Antwerp city poet to tattoo poems on volunteers
One line of the new poem ‘Hunger’ will be tattooed on nine volunteers, who together will make up a whole, part of Maarten Inghels efforts to inspire unity
‘The opposite of forgetting’
“Honger” is a response to the 33 stanzas of his previous poem “Volksbevraging” (Opinion Poll), each of which asked one question about the culture, beliefs and feelings of the city’s people. Inghels analysed the replies he received, and came out with “Honger”.
Volunteers are asked to choose one of the lines from the poem, submit a brief explanation of their choice and indicate where they would like to have the tattoo placed. The tattooing itself, by Sven Rayen of Studio Palermo, will take place on 23 September.
The volunteers chosen have to agree to have the work photographed and filmed; the photos will be published in Inghels’ forthcoming book Contact.
Maarten Inghels’ poem, translated by Flanders Today:
Hunger
we have to talk about bodies; my body
for your body, breath is hunger
the hunger of a single twin
hunger touches me, hunger strikes me
the secret of hunger is remembrance
the opposite of forgetting
wandering bodies hollow with hunger
rambler, burglar, foreigner
dancing in the light of emergency exits
your body – space – my body
Photo: Michiel Hendryckx/Wikimedia
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