On 23 September, ILFU, in collaboration with Spanish art collective Luzinterruptus, will open the festival with a river of books that will fill the Minrebroederstraat in the centre of Utrecht for one day. On the same day, the 10 writers spread across 10 neighbourhoods of Utrecht in recent months for Woord900 and organisation Mooie Woorden will present their stories.
Literature vs. Traffic
On 23 September, a river of 10,000 luminous books dissipates traffic on a street in the centre of Utrecht for one day. The installation illustrates ILFU's theme of this year: fiction to facts. With this installation, artist collective Luzinterruptus wants to literally provide more space for fiction, on the street, in the middle of the city. The installation is also intended as a silent protest against the effects of traffic and pollution on city life, replacing noise and pollution with words, poems, the rustling of pages and soft light.
"It is a symbolic gesture in which literature takes over the streets and becomes the conqueror of public space, offering citizens a space for reflection and entertainment in which traffic withdraws to give way to the modest power of paper and the written word."
Luzinterruptus https://www.luzinterruptus.com/
The art installation will be opened at 17:00 by Eva Oosters, Utrecht's alderman for culture, the street lights will be switched off and then paths will be made through the illuminated book river so that people can also walk through it. Everyone is cordially invited to bring back books as well. This way, the books will get a third life, with a new owner. The 10,000 books that make up the work of art were collected in recent months by the residents of Utrecht. The work of art will be open until 3 a.m. and free of charge.
Word900
That same day, the writing and residency tour of 10 Utrecht writers - in collaboration with organisation Pretty Words - will end at the artwork. The writers will then present their new story in the theme of 900 years of Utrecht: city without walls. At five locations on Minrebroederstraat, between 17:30 and 19:00, these authors will perform: Mariken Heitman, Corinne Heyrman, Martin Rombouts, Yael van der Wouden, Nisrine Mbarki, Hendrik de Pecker, Mia You, Steff Geelen, Asmae Amaddaou, Bakr Al Jaber. The bundle Word900 is also available free of charge, while stocks last.
A project by Beautiful Words www.mooiewoorden.org i.c.w. with ILFU.
ILFU - International Literature Festival Utrecht
ILFU is the largest literature festival in the Netherlands as well as a daily online platform for literature. Recurring festival elements are the Book Talks with international and national authors, Exploring Stories: writers on pressing contemporary themes, Young Adult Literature Festival Utrecht (YALFU) and programmes for new talent such as the NK Poetry Slam and the Storytelling Competition. Every year, the Night of Poetry forms the festive conclusion of the festival. See the entire programme on www.ilfu.com
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