The Wasp and the Weather | Poetry Walk
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The Wasp and the Weather | Poetry Walk is a poetry walk through Mechelen organized by artist Robin Vanbesien. The walk is part of The Wasp and the Weather, the project the artist will present at Contour Biennale 9. The project takes a closer look at a collection of poems by youngsters from Rzoezie (Arabic word for wasp), a former youth centre (1978-2006) in Mechelen (Belgium), which was founded and self-organized by youngsters of Moroccan and Amazigh descent.
The walk starts at arts centre nona | old hall
The Wasp
Originally published in Rzoezie’s monthly print magazine, this collection of poems gives voice to a (counter-)public imaginary that argues for a society of radical equality. An experience of tensions and feelings of uncertainty are gleaned from these poems, indicating racial discrimination in a hostile social environment.
The Weather
In what we can call the weather in a white world, anti-blackness is as pervasive as climate. How can the poems of the Wasp resonate in heavy weather? What is the space for and of this poetry? To write a poem and read it aloud doesn’t require much material infrastructure, but each word can yield a new consciousness of the relations of subjects to one another and to their physical surroundings.
produced by timely, coproduced by Spectre productions and Contour 9, supported by Darna – Flemish Moroccan culture house, BUDA arts centre Kortrijk, Arts in Society Award, M HKA and Amsab-ISG.
- Contributor·s
- Robin Vanbesien
- Location
- nona arts centre - old hall
- Begijnenstraat 19
2800 Mechelen (B) - Notes
Produced by timely, coproduced by Spectre productions and Contour 9, supported by Darna – Flemish Moroccan culture house, BUDA arts centre Kortrijk, Arts in Society Award, M HKA, H30 and Amsab-ISG.
The readers in the poetry walk are: Walter Antonio Andino Midence, Vincent Dewerie, Tanja Gouverneur, Elke Horemans, Fouzya Toukart, Merel Vander Elst, Astrid Van Grunderbeek and Bart Van Gyseghem.
