Below we gathered the most frequently asked questions about the project, the application procedure and the interview process. More questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us at: contact@therewillbelight.com
Applying
To book your spot for the interview, fill in the online application form or register directly on the spot at one of the locations. After booking, you will receive a confirmation email.
If you have any trouble filling in the application, please do not hesitate to contact us at contact@therewillbelight.com, or come directly to one of the locations. We will be happy to help.
- Everybody from the age of 18 years.
- An individual (no companies or legal entities)
- Any nationality (You do not need to have a Dutch Nationality)
Notice, you can not apply if:
- You are part of the panel of experts
- You are part of Studio Julian Hetzel’s team
No. You can only apply for yourself.
To be certain of your spot, we advise you to book in advance through this form.
It is also possible to make an appointment at the location.
Yes, you can apply in multiple cities as long as you are not ‘the chosen one’ in any of the previous editions.
Please note that if you apply in another city you must be able to travel there for the interview and, if selected, for the grand finale.
The InterviewS
The interviews take place in three different cities:
WEST Den Haag
22 – 30 April 2022
Lange Voorhout 102
2514 EJ Den Haag
SPRING Performing Arts Festival
12 – 20 May 2022
Kanaalweg 50
3526 KM Utrecht
Grand Theatre Groningen
24 June – 2 July 2022
Grote Markt 35
9711 LV Groningen
Read more on our Visit page
Yes, all interviews are public.
We will stay seven days in each location followed by one final extra day: the grand finale. During which, we will announce ‘the chosen one’- the one who will take the money and live their one-year life-performance.
Read more about the exact opening days and times on our Visit page
We have 10 interviews each day. That is: 70 spots for each city.
Each interview takes 20 minutes.
The interviews are held by a panel of alternative experts consisting of homeless people living in the cities we are visiting. They will interview each applicant.
At the end of each day the panel will select one candidate out of the applicants from that day. On the very last day (day 8), the chosen applicant of each individual day will be called back for the grand finale. Out of these 7 applicants, one will be selected as ‘the chosen one’.
If the panel of experts selects you as the chosen candidate on a particular day, we will notify you by phone. You then need to come for the Grand Finale. The chosen one is selected during the Grand Finale.
visiting the beach
If you want to participate as an applicant you need to book an interview. To be certain you get an interview slot, we advise you to book in advance through our Apply page.
It is also possible to make an appointment at the location.
You can also visit the beach as part of the audience and assist at the public interview. In this case you need a ticket. Check on our Visit page for the latest information for each beach location.
Opening times differ for each location.
- At WEST Den Haag (22 – 30 April), we are open daily between 12.00-18.00h (closed on Kingsday: Wednesday 27 April).
- At SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht (12 – 20 May), we are open daily between 14.00-20.00h (closed on Monday 16 May).
- At the Grand Theatre Groningen (24 June – 2 July), we are open daily between 14.00-20.00h (closed on Monday 27 June).
The grand finale has a different time, but will be in the same location. Please, read more about the exact opening hours on our Visit page.
Keep an eye on this website, Instagram or Facebook for the latest info.
If you apply for an interview, you do not need to buy a ticket to enter. If you want to have a look at the beach, the interviews or attend the Grand Finale, you need a valid ticket.
Please find more information about the ticket on the Visit page
Money and liability
It is a donation of €15.000 per edition (i.e. Den Haag, Utrecht, Groningen)
We will pay you a donation of €15.000 over the course of one year, in monthly installments of €1.250. This is usually done by bank transfer.
In exceptional cases, we can also pay in cash if you don’t have a bank account.
€15.000 is roughly the equivalent of one basic income for one year.
The money is being offered by an artist: Studio Julian Hetzel. The Studio is repurposing its own money, received from cultural funds.
Yes you can apply. However, if you are ‘the chosen one’ to receive €15.000, this might possibly affect the social benefits you are currently getting.
We strongly advise you to consult your municipality to examine your specific situation and possible consequences for your social welfare benefits. It might affect your benefits or you might have to ask for permission to receive the money donation. You should also take into account a possible effect on your allowances or other subsidies that you receive. Please contact the Tax Authorities Belastingdienst, UVW or other agency from which you receive benefits or allowances.
Studio Julian Hetzel is not liable for the consequences of donations that you receive as a participant. You are responsible for checking the tax or social-law consequences when receiving donations. The information you find about this on this website is purely informative. No rights can be derived from this.
If you have a question on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at contact@therewillbelight.com
That is up to you. However, a few restrictions apply: you can use the donation for legal and private purposes only. Private purposes include payments for the purchase of goods or services for private use. Non-private purposes include payments to a legal person or partnership in support of conducting a business. Doubtful cases can be discussed with Studio Julian Hetzel.
If you use the money in a way that deviates from the destinations described above, Studio Julian Hetzel is free to stop the payments.
When you are ‘the chosen one’ receiving the donation, you become part of the artistic project of Studio Julian Hetzel. This also commits you to the objectives of the Studio. We will need information from you so that we can contact you and pay you the money. It is therefore expected that you will provide us this information. Of course we only use your data for our project, and we will never pass it on to others.
- An ID
- A bank account number
- Consent to participate in Studio Julian Hetzel’s artistic project
- Confirmation that you are aware of the tax, social security and other financial consequences that apply to you as a result of receiving the basic income in the form of a monthly payment
- Confirmation that you will bear any negative financial effects that may arise as a result of receiving the Foundation’s donations
If you don’t have a bank account, in exceptional cases, we can pay cash.
Studio Julian Hetzel is not liable for the consequences of donations that you receive as a participant. You are responsible for checking the tax or social-law consequences when receiving donations.
The information you find about this on this website is purely informative. No rights can be derived from this.
About the project: there will be light
Studio Julian Hetzel is behind this project, called There Will be Light. The Studio is repurposing its own money, received from cultural funds. In other words: tax money.
Julian Hetzel works as performance maker, visual artist and musician. He creates performative experiences for theatres and galleries that have a political dimension and a documentary approach. His works are produced and presented internationally.
Julian Hetzel is born in the Black Forest (DE) and is currently based in the Netherlands. He studied at Bauhaus University Weimar (DE) with a focus on visual communication. In 2013 he graduated from DasArts Amsterdam, an artistic research laboratory for new forms of theatre and performing arts. Hetzel is a founding member of the electro pop band Pentatones and he performed with the group until 2016. Between 2014-2016 Hetzel was associated artist at SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht. Since 2014, Hetzel collaborates with Frascati Theater Amsterdam as a local co-producer. In 2016, Hetzel established Stichting Ism & Heit in Utrecht to realise and produce his artistic work under the label Studio Julian Hetzel. In 2017, “The Automated Sniper” received the VSCD-Mimeprijs. Since 2018 Hetzel works in close collaboration with the Gent based art center CAMPO (BE). Their first joint production “All Inclusive” (2018) has been selected for the Nederlands Theaterfestival 2019. In 2019 Hetzel has presented three works at the Venice Biennale Teatro. The performance Installation “SELF” has been selected as the Dutch National entry at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019. Since 2021 Studio Julian Hetzel receives structural funding from the city of Utrecht and Fonds Podium Kunsten.
There Will Be Light is a project about the precarious economy of hope.
Not here, not now. Hope is all about then and there.
Today, the people deciding which futures are possible are the CEOs and technocrats running the governments – the experts of the neoliberal status quo. “It has become easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Today, we are experiencing a crisis of imagination. So what if hopelessness is not the lack of hope, but a lack of space to imagine alternatives?
There Will Be Light proposes possible futures that turn our expectations upside down. We (Studio Julian Hetzel) decided to take the equivalent of a basic income from our own cultural funding and give it as a donation to one person.
This money is an invitation to escape the world of needs and to enter the world of desires. There Will Be Light promotes a radical gesture to question the way we live and how we relate to labor. Today’s societies are defined by work: work to produce value, to have a sense of purpose, to provide status. What would we be if we were not workers?
There Will Be Light is a project about life as art and art as work. The real performance begins after the applause, at the very moment when the show is over and the audience returns home. For one year, seven days per week, 24h per day, the “chosen one” starts performing an improvisation called life.
So stop working and become an artist!