Infinite ways of being human

Talking Past Each Other is the theme of the artist residency project, conceived by Museion Art Club, that recently invited the Amsterdam-based poet Gershwin Bonevacia to Bolzano as its first guest. Today Bonevacia is a successful author, whose journey of personal affirmation often features in his works, despite its many difficulties. “We carry with us everything that has gone wrong,” he writes in one of his poems. In this interview, we talk to him about his life, his time in Bolzano and his thoughts on poetry, food and music.

Having been invited by Museion Art Club, you lived in Bolzano for some time. What was your impression of the town and how does it compare to where you normally live, in Amsterdam?

My time in Bolzano was a fascinating experience that contrasted sharply with my youth in an urban environment. I grew up amidst hustle and bustle, whereas Bolzano offered a completely different rhythm of life. Both the surrounding nature and the pace at which people live, and their awareness of their environment impressed me. It felt as if the residents were operating on a completely different frequency – calmer and more in the moment. I found the town’s bilingualism particularly interesting, too, and the complexity of its history that can be felt in every street and building.

Speaking of languages, you speak and write in Dutch, which is not your native language. How did this choice come about? Do you feel “at home” in the Dutch language?

Dutch is the language in which I express myself best, both emotionally and spiritually. There is a certain layering in this language that allows me to capture nuances. Dutch allows me to formulate deeper thoughts and explore abstract concepts in a way that feels natural to me.

More specifically, the theme of your residency and the meetings you had in Bolzano centered on the concept of humans not understanding each other and weaving a dialogue made of different languages, such as music and even cooking. What impressions and emotions did this experience leave you with?

What I have taken from these experiences, in particular, are the countless perspectives I have come to know through meeting different people. Each interaction opened new windows into how others experience the world, including emotions I hadn’t felt myself and viewpoints that challenged my own frameworks of thinking. These encounters taught me that there are infinite ways to be human, each with their own truths and beauty.

Your personal experience resonates in several of your works. You are now an established poet and author, but starting this journey was far from easy, and one of the difficulties was dyslexia. In the poem Kinderen die downloaden you write:

…We wear it,

everything that went wrong here.

How did you turn this around and stop wearing “everything that went wrong”? What inner forces did you leverage?

Finding my passion for language and literature at a young age played a crucial role in my development. This creative outlet became an anchor in my life, a foundation on which I could build my self-confidence despite the obstacles I encountered. Poetry and writing offered me not only a way to express my feelings, but also a lens through which I could understand and interpret the world around me. This awareness at a young age gave me stability during difficult periods and enabled me to develop resilience against the setbacks that life brought.

Kinderen die downloaden

There are good children and bad children.
The bad children were left by their father,
the good children go home for lunch.
All the bad children are picked up
by a cousin.
Sometimes the cousin doesn’t come.
The good children go camping,
all the bad children are bullied.
Girls are prepped for a cycle.
You’ll be glued together if you’re a broken child,
but only if you stop being ashamed.
Good children are shy,
bad children don’t give a damn.
The good children don’t mix with the bad children,
never move away, hum soft.
All bad children have an uncle,
sometimes the uncle is also the brother.
All bad children have a grandma,
sometimes the grandma is also the mother,
sometimes the mother is the lunch lady.
The playground is a kind of collective therapy.
The bad children are activists,
the good children have a credit score.
I’m punished when I mess up.
This is a call to all the weird children,
children without hobbies
I mean: children without any free time.
Children who want to be held,
children who can’t be held.
Children who resist must be managed.
18This is a message for children who march in purple tights,
the strange children, the poor children,
the ugly, unvaccinated children.
Children who were left behind,
desparate and worthless.
The worthless children,
the lonely worthless children,
the lonely worthless children with no food,
so with no body.
We wear it,
everything that went wrong here.
Each body that’s surrendered.
All soft, all meat, all bone,
voice, tear, shout.
Let it be known:
you’re never just one thing,
we are all everything,
but everything falls short.

Gershwin Bonevacia is a multifaceted artist: a poet, writer, musician, and creator of podcasts and plays. From March 2019 to January 2022, he was Amsterdam’s official city poet. His work is deeply rooted in contemporary poetry, with successful collections - reprinted multiple times - such as Ik heb een fiets gekocht (2017), Toen ik klein was, was ik niet bang (2021), and De stad is ook van mij (2024), a collection of the poems he wrote during his time as Amsterdam’s city poet. In 2023 he debuted his autobiographical play Terug naar Prinsenplein.

Gershwin Bonevacia’s residency is part of TALKING PAST EACH OTHER, an extended artist residency project focused on poetry and food, culminating in a unique performance dinner on April 17. The Museion Art Club initiative is supported by the Dutch Embassy in Italy with the collaboration of BASIS Vinschgau Venosta.

With the support of the Embassy and Consulate General of the Netherlands in Italy

In collaboration with