NU (meaning now in Dutch) is a new publication that aims to be a platform for connecting and reconnecting, where the ‘now’ offers a pause, a moment for unexpected encounters and a shelter for openness. Edited by Wouter De Broeck and Stefanie Braun, each issue will focus on a different subject matter that we feel is relevant now and explore it through the work and reflections of our diverse group of contributors. Coming from a range of different disciplines, NU presents their multitude of voices, art forms and genres and gives them equal space and importance. The project is also loudly international and shows that cross-cultural collaborations are very much alive, and a fertile and much needed ground for creative projects. So please read it, share it, build something with it.

Wouter De Broeck worked for years as a journalist, writing on migration, the economic crisis in the Iberian peninsula, as well as on topics such as energy and sustainability. He has also published several short stories in Flemish literary magazines. Recently he obtained an MA in Environmental Management and started to work as a sustainability manager. While working as a journalist it was the people-side of journalism that kept him moving. The digging as well. And the paradoxes. Over the last few years, he harboured the idea of creating a platform where people could connect through relevant texts and creations. It was a delight to reconnect and work together on NU with his long time friend Stefanie Braun.

Stefanie Braun is a curator who lives and works in London. In 1996, her studies in Visual Theories lead her to London from her native Germany where she has stayed ever since. For over a decade (2000 – 2013) she was a curator at The Photographers' Gallery, London, organising exhibitions of historical and contemporary photography and editing many catalogues and publications along the way. Stefanie also has a great interest in vintage fashion and textiles and was running her showroom ‘Fraubraun’ for several years which brought together her love for photography with fashion. She is now a consultant supporting artists and photographers with the development and editing of significant bodies of work.