meerturvenhoog: our program for professionals

Meerturvenhoog is the knowledge and professional programme of 2turvenhoog. The programme aims at professionals from the fields of arts and culture, education, social welfare, science, and policy who are engaged with the role of art in the lives of young children and their caregivers.

During the 2turvenhoog Festival 2026, the central question is: how do we stay true to our core value, art as an essential value for everyone? For us as an organisation, for artists, for young children and their adult caregivers, and for the city in which we work.

Art as an essential value is the guiding principle of 2turvenhoog. This principle is unnegotiable, but the way we give it form requires continuous reflection and alignment. In a context where free space for art is under pressure due to societal developments and the instrumentalisation of art, we explore how art can remain autonomously present in everyone’s daily lives. What does the loss of free space mean for artistic risk-taking, new voices, and imagination? How can we, together with artists, institutions, and audiences, protect the autonomy of the artist and continue to practise freedom, curiosity, and experimentation?

We believe that art is a fundamental right for every child, regardless of age or background. It invites expression, communication, and experience, not to shape children into something, but to acknowledge them in their full humanity. Children are not people in the making, but complete human beings who, from their very first breath, have a right to art and culture.

Experience before interpretation

Young children invite us to look differently, feel differently, and experience differently. Their open gaze, imagination, and strong sense of justice are leading forces. We see the young child, like the artist, as inspiration for revolution: curious, open, and experimental.

Our artists develop work relationally, through an experiential and embodied approach from within. Theory and practice come together in artistic research. The city functions as a laboratory: a place where experimentation is encouraged, where audiences actively participate and co-creates, and where failure is part of the process. Art takes place within children’s everyday living environment.

Meerturvenhoog offers space to explore these questions during a programme consisting of encounters and exchanges through roundtable discussions, masterclasses, peer-to-peer sessions, and shared moments of thinking and inspiration. Artists, professionals, and policymakers share experiences, dilemmas, and perspectives that emerge from practice.

2turvenhoog festival 2026: meerturvenhoog program

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Monday 30 March
2turvenhoog in the quarter

On Monday 30 March, as part of the festival, 2turvenhoog will host a meerturvenhoog gathering focused on audience engagement and artistic practice within the neighbourhood. Together with artists, audience development practitioners, and professionals from other fields, we will explore the relationship between artistic autonomy and social context. Through the exchange of practice-based examples, we will examine existing strategies and working methods, while creating space for new insights.
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Tuesday 31 March and Wednesday 2 April 11.00 - 16.00
Masterclass Laurent Dupont - foyer Kunstlinie:

Laurent Dupont (FR), artistic director of theatre ACTA, theatre maker and choreographer will lead a two-day interdisciplinary masterclass for art students and professional artists. The masterclass focuses on artistic practices in relation to very young children (2.5–4 years). In this masterclass, Dupont guides participants through his artistic research into intimacy, encounter, and creation for and with very young children. Drawing on his background in dance and voice, and in dialogue with visual art, music, and digital media, he has developed an interdisciplinary practice in which movement, silence, repetition, and touch play a central role. The masterclass will be in English.
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Tuesday 31 Maart 16.00 - 19.00
Proeftuin: an exchange (peer-to-peer) - Kunstlinie:

An afternoon of collective reflection among makers who develop artistic practices in relation to young children. Performing artists share insights from their research processes in their own ways. This offers other artists the opportunity to reflect on their own artistic practices and gain insights into working with young children. By watching, listening, and engaging in conversation together, we enrich each other’s practice and take away insights that are valuable for everyone.
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Thursday 2 April 15.00 - 18.30 
15.00 0 16.30 Plenary Meerturvenhoog  
16.30-17.10: Performance Sous la neige (Beneath the Snow) by Cie Bestioles (FR)
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Friday 3 April
12.00 - 13.00
The art of programming is about more than just assembling a schedule; it requires professional choices and courage. We invite you to join a round table discussion to explore how programmers can continue to create space for autonomous, high-quality performing arts, despite the pressure of metrics and audience expectations. As social developments put the freedom of art under pressure, how can programmers use their role to help turn the tide?

vanaf 17.00 
Arist conversation Closing artists conversation in which the festival participants exchange their experiences and insights based on the experience, during the first half of the festival and reflect on the impact of art in early childhood.