With literature

On 3 May, Olivier Guez will return to our stage with ‘Le Grand Tour’. He invited a writer from each EU Member State to write a story around locations from European culture and history that speak to the imagination. During this evening, our guests will include Dutch writer Jan Brokken. He will present the non-fictional Mademoiselle Wilhelmina est délicieuse. The story takes place at the painter's colony in Volendam between 1880 and 1930, where Norwegian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Belgian, French and English painters spent time together for months and sometimes years at a time or, during World War I, fought one another. Writer Agata Tuszyńska will represent Poland.

On the barricades

The flagship of our Europe events will come home to Bozar on 9 May. During May Day: Europe at War, you will be introduced to the magazine of the same name, which is now in its 3rd edition. On 24 February 2022, we awoke to the news that a war had broken out on the continent, threatening the decades of peace that underpin the European project. The invasion of Ukraine is reminiscent of an era we thought was a thing of the past. What does it mean for Europe and its citizens? And what are the implications for Europe's unresolved conflicts – over identity, democracy and sustainability? Read all about it in the new Mayday Magazine.

In stories of consolation 

Although On Consolation was written in 2017, with the outbreak of the corona crisis in 2018, and with the current conflict in Ukraine, the book gained not one but at least two additional dimensions. Politician and writer Michael Ignatieff is coming to our stage on 17 May to present his most recent book. In On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times, he tells how great figures from history, literature and art drew consolation from the tragedies they experienced. Using classics such as the works of Cicero and Dante, El Greco’s paintings, the music of Mahler or Primo Levi’s texts, the Canadian Ignatieff returns to some of the masterpieces of European history. Not entirely surprising. His father was a Russian refugee who moved to Canada after the Revolution. And from 2016 to 2021, Michael Ignatieff was Rector and President of the Central European University in Budapest.

Through young eyes

He managed to fill an auditorium with students on a Friday night and has more followers on Instagram than just about any French presidential candidate except Emmanuel Macron. A lot of young people identify with the discourse of the committed essayist/writer Raphaël Glucksmann, who entered politics and sits in the European Parliament. He covers topics that directly affect the young generation, such as climate change. Some even regret that he did not run for President in the 2022 elections. The movement of Glucksmann and his Place Publique party could well have great influence on the public debate in the years to come. Appointment on 1 June at Bozar.