Board & ANBI

About the foundation

What You See Festival is a contemporary, multidisciplinary and international arts festival in the capillaries of Utrecht that questions and overturns our norms about gender and identity. The What You See Festival Foundation is registered as a public benefit organization (ANBI). What You See is above all an invitation to come together, to meet others, to examine your own assumptions and prejudices and to collectively fantasize about future realities, and forms of being and living together.

Be welcome!

Vision

People consist of a multicoloured, layered identity, of which gender is an important element. Nobody wants to be reduced to one characteristic of that identity, but at the same time it is a very human trait to interpret the other as quickly as possible. In this process of interpretation, the identity of another is often simplified and made one-dimensional. Art offers an excellent opportunity to explore alternatives, to show different perspectives and to question our own mechanisms. What You See Festival stimulates artists and the public to fantasise together about new realities and new forms of being together.

What You See Festival:

uses groundbreaking artistic expressions to question the - often unwritten - norms in our society about gender and identity and shows new realities in them
invites shifts in perspective
offers a joint exercise in empathy and compassion
opts for an intersectional approach, which means that with gender as the core we also make other aspects of identity, such as (cultural) background, age and (in)validity part of the programming and projects
implements its vision on inclusion and diversity within the organisation and continuously reflects and evaluates it.

Mission

To contribute to a gender diverse and inclusive society by presenting, initiating and producing professional artworks that offer diverse perspectives on gender and do justice to the diversity and complexity of the subject.

Goals

The goals of the festival are:

Realising an exciting, urgent, unique, international performing arts festival about gender and identity every year.
Bringing together different art forms in cultural hotspots throughout Utrecht.
Connecting local embedding with national and international relevance.
Stimulating talent development on a local, national and international level.
Attracting a diverse and annually increasing diverse audience; from young to old, from straight to queer, from different cultural and social backgrounds and with different visions, perspectives and experiences.

Remuneration policy

The What You See Foundation endorses the Culture Governance Code, the Fair Practice Code and the Cultural Diversity Code.

What You See has chosen a board/management model. The management is responsible for the daily course of events, prepares board decisions and executes them, in cooperation with the core team. The board meets at least four times a year and is responsible for the financial control of the foundation. In addition, the board expands the network that is important for the festival.

The board members commit themselves to What You See Festival for a minimum of four and a maximum of eight years, are unpaid and do not charge expenses. The board members of What You See Festival are independent and ensure integrity and role awareness.

The team members of What You See Festival are partly employed and partly involved in the festival as freelancers. The remuneration is based on the Collective Labor Agreement for Theater and Dance.