PARADIGM NYE: MORE INTIMACY, MORE AREAS, A THEATRE AND EMS

Paradigm NYE: More intimacy, more areas, a theatre in the chill-out and the launch of EMS. 

Paradigm NYE is right around the corner and will be different compared to previous editions: more intimacy, more areas and a theatre in the chill out. The new EMS foundation will play an important part in this. We asked Paradigm founder Paul Grimmius about this in a Q&A. 

Paul, can you extrapolate a little on what the EMS stands for?
EMS, or Electronic Music Society, was founded by Paradigm in 2015 and is based upon a few ideals I share with my partner Piter Terpstra. In the meantime we have handed over the baton to a new group of people, and with that we have also resigned out seats on the board. However, as Paradigm we will, just like other parties, cooperate with EMS. The EMS is a creative cradle and will task itself with relevant social issues regarding art, culture, durability and society. There are a couple of projects being launched just so we can bridge these issues together and work them out. Think about projects where people can participate who have to make ends meet from a government allowance or have personal (mental) issues which restricts them everywhere they go. They are offered new opportunities by co-initiating or executing plans within the EMS. There is a need for it in Groningen, but it doesn’t yet exist. Paradigm has offered its terrain as a platform which the EMS can use for its projects. The terrain will be open for these activities throughout the year. The ultimate goal is to expand these projects beyond Paradigms terrain and onto other areas at the Suikerunie terrain and other organizations within the city. For example, one of the board members of the EMS, Mark Fischer, works for the grand theatre in the city centre, thus providing a great opportunity to forge a bond between these organizations. Presently, we’ve made a great cultural programme for Paradigm NYE together with the EMS.

And what does that programme look like?
Paradigm has always incorporated dance and a variety of entertainment during the club nights and festivals. We’re also offering opportunities to artists who have yet to graduate art academy or have recently done so. We want to boost this through cooperation with the EMS. Several projects have been prepared for NYE with the help from the Poetic Disasters Club from Club Guy & Roni, Wordbites and dance group Stilletta. We ‘re creating an intimate chillout in the area that used to house our NYE mainstage. A theatre is being build in right in the middle of it and will house between 300 and 400 people. The programme will continue all night long. A new performance will be shown every 10 minutes. It will be a diverse night, ranging from modern dance to poetic speech. We strongly feel that our visitors should have a nice and cozy place to chill out, but we think it’s also important to expose them to cultural events. We will further elaborate on the programme at the bottom of the page.

What else can you tell us about the NYE programme? 
We concluded that the mainstage wasn’t perfectly situated during the last two NYE editions in Het Zeefgebouw. The space is too large and that makes it, in our eyes, unsuitable to comfortably dance. That doesn’t fit our bill. Intimacy is a value we hold very dear regarding our events, which is something we can’t provide in that area. We lowered the booth last year but it still left us unsatisfied. It wasn’t intimate enough. The area didn’t beam with the bustling energy that we’re used to. That’s why we took the layout for NYE back to the drawing board and made some changes. This year the BALL-room, the Basement and the LABB will be open. Every single area will have an itimate setting and has its own head of decoration who will create unique stage designs, just like our visitors are used to seeing at our events like Paradigm Festival.

Can you introduce them to us? 
Joke Schaper, our Paradigm Festival decoration manager is responsible for the BALL-room stage decoration. She has created a plan revolving around lucid dreams. Our carpenters are at the ready to start constructing the plans. It’s amazing to see everyone working together. Cor Nijhuis and Blackhole Decorations are going to create a psychedelic vibe in the LLAB. Puck van Rassel and Liza Renee Verboon are currently making their awesome visual-concept a reality in the basement. Every design will contribute to an intimate vibe.