Radio Einstein started four years ago as an initiative to make radio shows about life in an asylum seekers’ centre (AZC in Dutch).

Three young theatre makers joined forces with the refugees of the Utrecht AZC – located initially at the Einstein-dreef, hence the name – to make podcasts inspired by their life stories and their experiences inside the AZC.

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Five years later Radio Einstein has grown into both an offline and an online platform connecting refugees to the local community and to the rest of the country. Radio Einstein now combines podcasting with visual storytelling (such as animated stories), theatre shows, podcast and theatre workshops and art exhibitions.

For their series ‘The Gift’, Radio Einstein invited local artists to make an artwork for one refugee in particular, motivated by their stories. Instead of meeting each other directly, they communicate through audio messages collected by narrator
and interviewer Misha Koole. For the period of one month, they ask each other questions and tell each other stories about their youth, their family, their dreams and sometimes their secrets. Their interactions combined with the process of the artist creating their artwork form the basis of the
programme.

The climax of every episode consists of the artwork being revealed and presented to the refugee as a gift. This will be the very first time that the artist and the refugee will meet in person. Although the artwork itself often surprises and delights the receiver (there have been songs, paintings, a children’s book and even a short comic strip), the fact that somebody they have never met has invested a month in really getting to know them is probably the most valuable aspect of this project.

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Text Copyright: PRIX EUROPE