What is Amsterdam to you?
Amsterdam is really my home. I was born and raised there. On my mother's side, I am fifth generation Amsterdammer. My grandfather had a cafe in Amsterdam, which are also really purebred Jordanians. I can also talk very flat sometimes [laughs]. On the other hand, it is also a place that I see changing more and more into a city that is becoming more and more for the rich, more and more gentrified. Families like my grandfather's are being pushed further and further away, first out of the Jordaan to North, to Molenwijk for example, and the same thing is happening there now. So it does become a place where I feel less at home precisely because of that gentrification.

What does open mean to you?
I link the word open to being open to each other, to other people, to other people's stories and the context of each other's existence. I also link it to a kind of gentleness toward each other. I think that is missing more and more. It's still important to stay open in a way where you don't immediately judge someone or assume something without knowing someone's story, but invest more time in listening to people, even those you don't know.

Why is it important to keep connecting and which person/collective/organization (and why) is a connector for you?
For me it is important to keep connecting and this is actually connected to the previous question; to keep hearing people's separate stories and open people up to hear stories of others who are not in their social bubble. Especially nowadays, when we all live so much in our own bubble, this is so important. For example, when I look at the elections; I even come from a very left-wing bubble and I wonder 'Where are all these right-wing voters coming from?' I don't see them, I don't talk to them and I don't seek them out. I think that's exactly why it's important to keep seeing things from the other side and to keep having conversations with people you disagree with.

I find it hard to pinpoint a person or organization that does that very much in the same way that I look at it, because I think the bubbles we're in are getting bigger and clearer these days. From my own "profession," I think the cultural sector often plays a good role in that. Here I think of places like museums or places where symposia are held, like Felix Meritis, the more open platforms where there is space for different people to do something. It is precisely important for institutions to bring different voices into the house, to a certain extent of course; where necessary, one side or point of view must also be chosen. I think culture and creativity can be a good basis for connecting, because no matter where you stand in society, there are more people who find that interesting or are attracted to that.

What stories are most valuable to you?
Those are the stories that seek connection, the stories that take you into someone else's "shoes," if only for a moment. For example, if a white person hears a story about racism; a story in which you can clearly create some kind of recognizable situation, so that someone can put themselves in someone else's shoes or see the world through their eyes. I think those are the most valuable stories, because in such a way you end up making sure that we are more open to each other, more gentle with each other and more able to sympathize with each other.

How do you stay relevant in this day and age?
I think by really telling stories from people. I personally think the Amsterdam Museum does this well. Art is used as a visualization of the stories. All the exhibitions and research I've been involved with are told very much from the human point of view. As long as you can tell a story to a large group of people that activates, works their interest because they recognize themselves in it or because they are very curious about it, I think the relevance stays naturally. I think if you stay socially engaged, that relevance does stay. The interest of a large group of people also lies there, because it's about what we're experiencing now.