EspañolGank truut en kom hèjGank truut en kom hèj / Camina y ven An ambulatory, site-specific and interactive performance along a route where the walker will be invited to experience the landscape from different perspectives, from the simple contemplation to a total active participation, counting with the collaboration of different musicians, performers and local people. This performance link the urban center of Zutendaal to the agriculture area in the outskirts, through the Lieteberg forest.
Resume video (camera: Claudia Maria Castellan, Jos Bamps, Cristian Bettini) At around 7.30 in the evening, just as dusk was beginning to fall, we left the farmhouse base and joined a large group of around 150 people assembled outside a school in Zutendaal town. From there we were led by the Spanish arts collective, Orquestina de pigmeos, on an interactive sound and vision tour of the town and its environs. I had no prior idea of what was about to happen – no-one seemed to know. We were instructed to be as silent as possible, a request rendered almost impotent, as the fascination of and in the events that followed meant that everyone was to enthralled to speak.
Standing in a graveyard, the silence was only broken by the repetitive motion and spray of a water sprinkler on the football pitches in the distance to our left. Then, the sounds of children playing football. We couldn’t see them, but could hear them clearly and set off in their direction. By the time we got there, the sounds had diminished, and there was no sign of anyone – it was starting to dawn on me that this was part of a performance. As we stood looking at the football pitches, suddenly some music started and I was aware that people were starting to turn round to look at the sports pavilion building behind us. The lights had come on inside and we could see a jazz/ballroom dance class in full flow – maybe 7 or 8 couples in full dance dress. A really magical awakening of a town’s everyday, we watched voyeuristically as we were given an insight into what goes on in this small Belgian town. From there we were led, in rapidly falling darkness through the town’s forestland, stopping to watch an engraver tap tap tap away at his work, hearing recorded testimonials from townsfolk along the way…
We eventually ended up back at the farmhouse, where we watched images of haymakers beamed onto stacks of hay, as tow of the artists rustled their microphones through the bails. The evening finished with rousing accordion-led folk music and dancing and home-made apple juice. Words and pictures really fail to do justice to this piece of work, as it was the feelings and ambience created that was so special, along with the obvious levels of artist-integrity which had encouraged so many of the town’s inhabitants to so fully engage with the project. I thought it was a real piece of place-making as the artists brought the town of Zutendaal to life for me. A truly great piece of work. Glen Stoker
ORQUESTINA DE PIGMEOS |
