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ART AS A COUNTERBALANCE IN TIMES OF CRISIS: SPRING FESTIVAL KICKS OFF
On May 14, the SPRING Performing Arts Festival opened with a double bill by South Korean artist Sung Im Her. In the festival’s opening statement, artistic director Grzegorz Reske, accompanied by Mayor Dijksma, explained how a world in crisis calls for artists who pause, analyse and critique. In a sold-out main auditorium at the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Sung Im Her did just that with two powerful choreographies exploring resilience and excess.
During the interval of the double bill, artistic director Reske expresses his hopes for SPRING 2026 in his opening address:
“I hope, for you and for myself, that this festival becomes a ritual of seeking out disruptive frictions — a moment when we can look to the (often painful) past in order to imagine a better future, whilst at the same time keeping us firmly rooted in the present. A space to find inspiration to discover ourselves and one another in these times of uncertainty, fear and anger.”
ALSO SHOWING AT THE FESTIVAL
On Sunday 17 May, the Dutch artist Khadija El Kharraz Alami, based in Brussels, returns to the SPRING festival with her first major production, SHRINE, an immersive theatre piece in which grief, anger and resistance converge within a ritual space.
Island Bar by orangcosong & guests is a storytelling performance taking place in various cafés across Utrecht from 21 to 23 May. At the bar, migrants will serve you a personalised cocktail, mixed with their own history and identity.
Toshiki Okada, one of the leading playwrights and directors in contemporary Japan, returns to Utrecht on 21 May with a new collaboration. Together with Hana Sakai, a former soloist with the National Ballet of Japan, he presents Giselle: A Summary, offering a fresh perspective on the ballet tradition.
On Friday 22 May, two leading Asian artists will come together on the main stage of the Stadsschouwburg for SoftMachine: The Return. Through a blend of dance, documentary and monologue, Surjit and Rianto explore how their bodies and countries have evolved; from political resilience in India to the complexities of gender in Indonesia.
The festival concludes on 23 May with the Dutch premiere of Everything Must Go. For over 40 years, the iconic British collective Forced Entertainment has been exploring how pop culture and digital technologies influence our society. During SPRING 2026, they present Everything Must Go: using AI voices and precise lip-syncing, the performance explores how technology and our society evoke desires within us, and how these relate to what we truly want ourselves.
The festival runs until Saturday 23 May at various venues in Utrecht. For the full programme, visit springutrecht.nl