In a world where algorithms amplify the same voices on repeat, Festival of Silent Voices asks a different question: what are we missing?

Held in Betondorp, one of Amsterdam's most quietly extraordinary neighbourhoods, the festival brought residents together for an afternoon of intimate workshops, walk & talks, a live podcast, poetry and shared meals spread across the streets and living rooms for the community.

Speakers travelled from Tokyo, Rome and Ghana. Residents opened their doors. A poet wrote live throughout the day and read her work at the closing table.

The programme moved between ancestral storytelling, dream interpretation, permaculture, philosophy and string work, all grounded in one shared practice: learning to listen more generously, to voices that rarely get the room.

The festival was founded in memory of the late Mike van Velzen, a Betondorp resident who was an important social entity within the neighbourhood. It is both a tribute to him and a standing invitation to the rest of us.

Poster design Cheyenne Goudswaard