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We have been working with a great team, including young makers from Friesland.
But who are they...?
Creatieve Team
Jörg Karrenbauer, director. He is a Berlin-based theatrical project developer who works with non-actors. Working in public spaces is central to his work.
He has been working closely with Rimini Protokoll since 2005. Together with Stefan Kaegi, he converted a former refrigerator truck into a mobile public space for 46 people for "Cargo Sofia-X", a piece about the life and work of truck drivers. In 2009, he brought this truck to Asia and created new versions for the Festival/Tokyo, the Singapore Arts Festival and the EXPO 2010. Since 2013, he has been editing the "Remote X" audio walk in more than 40 cities around the world.
Romke Gabe Draaijer, assistant director (1990), living in Utrecht, is an actor at (among others) Tryater , Theater Gnaffel and Pier21 and director of various (location) theatre performances such as krang (2015), Tomorrow's Journey (2016), Dodo fan Haska (2018) & Alice in Bang Weather (2019).
Romke Gabe, born and raised in the Frisian village of Molkwerum, knew from an early age that he wanted to tell stories on and off the stage to anyone who wanted to watch and listen. Inflamed by a performance in his native village, he started his own theatre in an abandoned setting as a ten-year-old boy, together with primary school friends. Stimulating and broadening fantasies have been what he has searched for ever since.
In addition to his two completed studies – MBO Artist and HBO Docent Theatre – Romke Gabe participated twice in Tryater's internal acting training. From September 2021 he started the Masters in Theatre at the Toneelacademie in Maastricht to further research his creativity, and thus himself over the coming years, and to make many more beautiful things in Friesland and beyond.
Janneke de Haan, dramaturg (1984) is a freelance theatre director and makes musical location performances. In 2014 she graduated from the Directing Programme (AHK). Before that she studied Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Groningen and obtained her Masters degree in Art Sociology and Dramaturgy. In 2016 she exchanged Amsterdam for Friesland to focus more on Frisian theatre and specific location theatre. In recent years she has focused in particular on theatre about pastoral life. This theme fascinates her. Together with Willy van Assen, she devised the community art project Molke 2.0, with the aim of bringing farmers and citizens into dialogue. Part of Molke 2.0 is the toddler dance performance De Molkwei. This plays on location on the farm for 5000 Frisian toddlers, who learn interactively during the performance where milk comes from. When Janneke was asked to be a dramaturg at CARGO with the theme 'globalisation of milk', she didn't hesitate for a moment. A job that fits her perfectly!
Dennis van Tilburg, sound artist (1975) is a musician, theatre maker and sound artist.
He specialises in a location-specific working method in which his work establishes a strong connection with place and time. He works on solo projects as well as on many collaborations. He has a fascination for (self) research into perception and consciousness.
He often uses a mix of old analog and new experimental techniques in his work. As a self-taught musician Dennis developed a unique playing style with a mix of electronics, live sampling and self-built instruments. His music balances on the border where it breaks up into chunks and where seemingly separate sounds unexpectedly form a wonderful harmony.
Jurjen Jellema, video artist.
'I am 26 years old and a both a photographer and a filmmaker. Being a sober Frisian I also think about images. Now image thinking is a wonderful quality to have when making images. Forming the image before it is captured. For example, I like to contribute to different kinds of stories, because that is image… telling a story.
I am also a real outdoors person. I like to go on adventures, be it walking, cycling or in my converted office on wheels; My bus. The nice thing about it is the people you meet with it. The contact you make and sometimes you get a glimpse into someone else's life. You can also call that a snapshot.
Performance Team
Willem Overwijk, truck driver. Born of Frisian parents in the Noordoostpolder and raised in Marknesse.
'I have 1 brother and 5 sisters of which I am the 5th. School and Willem was an unfortunate combination: in kindergarten I had already fought with the teacher. Ha Ha. Finally I started working as a co-driver on the truck when I was 16 years old. After obtaining my truck driving licence, I started driving internationally when I was 21.
During my marriage I became a proud father of 3 children and they all live in Friesland where I started living when I was 23. After my divorce in 1994, I went all out as a driver, traveling from home to faraway places for weeks.
Special transport was the best! This is all a bit more precise because of the dimensions of the load. In the last 10 years it has become less and less fun. Employers got Russians, Romanians, Poles etc. to do the long rides while the Dutch drivers stayed closer to home.
A dear girlfriend, moving house and peace of mind made me want to be home more and more. We live in a remote location amidst roe deer, fallow deer, foxes, badgers and who knows, soon wolves...... No one is bothered by us the other way around. We can go about our business.'
Louw Hacquerbord, truck driver. 'My name is Louwrens Hacquebord, I am usually referred to as Louw . I will soon be 76 and have been retired for six months.
When I turned 50 I took a Sabbatical. In that year I became restless again and started a transport company. Initially the transport of bulk goods. There is a lot of tension in this work and I like that. Through Europe with powdered goods such as milk powder / granulate / salt / sugar etc.
Then I got in touch with someone who was setting up humanitarian transports. That appealed to me, firstly the goal and secondly the adventure. I have seen all the countries of Eastern Europe with waiting times at the border.
I have driven from the far north of Norway to Antalya in Turkey and from St.Petersburg to Dublin in Ireland. I've taken every ferry in Europe, what more could you want.
CARGO Shanghai - Friesland is currently exploring this, if you want to hear more…definitely worth it.'
Tjalling Rodenhuis, farmer. Born in Rauwerd on 16-05-1966.
'In August of that year my parents moved to Jorwert and my father became a farmer on It Noard 1 in Jorwert. After primary school I went to the AOC in Leeuwarden and afterwards to the MAO in Leeuwarden. After military service I traveled to America for six months to milk on a farm in the state of Texas.
When I returned, I entered into a partnership with my father.
My father died in 1996 and I then continued the business with my mother. I took over the company in 2003 and live on the farm with my partner Nina Schaper and our sons Jelle (17 years) and Harm (13 years).
We milk 50 cows, now organically. I am a fan of meadow birds and our business operations are also aimed at trying to maintain the meadow birds.'
Klaas van Dijk, dairy farmer. 'My name is Klaas van Dijk, I was born 60 years ago in Wijk bij Duurstede. My parents had a mixed business there. In 1970 I moved with my parents and two sisters to Britswert, where we milked 40 cows in a group barn. In 1975 a cubicle barn was built where about 60 cows were milked. In the early 90's I took over the company from my parents.
In 2003 I married Janet, who brought four children from a previous marriage. We have three more sons together. The eldest four children have now flown the nest.
Because of the numbers of livestock and the hectares of land, we decided in 2010 to build a new barn for the dairy cows. The cows now have sufficient space and comfort. Our company is a family business. Janet works on a regular basis and the children jump in where necessary.'
Lico Lee, singer. Lico is a popular Chinese singer in the Netherlands.
In recent years, she attended many large-scale celebrations of traditional Chinese festivals, such as the New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day in the Netherlands, which captured the hearts of the Chinese community in the Netherlands, and was also very popular among the Dutch. .
She has also won awards for professional singers. In 2012, she won third place in the Phoenix TV Singer Competition and in 2013 she won the championship in the Dutch Young Singer Contest.
Besides her singing, Lice is also an administrative manager in a Chinese supermarket!
Renjiao Cui, singer. She is the performacnce partner of Lico Lee, is an experienced gushing player and plays this Chinese musical instrument when she performs with Lico.
Show Technisch Team
Evelyn Dalman, Volunteer Coordinator and Show Operator. 'Hi! I was born and raised in beautiful Friesland. Despite the fact that I am a proud Frisian woman and I have always felt very much at home here, I also seized every opportunity that came my way to discover other cities and countries. I studied International Business and Languages in Groningen, during this study I did a minor in Almería and several internships in Amsterdam. I have also been able to make beautiful trips to, for example, Lapland, Hong Kong and Zanzibar. Traveling and learning new languages and discovering cultures is what I love to do! But now I'm back at home base for a while, and I love that too. Especially now that I can contribute to showing this beautiful province to the public during CARGO Shanghai - Friesland. And that together with a top team!'
Rob van der Meijden, technician. 'I am 66 years old and have been retired for some time.
I was born in The Hague but have been living in Friesland for more than 42 years.
For many years I mainly worked as a metal worker in mechanical engineering, but because I have a broad interest I also started to delve into all kinds of other things.
This is how I once followed a course as a photographer at the photography school and for about 15 years I mainly did wedding photography next to my regular job in metalworks. Later I started repairing computers and did some graphics work. For many years I have been interested in drama and theatre and especially the technical skills which are used. I worked on Fuerza Bruta and the latest production I can now be involved in is CARGO Shanghai - Friesland, I experience this as a great new challenge and I'm really looking forward to it.'
Jelle van Abbema, technician. 'From an early age I have been interested in theatre technology and the operation of electronic devices. For example, I provided the technical requirements for my own end of year musical (2012) and for several years I helped as a volunteer on local productions. At the end of 2018 I started as a freelancer and I am involved in medium-sized productions such as the Iepenloftspul Jorwert. Out of my interest in electronics, I started with the HBO Electrical Engineering course at the NHL Stenden in Leeuwarden. I am now graduating and I hope to have obtained my diploma by the last CARGO Shanghai - Friesland performance.'
Project Fundraiser
Gerrie Visser
Gerrie Visser is self employed and works in the field of fundraising and subsidies, and also as an adviser. She gained her experience working for Leeuwarden-Friesland European Capital of Culture 2018 (LF2018), and before that as a subsidy specialist for partnerships between governments and small businesses. For LF2018 she coordinated fundraising and worked with various cultural creatives - writing their plans for specific funds, applying for them and also taking care of the (financial) settlement of applications and other agreements.
Continuing to put Friesland on the map, even after 2018, for residents and visitors is certainly an ambition that she has remained committed to after LF2018. Irrespective of whether this is with local amateurs, national professionals or with international companies. Gerrie also works as a project leader for the development of Nature Inclusive Agricultural Projects where she is also responsible for process and financing.
Gerrie was the fundraiser for two of our projects: Fuerza Bruta and CARGO Shanghai-Friesland.
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