Jogging alongside the quays in Antwerp, yes sometimes we do a little exercise, we were confronted with the 19,8 miles (3,2 kilometers) long wall of poetry from Peter Holvoet-Hanssen. Reading it while running, poetry turned out to be the ideal motivation to put in that extra mile. Charmed as we were with Holvoet-Hanssens tribute to Antwerp, we started thinking about other cities and their ways to incorporate poetry into the city landscape. And how poetry can change the urban view…
I LOVE BELGIUM
Peter Holvoet-Hanssen didn’t write the poem Welkom pierewaaiers all by himself. More than 500 people of Antwerp took up their pens to contribute, making this poem a real city team effort. The text has been written on a concrete dam wall and connects the North with the South of Antwerp. The big white letters on the grey wall seem to go on forever and this works really well in a rather industrial setting. It gives you a sense of unlimited space and freedom. Aaah just keep on running!
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
In Ghent a similar form of city poetry can be discovered, namely Melopee of famous Belgian poet Paul van Ostaijen. This time the best way to experience this text art is not by jogging but by taking a ferry or boat. Melopee is written on the borders of the Graslei canal and when speaking them out loud the words too seem to rock back and forth in sync with the water. Considering the romantic and rustique environment, this time the words were carved into the stones. Making them merge with their surroundings, only noticeable when you’re consciously looking for them. Or when you suddenly discover the words by chance. A marvelous coincidence…
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
We mustn’t forget Brussels! Alongside the canal in Molenbeek there’s a promenade especially designed by Belgian artist Henri Jacobs. In the pavement words are shaped using black and grey clinkers. For this purpose Jacob used the text from Molenbeek Palimpsest of Russian poet Evgeny Bunimovich who wrote it after a visit. Stricken by the Multiculturalism of the area, Bunimovich wanted to emphasize on different cultures living together. So he made his poem using three languages (Dutch, French, Russian) and three alphabets (Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic) and referred to a palimpsest: a parchment that was always overwritten in ancient times and thus consists of many layers. A beautiful metaphor to portray the cultural stratification of this neighborhood. Jacobs kept his design simple and the contrast between the black and grey pixels gives the pavement a very clean look. A breath of fresh air!
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
I LOVE BELGIUM
pictures courtesy of Flickr
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