20 Jul '16

Watou festival goes out with a bang

Summary

After almost almost four decades of celebrating visual arts, poetry and music, this year's edition of Kunstenfestival Watou will be its last

No more understanding

For almost 40 years, Kunstenfestival Watou has been combining poetry with visual arts, stressing the interaction between the two art forms. This year it’s beautifully illustrated by a poem by Stefan Hertmans, inspired by “Conversation Piece”, a harrowing set of sculptures by the late Spanish artist Juan Muñoz.
 

You can find them in the Douviehoeve, an old farm that’s one of the 10 locations of the festival, all within walking distance of the festival centre in the heart of Watou, a district of the West Flanders town of Poperinge on the French border.

The works illustrate the motto of this year’s festival: On the Strength of Empathy. Other highlights are sculptures by Roeland Tweelinckx and “Casa tomada”, a fascinating installation by Colombian Rafael Gómezbarros comprised of what seems at first sight to be hundreds of huge ants. A closer look reveals that those ants are made of reproductions of human skulls and branches.

Two days before the opening of this edition of Watou – as the festival is generally known – it learned that it had lost its Flemish cultural subsidies, worth almost €300,000. The organisers said this would mean the end of the festival, which started 36 years ago as a poetry event.

Organiser Jan Moeyaerts quoted French author Albert Camus in his introductory text for this year’s festival: “If we understood the world, art would not exist.” But no more understanding will be done in Watou. It’s always a pity when a festival with a unique profile disappears; even more so when it’s in full flow. Watou goes out with a bang.

Photo courtesy Kunstenfestival Watou

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