Mark June 18 in your calendar, because it’s time for GRASnacht again!

GRASnacht is a daring cultural project organized by a young generation of creatives. We invite makers to develop new perspectives and collaborate with other disciplines — from visual artists and musicians to writers, philosophers, and theatre makers. GRASpunt is their laboratory: a place where they are in residence for a few weeks and experiment on a small scale with grand ideas. The results of that experiment are shared with the public during GRASnacht.

One of the residents is music theatre maker, composer, and performer Marnix Vinkenborg. He creates performances in which the everyday clashes with the absurd — fueled by obscure pop, dark comedy, and situations that are taken just a little too far. Humor, alienation, and friction form the engine of his work, in which music functions as the supporting theatrical force.

For GRASnacht, he is exploring the IJ Tunnel Mars. With the lyrics ‘Stop whining, because the time for waiting is over,’ the IJ Tunnel was opened in 1968 — a 1,600-meter underwater ‘Autobahn’ that broke through the isolation of Amsterdam North. Marnix dives into the history of this underground monument: he consults archives, conducts interviews with residents, former builders, and experts, and investigates whether contemporary musicians can perform a new hymn to the tunnel, just as Willy Alberti did in 1968. A place where the city opens up. Or perhaps closes off?

Curious to see who else is presenting work? We will announce that soon!