As a teenager Diana Ritfeld was excited by the traditional Suriname headscarves that her grandma wore. These angisas are Surinamese cultural heritage; each form expresses a different message. The creative headscarves that Ritfeld wears and distributes are created without any pre-conceived plan and are artistic, free designs. Be just as spontaneous in creating your own headscarf with the help of Diana.

The poet Dean Bowen is interested in the reproduction of memories, or what amounts to telling ourselves fictional stories. How much is fiction, and how can this fiction be deployed as a strategy to communicate about our inner world? Take part in an exercise in unoriginal writing with Dean Bowen in order to become dishonest, perhaps in a slightly more honest way.

What kind of local support systems can we build right here and now? In the course of the workshop, a map, a timeline and a strategy will be created, for building complex patterns and systems of change through relatively small interactions.

What if we could tackle both the world’s energy and food problems? What if we could harvest both electricity and food within one system using the power of the sun? Power Plant is the world’s first self-powering greenhouse, developed by solar designer Marjan van Aubel. In the Power Plant workshop, we will develop concepts in a short time and translate them into scale models.

Discover your creativity with the help of multidisciplinary artist Maarten Bel.

Where does nature end and our body begin? Explore this through dance and movement under the inspiring supervision of the Amenti Collective. Draw inspiration from the Dissident Gardens programme and use Het Nieuwe Instituut as a playground for experiment.

Take your controller apart and put it back together again! In this hands-on workshop with Anja Groten and Heerko van der Kooij (Hackers & Designers), participants join battle with the computer.

This workshop has been cancelled.

The architect Arna Mačkić is concerned with questions of collective identity in countries and cities, and in how architecture can play a mediatory role. In this workshop she introduces participants to her way of thinking, leading to a more inclusive approach to the design of public space.

For architect Oksana Savchuk, walking helps us to bring body, mind and space together. In the workshop Trip Down Memory Lane Savchuk challenges you to visualise your latest or daily route from memory.

What is the role of the designer in a world that revolves around fast fashion? Design for Longevity is a design philosophy that aims to prolong the lifespan of garments. In this workshop we explore design thinking by focusing on disruptive design principles, such as hacktivism, modularity and non-material design solutions. Starting with love letter writing to your favourite garment as a research method.

Fashion designer Charlotte Kan is always looking for new techniques. During the last few months she has been focusing on experimenting with photosensitive paint.

The artist Jan Rothuizen worked on a huge mural inside Het Nieuwe Instituut. In the workshop ‘Draw Big’ you can join Jan for an expedition through the institute. He will encourage you to draw and write not only about what you see but above all about what you hear, feel and think on your journey. You then record all these experiences on a huge sheet! The final result: a collective ‘soft map’ of Het Nieuwe Instituut. This is a workshop for anyone who loves to draw or write, as well as those who like to mess about!