Aafke Steenhuis (1946) is a writer and painter. She was born
in Delfzijl, a Dutch harbour town in the northern province of
Groningen, near the German border. She studied Dutch and Spanish
at the University of Groningen. She is married to Jan Joost
Teunissen, founder and director of FONDAD, a research centre
and international forum on international economics and developing
countries. In 1973, Aafke and Jan Joost lived in Chile where
they observed and participated in agrarian reform. In 1974 they
moved to Amsterdam, first living on a ship, a “tjalk”,
on the river Amstel, and since 1985 in a dike house near the
IJ in Amsterdam-Noord. They have a daughter, Belle and a son,
Jannis.
As a young girl, the lingering shadow of the Second World War
produced an early interest in the local and international world
around her. From 1974 to 1990 she was the editor for culture
and Latin America for the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer.
Since 1991 she has organised a monthly meeting of the Golfgroep,
a group of leftist intellectuals that discuss international
political issues. She has kept a diary since she was nine years
old. She is a member of the editorial board of the quarterly
magazine Rood Koper, www.roodkoper.nl,
a journal for culture, religion and politics where she is a
regular contributor, writing political essays and book reviews.
Aafke Steenhuis is a member of the board of a literary work
group of the Association of Literary Writers and Translators,
www.schrijversenvertalers.nl,
de Vereniging van Letterkundigen (VVL).
As a painter, she has followed private lessons in Amsterdam.
She is inspired by German expressionism and De Ploeg, a expressionist
painters group in the province of Groningen. She uses gouache
and mixed techniques. She has reported on daily life in her
neighbourhood and during travels in her numerous drawing diaries.
Current work includes a series of gouaches around the IJ in
Amsterdam and a series of portraits of couples. Aafke Steenhuis
has had exhibitions around the Netherlands and shows her work
in her studio and at the annual “Atellierroute Boven 't
IJ”, www.noorderijkunst.nl
As a writer, she teaches interview and writing techniques
and gives lectures about her work.
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