THe coucH

essay
Are TikTok Healers Contemporary Quacks or Re-risen Witches*?
Are the countless self-proclaimed ‘healers’ giving medical advice on TikTok quacks? Or are they a sign that witches* have reclaimed their space in the health field, reviving lost knowledge and offering the care that mainstream healthcare still fails to provide?

interview
'When you mourn, everything is included'
Asa Horvitz unearths the many layers of GHOST: his poignant performance project on death and its presence among the living.

podcast
Crit Club Ep.2: Lucia Pietroiusti and Nora Sternfeld
In this podcast, a contextual performance by Cem A. (aka @freeze_magazine) and Roberto Winter, curators Lucia Pietroiusti and Nora Sternfeld debate an impossible question: should museums exhibit only living artists, or dead artists?

column
Noa’s Advice: How To Stand Out
If artistic production (within the artworld) is tied to individual mystique and brilliance — then how the hell are we supposed to stand out if the Netherlands alone produces such a vulgarly deflating abundance of artists?

interview
Atelier Brenda: Thinking Beyond The Format
We explore the minds behind our identity for The Couch, which is made by Belgium-based design studio Atelier Brenda, run and founded by Sophie Keij and Nana Esi. With a growing portfolio and many experiences in the art and music world, they are ready to conquer the world.

podcast
Future Artefacts Episode 2
For the second episode of Future Artefacts FM in collaboration with The Couch, hosts Nina and Niamh discuss Bea Xu's work which questions how rituals can guide, mislead or comfort us.

check-in
Check-in with… HMTP talents and coaches
After the music video release Vamos by KG and Fabs, a track written during the Homebase Music Talent Programme (HMTP) Writer’s Camp, Berber Meindertsma speaks with them and two of the coaches of the camp.

fiction
The Hotel Corpus: A (data) body horror story
“How much data about herself would she have to provide before the stupid machines could understand who she truly was, what she truly wanted?”
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Director’s Commentary tɯ:nar tɯ:n:a:q ihijbit by sata taas
In this special version of tɯ:nar tɯ:n:a:q ihijbit for our Director’s Commentary series, sata taas members speak to, or with, the video, invoking the solidarity between Indigenous peoples of the Arctic and the land, the spirits, animals and plants they share territory with.

essay
The Moment You Discover Eyelashes
“This is what I want to remember: ‘Repetition is a form of change’. But I’m not sure whether I think this is lame or actually holds a profound truth.”
check-in
Check-in with... Stéphanie Janaina
Berber Meindertsma speaks with dancer and choreographer Stéphanie Janaina, almost four years after she performed ¡miércoles! at Het HEM.

article
Talent Programmes: Entry Points and Ecosystems
Music journalist Hannah Pezzack dives into the nuances of building a career within the cultural sector, investigating mentorship offered by European festivals, platforms, and institutions, including Het HEM.

check-in
Check-in with... Wil Spier
“If people are interested, they understand everything in the world. The problem is getting them interested.”

interview
The Alchemical World of Dooha Ritus
In anticipation of New HHHorizons, Het HEM’s second collaboration with HORST, Agrî Ibrahim sits down with Woody92, Armia Yousefi and Arad Inbar ahead of the first instalment of their ever-expanding performance, Dooha Ritus.

ears
Genius Loci by Brian d'Souza
Genius Loci by sound artist Brian d’Souza is the first artwork commissioned for The Couch.

column
You Gotta Serve Somebody
“Hello” I typed, and it felt like flinging sound into a cave, testing to see if someone was there in the dark, some being of an undetermined image.

profile
Against the Logic of Efficiency
BUTT Magazine editor Andrew Pasquier explores how Horst Arts and Music Festival has challenged traditional festival organisation by prioritising innovation and creativity.
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