Wick van der Vaart

Instituut voor Interventiekunde
WG-Plein 255, 1054 SE
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Phone: 0031 6 150 11 771
Web: www.instituutvoorinterventiekunde.nl

Remembering Wick: 
Farewell Wick van der Vaart – founder of the Institute for Intervention Studies
Born 6 March 1962 – Died 15 October 2017

https://wickvandervaart.nl/en/wick/https://wickvandervaart.nl/bijeenkomst/

On August 21st I spoke to Wick over the phone. He indicated during our conversation that he would appreciate it if I would make a film portrait of him in my usual style – b/w, focus on the eyes as the mirrors of our soul, and from the perspective that the other allows me to be witness of his/her thoughts, emotions etc. As such I sat at his bedsite on September 12th and learned what is really important to him and how he experienced what has happened, with all the pain, the sadness, how relative things are and also all the love he experienced. It was special to witness his words as a friend and to distill from the conversation a portrait of nearly 6 minutes. A portrait in which I have tried to capture the essence of what Wick was sharing. A challenging task, also because of the technical complexities – hospitals are not ideal as film locations – however I believe the end result shows Wick as the man who clearly, also in this situation, is an ‘Iron Man’!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/235436392 (Video with Wick reflecting on what really matters) 

Joep C. de Jong


28 SEPTEMBER 2017 BY BARBARA VAN KESTEREN

Memories of Wick

People who knew Wick know that he was always working on inclusion in all of his activities. For example, he created an open atmosphere within his training groups, so that differences within the group could be appreciated. Part of his work took place within organizations. Something that always formed part of his planning is bringing people into conversation with each other. This stems from the philosophy of social constructionism: we create the world around us through conversations with each other. By deploying this philosophy as a professional and person, and because Wick is a person who likes to be among people, he has built up a very large network in his life.

The word ‘network’ does not actually describe the circle of people he has gathered. It is a community. We have a shared vision, and some of us do the same kind of work. Based on this idea, this website has also been created to include space for members of the community to search for each other online. Here, conversations can take place, thoughts can be shared and we can respond to each other.

What is very much appreciated, is that we keep in touch with each other via messages on this site. We therefore want to ask you a question: Tell a story about a good moment you have had with Wick, or in attending the Instituut voor Interventiekunde, or meeting him through his work for AI Practitioner. What did you experience, and what do you want to share with us? If you like, you can also send a photo.

The news about Wick will come as a shock for many, so let’s look up and give meaning to this difficult time.

Contact info@instituutvoorinterventiekunde.nl