- J
- T
Dear friends and supporters,
Over the past year I’ve been creating a new poetry performance called Where the Clouds Gather, a show about human migration: its history, its heartbreaks, and its message of hope for our collective future. It looks at colonialism, movement, ancestry, and belonging through the lens of Dutch–South African history, and through my own story of making a life far from where I was born.
This project has already received beautiful support from the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts and the Performing Arts Fund NL, and the work is finally coming to life: rehearsals each day, book at the printers, composer finishing the soundscape, dramaturg shaping the final scenes, and a festival premiere around the corner (29 November!).
A month ago, life shifted abruptly. I had to travel home to South Africa to be with one of my closest friends during her final days. I would make that choice again a thousand times, but it did leave me with an unexpected financial shortfall right at the end of this project.
I’m now at the final stretch, with a talented team still to pay and the usual artist bills piling up. Instead of disappearing under the weight of it, I decided to open a door and ask for support from the community around this work.
This is where you come in.
If my work has moved you, if this story resonates with your own roots or migrations, or if you simply believe in keeping artists creating, I’m inviting you to help me carry this last leg.
The funds will help cover:
- final payments to my creative team
- basic living costs for November–December while I finish the show and stabilise future work
- the final costs of launching the book and performance
In return, I'm offering:
- a signed copy of the Where the Clouds Gather poetry anthology
OR
- a one-on-one poetry session with me (we can shape a piece around your origin story, a loved one, or anything you’d like to explore)
OR
- Tickets to the show for you and a friend
OR
- If you simply wish to donate, that's okay too
I’m hoping to raise between €1,500–3,000, depending on how ticket sales and housing arrangements land. That would be enough to close the gap and move into opening night with steadiness.
If you’re able to support, in any amount, it would mean more than you know, not just financially, but mentally and spiritually too. This show is about collective stories, and it feels right that its final steps are carried collectively too.
Thank you for walking with me. Thank you for believing in art, in our stories, and in the power of telling the truth in beauty.
With love,
Julia-Beth - Proud Mama of 'Where the Clouds Gather'
Follow the journey on my Instagram, with team talks and more context:
Interview about my practice:
Organizer
JB Harris
Organizer