BEESTIG?
Stadsfestival Damme presenteert elk jaar verzamelde verhalen. De kracht van het woord en de macht van het beeld spelen de hoofdrollen. Met een combinatie van onder andere literatuur, poëzie, beeldende kunst, fotografie, filosofie, erfgoed, natuur en gastronomie brengt Stadsfestival Damme een belevingsfestival voor jong en oud. Damme geeft je zo graag tijd voor onthaasting, ontdekking en ontmoeting.
Every year, Stadsfestival Damme wants to offer their visitors time to experience literature, contemporary
art, music, heritage, philosophy... In some of the larger cultural heritage sites of the village we will bring
work on the search of being as seen through the eyes of artists in various disciplines.
The theme of this third edition is ‘BEESTIG?’
As most people, artists are often fascinated by mankind and the animal world. The exhibition BEESTIG?
(‘BEASTLY?’) gathers artist who create work about this in their own specific manner.
Millions of years ago, when the South of Tuscany was still part of a big island, a monkey lived there.
This monkey was walking upright. The pelvis of this ‘oreopithicus bamboli’ was surprisingly similar to the
pelvis of the modern man. However his brains were very small. On this island, there were almost no
natural enemies, so the monkey could walk around for millions of years. Between six or seven million
years ago, the coastline started to approach closer to the island, until a land bridge was created and
saber-toothed cats and other predators of the mainland arrived. They exterminated the monkey.
In the meanwhile we, humans, have arisen from other animal species: the almighty species? Corona
times call this into question. The city festival provides a mix of fiction and non-fiction. A walk full of
wonder. Don’t miss it.
The Waiting room
The multimedia installation The Waiting Room is one huge incubator. In this waiting room, life quietly and invisibly generates the energy needed to allow her children to step out into the world and find the right biotope to grow safely. Fans and incubation lamps symbolize the favorable conditions that initially give life - the eggs on the ground - a chance. Along with the temperature and humidity meter. The neon 'the global only exists by the generosity of the local' reminds us that the waiting room, however, is a dead end and that life takes place outside the walls, the shell and the nest. In all its vehemence. Without the generosity of the first moment, of the local, the global is doomed to extinguish. And without the call of the global, the waiting room quickly becomes a funeral home.
