Audio: Amsterdam, spring 2020

I wrote the first text in the summer of two thousand and eighteen, and I still think about it often. When I describe my way of working, I often say that it is fragmentary – because I don't experience life as one logical story, but as separate pieces, each with its own parts. The 'fragments' of Marijke and Noel still often go through my mind. That's hardly surprising, as Marijke and I still exchange Facebook messages almost every week, usually in the form of bears, hearts or flowers.

Sometimes she also sends me things that I don't really know how to respond to. Petitions for Black Pete to stay, or for people to be sent back to their own countries. I don't believe in Black Pete or in people's own countries – but I do believe in Marijke and Noel. They have touched me deeply and remain in my memory for their hospitality and how they dared to push their own boundaries. How they let us in out of curiosity and were surprised by what that openness brought. Not in physical or measurable forms, but in a connection."
 

Listen to the full audio clip from Maite below.