Thuis in Den Haag is a community art project by Haags Verhaal that explored what it means to feel “at home” in the city. Over the course of a year, the project travelled through all districts of The Hague and collected nearly a thousand personal reflections from residents. These reflections were not written in notebooks or recorded on audio, but stitched by hand onto small fabric squares.
The project used needle, thread and cloth as its main medium. Participants were given small white fabric pieces and red thread and were invited to embroider words, symbols, memories or feelings connected to the idea of “home”.
The Red Thread of Home
The core idea of the project was to find the “red thread” that connects people’s sense of home. This thread was both symbolic and literal: red embroidery thread was used to stitch the stories, creating a visual language of belonging.
The stitched pieces reflected deeply personal meanings. For some, home was connected to nature or the sea. For others, it meant family, pets, safety, language, childhood, or freedom. The project revealed that the same place can mean very different things to different people, and that the feeling of home is experienced in many forms.
The process of sewing itself played an important role. Embroidery is slow and deliberate, requiring time and attention. This created space for conversation and reflection. Many participants shared that they felt truly heard simply by being given the time and calm to tell their story while working with their hands.
Inspired by an International Community Art Practice
The project was inspired by an international community art initiative that used embroidery as a way to collect personal stories about home and belonging. Haags Verhaal adapted the concept specifically for The Hague, connecting it to the city’s diverse population and neighbourhoods.
During the project year, the team visited more than a hundred locations across the city, including libraries, community centres and neighbourhood spaces. People from all backgrounds were invited to participate, often assisted by volunteers and experienced embroiderers who helped translate words into stitched form.
The result was not one single artwork, but a growing, collective archive of stitched narratives.
A Mobile “House” Made of Stories
As the collection grew, the embroidered pieces were assembled into a mobile installation often referred to as a “house” of stories. This symbolic structure represented the idea of a shared home and travelled through the city alongside the project activities.
The house became a space for reflection, gathering and dialogue. It also showed how individual stories, when placed side by side, revealed both differences and surprising similarities in how people experience belonging.
From Project to Ongoing Presence
The official project period concluded in May, but the work has not disappeared. The embroidered stories and the installation continue to appear at public events and festivals, including recent appearances at the Haagse Stadmaker Festival yesterday.
A Social and Cultural Record of The Hague
Thuis in Den Haag functions both as an artwork and as a form of social documentation. It records how people in The Hague experience safety, loss, migration, memory and identity.
What makes the project distinctive is its use of textile and handwork as a storytelling tool. The act of sewing turns abstract ideas into physical traces. Every stitch becomes a record of a moment, a thought or a feeling.
By choosing fabric and thread instead of digital tools, the project slowed down the storytelling process and gave it a tactile, human quality.
A Living Collection
Though formally completed, the project continues to resonate. The stitched pieces now exist as a living collection that can be shown, revisited and expanded. It remains open to new contexts and new audiences.
Thuis in Den Haag shows how a simple act — threading a needle and stitching a few words, shapes or images — can create a powerful collective portrait of a city.
Magazine
In addition to the travelling installation, the project was documented in a comprehensive magazine that brings together the results of the work, which is free to download here
The publication includes: • Background essays on the idea of home and belonging • Reflections by participants from across the city • Stories related to loneliness, migration, memory and identity • Portraits and photographs of participants • Photos of many of the embroidered fabric pieces
The magazine also documents notable moments during the project. One of these is the participation of Queen Máxima, who joined a sewing session at a public library in Ypenburg and embroidered a fabric piece herself.
For more
To read more about this project (in Dutch but with English translation possible on the website):
DutchBuzz is an English radio programme of news, views and interviews that tells you what’s happening in this buzzing city of ours. The international team of presenters and reporters are from many different continents, but view The Hague as their home!
UPDATE: NO LIVE SHOW THIS WEEK
Sinterklaas has taken over the studio for a week for the Sintvoorieder1 fund raising.
However you can listen to the recording of last week’s show here:
The Hague’s Pearls – listen to previous recordings
The podcasts below are devoted to members of the international community who have made a special contribution to the City of The Hague.
The DutchBuzz team takes pleasure in inviting and interviewing the city’s many ‘pearls’. Many of them have been featured in our programmes over the years because they reflect our rich and diverse international community.
Newsmakers, writers, local politicians, entertainers, innovators, entrepreneurs, experts in their field, and colourful personalities, they all make The Hague a better place to live and work in.
All the interviews have been broadcast, but we enjoyed them so much that we are now sharing them with you as special, celebratory podcasts.
The winners of the 2025 Piket Art Prizes were announced last week at the Theater aan het Spui in The Hague: Carmen Roca Igual (Painting), Chandenie Gobardhan (Dance), and Kollektief op Kracht (Theatre). They will receive a cash prize of €6,000 and a unique award, the Hammer, created by artist Joep van Lieshout. The Piket Jury Prize goes to Cees Debets, Director of the Theater Department at Het Nationale Theater. The Piket Art Prizes are awarded annually to promising young professional artists in the fields of painting, dance, and theatre.
“This year, once again, the expert jury, chaired by Majel Blonden, is bringing young talent to the attention of a wider audience,” says Marie Jeanne de Rooij, director of the Piket Art Prizes. “Talent that is often already making significant progress, garnering admiration, challenging, and sparking curiosity. Piket Art Prizes is pleased to be able to provide the vibrant experimental drive and blossoming promise of the three winners and the nominees with significant financial support , paving the way to a rewarding career in the arts.”
Attractive and layered visual art Painting jury members Pietertje van Splunter (artist and co-founder of the artists’ initiative Quartair) and Johan Gustavsson (Experimental Art Space 1646, lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art, and curator of Prospects) are impressed with artist Carmen Roca Igual. “The jury appreciates the way Carmen Roca Igual combines research and imagination to capture the contradictions of contemporary digital life. Her ability to translate urgent cultural questions into engaging and multi-layered visual art makes us curious about her development in the coming years as one of the promising artists of her generation,” say Van Splunter and Gustavsson.
Treasure trove of movement techniques Professional jury members Erik Kaiel (dance collective Arch8) and Mitchell-lee van Rooij (Korzo) call choreographer and dancer Chandenie Gobardhan “progressive, relevant, and refined.” “With her enormous wealth of diverse movement techniques and styles (Bollywood, Bharatanatyam, Hip Hop, House, Locking, and Modern), Chandenie opens up new and refreshing perspectives, building bridges between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the past and the present,” according to the professional Dance jury.
‘Great theatre with limited resources’ The work of Kollektief op Kracht, which consists of director Nanine Kok and players/makers Trix van Erkel, Jan Groenland, Jelle Huizinga, and Léon de Vrede are characterized by “a great sense of timing, humor, and craftsmanship.” “With minimal resources, they manage to evoke a world that is both absurd and relatable. They demonstrate that you can create great theater with limited resources,” say Theater jury members Joep Hendrikx (Poezieboys) and Nadine van Pinxteren (Het Nationale Theater en de Parade).
Piket Jury Prize: Cees Debets The jury unanimously chose Cees Debets, director of the National Theatre, to receive the Piket Jury Prize. “Cees does considerably more than ‘just his job.’ He is a remarkable theatre director because he is always there. At every performance, no matter how small, he shows his face, always with infectious, genuine enthusiasm, ready to find something new and exciting every time. With that same enthusiasm, he connects with the audience, welcomes them, and gets them excited about the performance,” the jury stated.
Other nominees Besides the winners, Livia Claesson and Jemima de Jonge were also nominated this year in the Painting category, Giulio Hoxhallari and Annabel Koele in the Dance category, and Hélène Vrijdag and Mike Zanting in the Theater category. They didn’t go home empty-handed either, receiving €3,000 and an award, the Hammer, from renowned artist Joep van Lieshout.
About the Piket Art Prizes The Piket Art Prizes have been awarded since 2014 to young artists who have a connection to The Hague, either because they have flourished there or because their work makes a stimulating contribution to The Hague’s cultural scene. Their namesake, Frederik Hendrik Piket (1927-2011), a lawyer and member of the Senate for the CHU (later CDA), was a great lover of art and culture. After his death, a foundation was established to annually encourage promising professional artists up to the age of 30 with the Piket Art Prizes.
Featured photo: Cees Debets (Piket Jury Prize), bottom left Carmen Roca Igual (Painting), in the back Kollektief op Kracht (Theater), and on the right Chandenie Gobardhan (Dance). Photo: De Schaapjesfabriek
This year, The Hague International Centre proudly celebrates 15 years of welcoming and supporting internationals in The Hague region.
Since opening in 2010, The Hague International Centre has helped over 60,000 internationals find their way in our city — each bringing unique experiences, perspectives, and contributions.
To mark this milestone, they have a series of personal stories of international residents who now call The Hague home. Many of them are giving back by helping others feel welcome too.
Discover their journeys and be inspired by the people who make The Hague truly international.
Pathé Buitenhof officially opened two completely renovated boutique screens yesterday. Designed by architect Kees Doornenbal and located in this beautiful historic building, each are furnished with luxurious single and double armchairs and a convenient table for food and drinks.
The screens also feature new laser projection with a curved screen for optimal images, and the lighting has been updated to further enhance the beautiful murals. Visitors can now enjoy an extra luxurious cinematic experience.
The building is a national monument dating from the seventeenth century, with the current facade and entrance dating from 1904. Characteristic features include the coats of arms of Alkmaar and Enkhuizen and a beautiful ceiling painting in the ballroom.
The building has a rich history and has served as a hotel, restaurant, bridge club, and Cineac cinema over the years.
For thirty years, the building has been the familiar home of Pathé Buitenhof, which also houses a charming grand café.
Inspired by the Vienna Secession
Architect Kees Doornenbal designed the new boutique screens. He was previously responsible for the renovated boutique screens of the Royal Tuschinski Theatre and Pathé City in Amsterdam, and for the renovation of the General Affairs department at The Hague’s Binnenhof.
For Pathé Buitenhof, he drew inspiration from the Vienna Secession: an art movement characterized by refined colors, sleek geometry, and an eye for craftsmanship.
Combined with a bold colour palette, each room has a distinct character. Details from the former hotel served as inspiration for the new murals, bringing the building’s rich history into the design.
Screens 2 and 3 officially opened yesterday, screen 1 will follow at the end of this year. The last three screens of Pathé Buitenhof will be completed in 2026.
Doron Kurz, Commercial Director of Pathé: “With the new boutique cinemas at Pathé Buitenhof, we’re elevating the cinema experience to a new level, an experience unlike anything The Hague has ever seen. Our service and grand café enhance this unique experience, making a movie night feel like a complete day or evening out. At Pathé, we strive for the same experience everywhere, at Buitenhof and in all our theaters.”
About Pathé
Pathé is the first and largest cinema brand in the Netherlands, founded in Paris in 1896 by the Pathé brothers with the aim of sharing the wonderful world of film with as many people as possible. In the Netherlands, Pathé is the market leader in both home and away film experiences in cinemas and through transactional video-on-demand (TVOD). Pathé Theatres has 30 locations in the Netherlands, including the Royal Tuschinski Theatre, with 253 screens and 1,900 employees. The cinema brand offers a wide range of films and special livestreams in innovative theatres and with innovative technologies such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and ScreenX. Through Pathé Thuis, film fans can enjoy the most complete film offering in the Netherlands from the comfort of their own home without a subscription. With all this, Pathé creates special experiences in the cinema and at home.
DutchBuzz is an English radio programme of news, views and interviews that tells you what’s happening in this buzzing city of ours. The international team of presenters and reporters are from many different continents, but view The Hague as their home!
In our programme this evening: • The Peace Palace hosts an international conference on Women and Peace initiatives • Finding your professional feet in The Hague. • A spotlight on Generation 3 at the Fotomuseum • And running to raise funds for children
The Hague’s Pearls – listen to previous recordings
The podcasts below are devoted to members of the international community who have made a special contribution to the City of The Hague.
The DutchBuzz team takes pleasure in inviting and interviewing the city’s many ‘pearls’. Many of them have been featured in our programmes over the years because they reflect our rich and diverse international community.
Newsmakers, writers, local politicians, entertainers, innovators, entrepreneurs, experts in their field, and colourful personalities, they all make The Hague a better place to live and work in.
All the interviews have been broadcast, but we enjoyed them so much that we are now sharing them with you as special, celebratory podcasts.
