Perplex : a travel magazine for those who are uncertain

The conversations in this magazine were sparked by the dialogues held at Herengracht 401. The idea of the Herengracht Dialogues was conceived over dinner with Ram Manikkalingam and Avrum Burg. We thought about the need to bring together people that share the same belief in a society where no-one is excluded, but who have different opinions on what the exact root causes of fragmenting societies really are and how to address them. We wanted people with different experiences of the world and different fields of work: artists, activists, scholars, funders, policy makers.

During a period of 1 year a group of some 20 people met 3 times for 2,5 days to talk in a protected environment under Chatham House Rule. This meant that participants were able to speak freely, without any member of the group being recorded, identified, and quoted publicly. Themes like populism, globalisation, intersectionality were discussed, sometimes specifically presented by a participant, or developing organically in the course of the dialogues. Anonymised reports helped participants to link their evolving thoughts from one meeting to the next.

This magazine is inspired by these sessions, but is neither a report, nor a replica, of the sessions. The conversations in the magazine all started around the table, but grew in different directions, as time passed and relationships formed between participants. The editors and the designers have brought them together in PERPLEX! As a guide to creating your own dialogue spaces, styles, dinners or ‘derives’ wherever you are.