People from many different countries live, study and work in Eindhoven. Every week, E52 has a talk with an international about what brought them here and what life is like in Eindhoven.
Name: Cristian Boscheri
Country of origin: Italy
Work: Co-Director wedowe and Artist at wedotalent
On a rainy and grey afternoon, we enter the warmth and cosiness of Soul Kitchen on Strijp S. We are here to meet Christian. “Welcome to our Community Space,” he says with a warm smile. Together with his colleague Aiman Hassani he runs the daily operations of non-profit organisation wedowe out of the restaurant. “A while back we talked to the owner, Thomas Thijs, and learned about Soul Kitchen and what it is all about. They are very socially active. We were looking for a place to work while having the possibility of meeting people from our community and he offered we could do that here. We help them with their communications. We work with people and you see them all day here. We love the vibes.”
Wedowe is a non-profit organisation focussed on improving the world with dowes. “We are a positive movement focussing on realising as many dowes as we can with a measurable social impact. Made possible by the people who want to change the world. Even by the ones who don’t know this yet. A dowe is interpreted as a project that advances our world further. As such, dowes include projects of a wide range of areas including arts, technology, sustainability and community development. A dowe can be anything. We organise workshops and events to inspire people. If they have a specific request, we connect and facilitate. Right now we are helping to organise a breakdance battle for a charity and setting up a crowdfunding campaign for a short film.”
“The TU/e had a program that made me excided ánd I found out Eindhoven has a high-level breakdance culture with one of the best crews in the world”Cristian Boscheri, Co-director at wedowe
Before Cristian came to Eindhoven, he used to I live in Arese, close to Milan where he studied. “I did my Bachelor in Energy Engineering with the idea I wanted to contribute something good to the world. After that, I was looking for a good Masters program in renewable energy like solar and wind energy. Because I couldn’t find such a study in Italy, I started looking outside my country. An acquaintance studied in Delft, so I explored my options in the Netherlands. The TU/e had a program that made me excided ánd I found out Eindhoven has a high-level breakdance culture with one of the best crews in the world. Breakdancing has been my big passion for years. Now I practice at Dynamo and Rugged Studio and also teach at both sometimes. Currently, I’m working on a show with a pole dancer, a nice hybrid dance. I love to explore new forms and collaborations.”
“As a dowe I did a show in Natlab. My aim was to change the spectators perspective on hip-hop. It is so much more than what most people think. Hip-hop gives everyone the chance to create something with nothing. Eindhoven is a cool place to do stuff like this. I like dance events like Open your mind at Parktheater. It attracts eccentric dancers who searching for the edges of dance. It gives me inspiration. Let’s lose the labels and boxes.”
As a breakdancing engineer, Cristian looks at the world in two different perspectives. “I found what I love: creating something good and have fun. Eindhoven is weird mosaic, still developing and that’s a good thing. There is also a willingness to listen here. Eindhoven can do better when it comes to the infrastructure of social initiatives. There a so many of them, they work next to each other, but they need to work together. I’m curious how this will develop in the future.”
Read all the internationals stories here.
Photography: Diewke van den Heuvel