Lezing 3
lecture 3 1990
The former archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately set me thinking about its original function: storing and conserving the political correspondence between The Netherlands and the rest of the world.
The space is in fact nothing more than a high room which walls are covered with bookshelves. There are iron balconies and stairs to keep the archive accessible.
The skylight in the roof provides enough daylight on the reading boards on each balcony.
On Sunday the 19th of may, four people were situated on each level, one in each wind direction: 16 people, each of them of different nationality.
For one hour they read, all at the same time, aloud from a text chosen from the history of their land of origin, in their own language.
This created a tower of sound built out of human voices and languages.
The visitors were able to move between the levels, listening to the various speakers, and overhear fragments of texts and languages.
After the performance a lady came up to me and said: 'did you realize that today it is Pentecost?'
year | 1990 |
date | 19.05 |
location | Archief Casuaristraat Den Haag |
performed by | 16 participants with 16 different nationalities |
photography | guus Rijven |