Ahmed Aboutaleb brings poetry and reflection to Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing
The New European Ensemble is proud to announce that Ahmed Aboutaleb will appear in the new production Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing. The former mayor of Rotterdam will give a poetry reading from his own work, offering a distinctive voice within this edition of the Mavericks series.
Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing brings together three artists who each explore the boundaries of perception and imagination in their own way. Aboutaleb’s poetry, known for its clarity and human depth, mirrors the musical programme and invites reflection on identity, responsibility, and inner freedom.
The performance features new work by Kurdish-Dutch composer Hawar Tawfiq, who approaches blindness not as a limitation but as an invitation to listen more deeply. The Syrian clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh — known for his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble — is the featured artist. His music moves fluidly between improvisation and composition, between silence and expression.
With Mavericks, the New European Ensemble offers a platform for innovators who push boundaries and explore new ways of listening. Seeing Without Seeing is an invitation to hear differently, to feel differently — beyond sight, beyond convention.
Programme:
Ahmed Aboutaleb – Poetry reading
Hawar Tawfiq – New work
Kinan Azmeh – Essays on Solitude
Kinan Azmeh – Café Damas
Kinan Azmeh – The Fence, the Rooftop, the Distant Sea
New European Ensemble
Starting in February 2026, Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing will tour theatres across the Netherlands.
Photo: Aad Hogendoorn
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Ahmed Aboutaleb brings poetry and reflection to Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing
The New European Ensemble is proud to announce that Ahmed Aboutaleb will appear in the new production Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing. The former mayor of Rotterdam will give a poetry reading from his own work, offering a distinctive voice within this edition of the Mavericks series. Mavericks: Seeing Without Seeing brings together three artists who each explore the boundaries of perception and imagination […]
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