Concise.pdf - Brugge Plus

30
BRUGGE 2002
De Werf: productive and versatile
The arts centre De Werf had a high-profile presence in the BRUGGE 2002 programme,
with various projects. There was the start of a new jazz festival and the publication of
a ten-part CD box, there were the new creations The (e)migrants, de kavijaks (zonder
hoofdletters) [the kavijaks (without capital letters)], Het moment, Reading Lamp, the children’s
festival Jonge Snaken (Young Fellas) and the repeat performance of the dance
and music production Passages.
“Is Bruges really a suitable breeding ground for artistic activity” This was the question
to which The (e)migrants sought an answer by having artists who have immigrated
or emigrated give a rendering of their – vexed or otherwise – relationship with
this city. Again this was no traditional theatre production, but a project in which the
public moved between the Centre for Asylum Seekers and the Kruispoort and were
thus able to witness four performances or installations. The arrival in and departure
from the city were symbolically well supported by the choice of the locations and the
walk between them.
Giving a rendering of “de kavijaks (zonder hoofdletters)” had long been the pipe dream
of actor Kurt Defrancq. This book by Jozef Vantorre tells of how a large fishing family
was able to thrill entire generations of residents of Knokke-Heist. It was a compelling
solo performance that kept the audience spellbound from start to finish.
De Werf also developed a new daring project with young people, entitled The Moment.
Based on the stage play The Determined by Elias Canetti and the myth of Narcissus,
seven young people between the ages of sixteen and eighteen worked for nine
months on a production on the themes of individuality, making choices and growing
up. The teenagers received support from Ivo Opstaele, Jorre Vandenbussche and Rik De
Jonghe, but decided themselves on the content and form of their production.
Finally De Werf organised an ode to jazz composer and musician Kris Defoort before
a sold-out Concert Hall, with the repeat performance of the dance and music production
Passages and the release of the jazz CD Sound Plaza by the Kris Defoort
Quartet.
Amateur arts on the boards
Pieter Aspe is a household name in Bruges. The most widely read author in Flanders
was born in this city and lived there up until a couple of years ago. At the request of
BRUGGE 2002 he wrote a new crime novel, Vagevuur (Purgatory), the action of which
takes place in and around the new Concertgebouw. Michel De Sutter adapted this
novel into four stage plays with a heart-stopping denouement. Co-ordinated by
renowned procession organiser Etienne Mommerency the various Bruges drama
societies put on Ontmaskerd (Unmasked), a marathon of the successive plays.
Other projects by amateur companies were also included in the programme: a concert
© FRAUKE DENDOOVEN
© MARLEEN LAMOTE
Nobody - Sasha Waltz
Toyo Ito’s pavilion