To refelect upon and express identity

Jan Dietvorst, an independent visual artist and programmer of special lectures and modern classical concerts in Paradiso, who was also present at both networked events that I will discuss, emphasizes that in his opinion the audience does not change over time in Paradiso. Paradiso functions like a medium, and in the changing landscape the way people meet each other changes, but not the audience as such. People come to Paradiso to collectively experience an event, a concert, a lecture. Being present in a particular space and collectively experiencing what happens raises religiously inspired questions like 'Who am I?', 'Where do I come from?', 'Where am I going?'. Even though these questions are hardly addressed directly, the experience that is carefully orchestrated by Paradiso creates a basis both for performing artists and the audience to reflect upon and express identity. What is crucial in the orchestration of 'direct experiences' is that the audience is able to afford an entry ticket and this defines the production values that Paradiso has worked with all along.