Netherlands Expressive Arts Association - NEXAA

14/04/2026

"The monsters we will never encounter, if we do not carry them within our soul." — C.P. Cavafy

What if our internalized monsters aren't defects, but ensouled images with wisdom to share? They may be just adaptive strategies, brilliant survival tools that have become static burdens.

On the 3rd of May, we gather for a two-hour experiential journey to creatively dialogue with our internalized monsters. We’ll use repetitive cycles of dismantling to break down these giants and transform them from static threats into a dynamic teaching resource. The goal is to meet these inner figures not as enemies, but as sources of wisdom, helping us explore what we already know deep down.

Through a low skill-high sensitivity approach, we use:

🌿 Embodied Movement to find where distress lives.
🏺 Clay & Paint to give physical form and color to the internal monster.
✍️ Creative Writing to talk back and transform these burdens into resources.

Come with curiosity to see what ally awaits to emerge when we reclaim the radical right to define our experience in our own terms and create a somatic anchor of our own resilience. ⚓

📅 When: May 3rd, 11:00 - 13:00
📍 Where: Zeeburgerdijk 265, 1095 AC Amsterdam
🎟️ Sign up here:

Transforming through Systematic Deconstruction and Reconstruction Grounded in t...

20/03/2026

There is a specific, quiet power in the State of Suspension; the moment the tide is turning and the new landscape is being reshaped by the water. While today marks the Spring Equinox as the Sun crosses the celestial equator and aligns directly with the Earth, this Sunday we gather in its resonant wake. Our workshop, Not Here, Nor There, is an inquiry into this no man’s land and the aftermath of the shift. It is an opportunity to engage with sensory awareness, community connection, and the gifts of attention and creative play in a supportive environment.

The Space: 🌿 A themed 3.5 hour experiential journey.
🌿 A container for intermodal expression: poetry, creative writing, movement/dance, and collage-making.
🌿 Open to everyone (16+) navigating their own thresholds.

🗓 Sunday, March 22 | 10:00 – 13:30
📍Location: Common Ground, Zeeburgerdijk 265, 1095 AC Amsterdam
🔗Tickets here: https://clkr.me/ktxymn

10/03/2026

Tell me, she said:
What is the story you are telling?
What wild song is singing itself through you?

Listen:
In the silence between there is music;
In the spaces between there is story.

It is the song you are living now,
It is the story of the place where you are.
It contains the shapes of these old mountains,
The green of the rhododendron leaves.

It is happening right now in your breath,
In your heart beat still
Drumming the deeper rhythm
Beneath your cracking words.

It matters what you did this morning
And last Saturday night
And last year,
Not because you are important
But because you are in it
And it is still moving.
We are all in this story together.

Listen:
In the silence between there is music;
In the spaces between there is story.

Pay attention:
We are listening each other into being.

— Sally Atkins

On March 22, in the upcoming workshop Not Here, Nor There, we use the arts to navigate the "no man’s land" of change. By moving between poetry, movement, and visual art, we explore the neurological flexibility required to thrive in the intertidal landscapes of change.

🗓 Sunday, March 22 | 10:00 – 13:30 📍 https://surl.li/vanjep

03/03/2026

The Vernal Equinox approaches and Netherlands Expressive Arts Association dives into the realm of "the in-between" with an in person workshop at Common Ground in Amsterdam. Sunday, March 22 from 10:00-13:30. Join us for an interdisciplinary arts exploration of being in a state of suspension and tuning in to how we can better navigate this sometimes-difficult space. Get your ticket here:

Not Here, Nor There. Navigating the Spaces of In-Between - an expressive arts wo...

18/02/2026

Following on from our successful in person workshop this past Sunday, Netherlands Expressive Arts Association - NEXAA is excited to present our first online gathering for those who are scattered far and wide or could not join us in person. Same theme: Shaping the Landscapes of Belonging but now adapted to a screen format. Curious? We've made it very accessible! All proceeds help us to continue our offerings at such an accessible level, and to grow the community.
Tickets on sale now! https://hipsy.nl/event/188116-shaping-a-landscapes-of-belonging-online

p.s. It ill be recorded to access later if you can't make that time.
p.p.s. There is a handout coming soon with a list of materials and other information that will make participation more informative and enjoyable. This will only be sent out to registered participants though, so don't wait if you're interested. Join soon!

The March-June events will be up soon too so check out our Hipsy page and/or our website nexaa.org

Shaping the Landscapes of Belonging: an interdisciplinary expressive arts worksh...

12/02/2026

Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue tells us “The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. Cut off from others, we atrophy and turn in on ourselves. The sense of belonging is the natural balance of our lives.. Our hunger to belong is the longing to find a bridge across the distance from isolation to intimacy.”

In this 3-hour interdisciplinary expressive arts workshop we will explore through various forms of artistic expression what ‘belonging’ means to us as individuals, as part of the human collective and as a part of Nature. Using movement, voice, poetry, collaging, and storytelling we will move out of ‘thinking about’ and into ‘moving with, through, and in the world’.

The workshop is open to everyone 16+, regardless of artistic experience, gender, spirituality, sexual orientation, nationality or heritage. We work in a spirit of peace and non-violence, with acceptance and care for one another.

The Details: ✨ Sunday, Feb 15 | 10:00 - 13:00 📍
🔗 https://hipsy.nl/event/188112-workshop-shaping-the-landscapes-of-belonging

06/02/2026

Introducing Monthly Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts Gatherings!
The Netherlands Expressive Arts Association (NEXAA) team is excited to announce that in February we will begin offering a series of once a month community interdisciplinary expressive arts experiences.

Version 1 - happens around the middle of each month from February to June and will take place on Sundays from 10:00-13:00 in person at a physical location in an urban hub.

Version 2 will follow each in person gathering by around 10 days or so, and will take place on Wednesday evenings online through Zoom, from 20:00-22:00.

The themed 3 hour in person workshops will include brief-but-important explanations of the function/role of the arts in human development, followed by an experiential to demonstrate how to shift between the various arts modalities in order to stimulate the imagination and create better integration possibilities.

The online gatherings have the same theme as the Sunday gatherings but adapted to a shorter and on-screen format. The online gatherings will contain a longer learning or teaching component, and an abbreviated experiential. These gatherings will be recorded.

The first in person event is already coming up next week Sunday. Check it out!

Shaping the Landscapes of Belonging: an interdisciplinary expressive arts worksh...

31/10/2025

"Trust darling, magic is brewing, but patience is required, sit tight, make art, all is well, a creative life is unfolding." - Amie McNee.

I started listening to Amie McNee’s book, We Need Your Art, while I was hiking through the dusty, rosemary-filled mountains in Murcia, this summer. While listening to her words, I felt that there was an osmosis taking place; my surroundings and her voice didn't feel like a reading, but an inner voice carrying a pragmatic conversation about the core human necessity to consciously surrender to play and prioritize engaging with art. It served as a gentle, yet firm argument advocating for the essential role of creative expression in our daily lives. Standing there, truly merging with the landscape, I embodied her compassionate words: "pick yourself and joyfully create your art."

Amie is an astute observer of modern creative anxiety. She pointedly reminds us of the pressures of modern life, specifically encouraging us to "rebel against productivity culture." While we intellectually know this, we often forget, and we desperately need someone to compassionately remind us about this societal illness that has trapped us, especially when we are navigating so many complex commitments. This advice feels grounding, granting permission to discard the rigid approach to creativity that so often feels imposed from the outside. She advocates for designing a unique, intuitive workflow that inherently respects the non-linear reality of the artistic process.

Mc Nee gives a beautiful and compelling reason for putting vulnerable work out into the world. She thinks that "When you give your art to the world, you are offering a mirror through which people will see themselves and discover things about themselves." For me, this is a transformative insight. It entirely shifts the act of sharing art away from an anxious request for approval and transforms it into a generous, reciprocal act of communal self-reflection.

-reflection

10/09/2025

The Improv Festival, presented by Improv Utrecht in collaboration with the Hogeschool Utrecht and the Utrecht Science Week. Held from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September 2025 (09:30–21:30)

20/06/2025

📚✨ Can art help us navigate life’s everyday challenges?

According to Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, the answer is a resounding yes.

In their thought-provoking book Art as Therapy, the authors explore how art can offer profound insight into some of our most intimate and ordinary dilemmas:
💔 What can I do about difficulties in my relationships?
💼 Why is my work not more satisfying?
🌍 Why is politics so depressing?
✨ Why does everyone else’s life look so glamorous?

Featuring 150 stunning examples of art, architecture, and design, this book shows how creativity can support us in areas like Love, Nature, Money, and Politics—guiding us toward stronger relationships, deeper happiness, and even acceptance of mortality.

At NEXAA, we’ve always believed in the transformative power of the arts. This week, we invite you to explore this inspiring read and check out the work of The School of Life—a global cultural initiative founded by de Botton that fosters emotional intelligence through the humanities. 🧠🌍📖
🔗 Dive into the book and visit The School of Life’s website to discover just how much potential the arts can unlock in our personal and collective journeys.

📘💬🎨

Reference:
https://www.alaindebotton.com/art/

08/06/2025

In the realm of expressive arts therapy, it is recognized that art materials serve as sophisticated intermediaries. While verbal language offers one avenue for expression, it often proves insufficient for the full spectrum of human experience. It is precisely here that the materiality of art becomes pivotal.

These materials; from the fluidity of paint to the resistance of clay; are not mere tools. Instead, they function as dynamic bridges, connecting an individual's internal landscape of thoughts, emotions, and nascent ideas to a tangible, visible form. This engagement facilitates a unique dialogue between the individual and their creation. As scholars like Catherine Hyland Moon elucidate, this process accesses a "sensory-based, tangible vocabulary." By engaging directly with materials, we articulate what words alone may struggle to convey, fostering a more embodied exploration of one's inner world.

Our aim is to cultivate environments where individuals can discover clarity, process complex emotions, and unearth profound insights through the unique lexicon that the expressive arts, and particularly their materials, afford us.

We are interested to learn: In your experience, which materials have you found to be particularly articulate in speaking to the unspoken?