SPOTTED: Moving Image student Yannic makes docu about Twente's traditions
- Design
Yannic Nierkens is a final-year student of Moving Image at the AKI ArtEZ Academy for Art & Design in Enschede. A longread about his work appeared in Tubantia on 31 January 2024: a documentary highlighting Twente's traditions. In his documentary Alles heeft zijn tijd (Everything has its time), Yannic tries to answer the question: why do we have traditions and what do they mean for Twente?
During his time as a student, Yannic discovered that he really only had students around him. He lived in a 'student bubble'. In Tubantia, Yannic explains: "Older people seem like people from another planet. Somewhere deep inside me grew the realisation that something is not right here. Who are these older generations really and can I bridge the gap with them? From that question, I eventually arrived at the phenomenon of those many traditions in Twente. If older people can be found anywhere, it is there."
Of course, there will always be new elders, but a tradition without young people lacks the very dynamism needed to keep things alive."
In search of Twente's traditions
With his camera, Yannic went out and about. He visited, among others, the midwinter horn blowers of Oldenzaal, Lonneker mill and the peasant dancers of De Krekkel. One of the conclusions? We desperately need traditions in a society that is so fragmented.