INdependent24 at De Rijtuigenloods, Amersfoort

On 14 March 2026, Ukrainian International Ballet was honoured to take part in the Dag van de Beleidsmedewerker at De Rijtuigenloods in Amersfoort, at the invitation of the Ministry of Justice and Security of the Netherlands.

The event brought together municipal policy advisers and professionals working on long-term policy for Ukrainian displaced persons in the Netherlands. For us, this was not a distant policy subject. It touches our own story, our community, our dancers, our families and the reality many Ukrainians continue to live through every day.

We are deeply grateful to the Dutch government and to everyone working with care and responsibility on policies that directly affect Ukrainian displaced people. Behind every regulation, programme or municipal decision, there is a person trying to rebuild a life. To be present in that room through dance felt meaningful, because art can sometimes say what statistics and policy language cannot.

For this occasion, Ukrainian International Ballet presented an excerpt from INdependent24, a performance born from the experience of Ukrainian artists rebuilding their lives in the Netherlands. The fragment reflected the central dialogue of the project: between Ukraine and the Netherlands, between arrival and belonging, between what has been lost and what can still be created.

The setting itself added another layer to the day. De Rijtuigenloods, a former railway carriage workshop and now a monumental industrial venue, carries more than a century of movement, labour and transition in its walls. In that space, surrounded by traces of railway history, the themes of displacement, direction and new routes felt almost physically present.

We were grateful to contribute to such an important and carefully organised gathering, and to bring the voice of Ukrainian artists into a conversation that concerns not only policy, but human lives, dignity and the future we are trying to build together.

Photo: Altin Kaftira