He was the founder and artistic director of three cultural centres in Amsterdam: Perdu, De Balie and De Tolhuistuin. Currently, he is an advisor to Trans Europe Halles. He published eight books of fiction and non-fiction and wrote essays, travel stories and reports on war, migration, cinema, football, theatre, urban issues and visual arts. His first visit to Sarajevo was in 1994, during the siege. He has been returning regularly ever since. In 2018 he received the Golden Laurel Wreath Award at MESS, the Sarajevo international theatre festival.
