This supplement assembles various texts that reflect on the problematic position of the public domain in today’s society. With a government that is devolving power and has also wholly geared its policy towards risk limitation, repression and the avoidance of confrontation, we must abandon the idea that the public domain is something we can take for granted. The public domain has to be created. This opens up the possibility of cultural practices operating in this void.

The editors of Open invited Dennis Kaspori and Jeanne van Heeswijk to author a contribution including various initiatives that raise this issue and formulate proposals that could lead to potential solutions. Published in both Dutch and English Gast≠Vrij / Guest≠Welcome. This editorial intervention serves as the point of departure for the two-year project ‘Hospitality for what is to come’, which Jeanne van Heeswijk and Dennis Kaspori are developing in association with ALMOSTREAL and the ‘Blauwe Huis’ (the ‘Blue House’) in Amsterdam. The project will consist of a number of interconnected guesthouses, meeting places and clandestine routes that serve as a platform for contributing to the debate about hospitality and migration. NB, the English version 'Guest ≠ Welcome' will become available soon.