together with Dutch galleries, museums and resident artists.

18 November 19:30 – 21:15 | The World and the Earth: In Conversation with David Van Reybrouck
Nieuwe Instituut and DutchCulture invite thinker and historian David Van Reybrouck to reflect on his essay The World and the Earth. He challenges us to think beyond states and borders: what could cultural relations, politics and representation look like if they took the interests of future generations and the living world seriously? Moderated by Meta Knol.

19 November | Together with cluster members of EUNIC Netherlands, we explore how arts education can ‘go off centre’ at the ELIA Biennial Conference 2026, hosted by ArtEZ. The programme includes a session on residency models and the Zoöp model with Klaas Kuitenbrouwer and Nahun Saldaña.

19 November 09:30 – 12:30 | DutchCulture Walk-in XXL 
DutchCulture's monthly special connects artists and creative professionals directly with curators from international institutions, this time in cooperation with Amsterdam Art Week.

19 November 13:30 – 15:00 | Mind the Space: Dutch Culture through the Looking Glass with Kiriko Mechanicus
What does Dutch culture look like from the other side? Who are we when we meet someone abroad, and do we recognise ourselves in what they see? Filmmaker and interviewer Kiriko Mechanicus (A Tomato Tragedy, How to Catch a Butterfly) sits down with two internationally active makers based in the Netherlands to ask these questions.

21 November 18:30 – 20:15 | Screening: A Modern Roma Fairytale
DutchCulture Creative Europe MEDIA Desk organises industry meetings with IDFA and joins the screening of A Modern Roma Fairytale (dir. Raluca Lupaşcu, 2026).

ENCOUNTERS builds on existing collaborations while making room to reflect on what comes next. What could future encounters look like? How should international cultural collaboration evolve – in the forms it takes, how it is funded and who gets to take part? Throughout the week, we will come together to explore these questions.

ENCOUNTERS is initiated and coordinated by DutchCulture, the Dutch platform for international cultural cooperation. It is developed with partners from the cultural sector, government and international networks, including the City of Amsterdam, IDFA, Amsterdam Art, ELIA, ArtEZ University of the Arts, Cultural Emergency Response, Nieuwe Instituut, the Prince Claus Fund, Ukrainian Institute, and Domo, alongside other organisations connecting the Netherlands with the world.