The Creators

Sjoerd Litjens – initiator, interviewer, production leader

“Iepen doar[p] has started from the belief that every life is worth a portrait, out of curiosity about the village where I was raised, the stories that touched my life consciously and unconsciously, and from the desire to interconnect through my work, through telling and sharing personal stories.”

Sippy Tigchelaar – interviewer

“Iepen doar[p] gives me the opportunity to do the thing I love most: find out why and how people do the things they do. I love to do this in Fryslân, because it’s my home, because I experience a connection between a person and their environment here , which has been lost in other places.”

Hester Heite – interviewer, editor-in-chief

“As a journalist and cultural anthropologist I believe that by means of short audio portraits we can make people aware of what the concept of ‘mienskip’ means to the various inhabitants of a small Frisian village like Feanwâldsterwâl. I want to make listeners think about what this concept means to them. So we learn to understand ourselves and each other.”

Tryntsje Nauta – photographer

“Because I’ve lived in bigger cities like Rotterdam and Berlin, my soft spot for village life has grown, a place where the connection between a human being and his surroundings is strongly present and clearly visible. As an artist/photographer I want to show the familiarity, the simplicity of it. Photographically I find the countryside interesting because of the space and the richly present natural light, which preserves the atmosphere of the surroundings. I’d love to capture the village atmosphere, there where idyllic and rough come together.”

Marieke Kijk in de Vegte – photographer

“I come from Brabant, but I’ve lived a major part of my life in the north of the Netherlands. I like the mentality. What strikes me is that people in general are aware of the position they have in a small community. I love to stop and be surprised at this awareness, and hopefully a lot more people will feel the same on account of my pictures.”

Jelle Post - designer

“The Frisian village is no stranger to me. I know how important it is to share stories, and by doing so to increase reciprocal understanding, because – more than in the city – you need each other in a small community. Contributing as a designer to a project which tells those recognizable and also important village stories, is something I am quite happy to do .”

Frank Boelen - website builder

I was raised in a small Frisian village. A project that returns to this past, makes me curious. I think it is important that these stories are being told and I love to contribute to this online as well as possible. In my opinion the functionality and design of a digital environment are only valuable when they support the content, the story that has to be told.”

Robea Kleisma - translator

"It’s always fascinating to see how language can connect people or on the other hand divide them. In small Frisian communities like Feanwâldsterwâl over the years the number of outsiders has grown, people who don’t speak Frisian. From both sides that can be an obstacle in learning to know and understand each other better. Because the portraits are being subtitled, people speaking other languages can also enjoy these beautiful stories.”

Steven Scholte - sound engineer

“I work as a sound engineer and ICT specialist for Omrop Fryslân and I help the Iepen Doar(p) project with the editing of the audio portraits. I was raised in the Frisian village of Tytsjerk and later on moved to Ryptsjerk, a few kilometers away. Therefore village life is very recognizable to me. It’s great to make this unique portrait of Feanwâldsterwâl together with a group of enthusiastic people.”

Benthe van Aalst - projectmanager

"The common theme in the jobs that I do as a freelancer is a person and his or her story. Iepen Doar(p) just fits in nicely. The stories completed by the portraits give a beautiful picture of life in a small community like Feanwâldsterwâl. How will people listen to these audio stories in future? Will life be totally different then? Will villages like Feanwâldsterwâl still exist? So, Iepen Doar(p) is for now and in future an important document.”

Other employees

Only available in Dutch