What does Amsterdam mean to you?
Amsterdam means all kinds of things to me. First, it is the place where I have lived for many years and a place I love to be. Amsterdam is also part of my job, which is why it is perhaps more complex for me than for many others. I see Amsterdam from every nook and cranny, so I see what a complicated city it is. I feel a lot of love for it, but I also see the problematic side of it. Your view of the city also depends on who you are. I myself am relatively affluent, I am white, male, straight, so for me that city is a very different place than for people who are one or more of those things not.

What does open mean to you?
For me, open mainly means having an open mind and being open to each other. Keep listening, looking around you, not taking things for granted. I always hope that this city is open, and often it is, but I see it mainly as a responsibility for yourself to want to be like that in life.

Why is it important to keep connecting? Which person, collective or organization is a connector for you and why?
I find it essential, especially in a city like Amsterdam, where we live together in a relatively small area. I believe that everyone should participate and be involved in their own way. Connection is also not in necessarily agreeing with each other. Connection is more in having respect for everyone's point of view or perspective. There are limits to that, of course; there are views and perspectives on the world that are not mine, that I have great difficulty with. The acceptance of pluralism is most important. So that does not mean "all noses have to be in the same direction. I don't believe that works.

For connection, I think it is important for people to speak out; especially if it goes against mainstream thought or against a position of power. This is why I find an initiative like The Black Archives to be connecting. In any case, they have made clear to me personally, but also to the rest of society, what is still not right and where we have work to do in terms of, for example, acknowledging the history of slavery or adapting the Saint Nicholas party so that everyone can feel at home in it.

What stories are most valuable to you?
For me personally, they are stories I have never heard before. That's what I find interesting about my work at the museum. Part of the visitors are looking for a sense of recognition. Another part is looking for new stories or things they didn't know yet. There's a tension there that I really enjoy, especially linking that together. I myself can enjoy learning things that I didn't know before, that enrich me, butsometimes you have to recognize yourself in something before you can learn something new. That way you can develop as a person or as a group or as a society.

A museum director from Washington once said, "You must not give the public what they want, but what they need." I think therein lies the essence.

How do you stay relevant in this day and age?
That doesn't happen naturally. By listening, by seeing what else is going on around you and actively asking people. That is about an active attitude, realizing that it is an ongoing process and that it is never finished. The same goes for history. It is determined by how we as a society look at it and interpret it. From what you select and what you tell always new stories emerge, that's how history is rewritten. Being open to the idea that you may be wrong is also essential; someone else may have a better idea than you. Your own view must be relative and equivalent to someone else's.