Visual artist, performer and municipal poet of Smallingerland Erik de Boer will present his project De Fryske Oersonate (The Frisian Ursonate) at Oerol Festival this summer. The premiere takes place on 16 June at WestEnd Theater on Terschelling.
De Boer created a Frisian version of the famous Ursonate by German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters, connecting the sounds of the original with the rich phonetics of the Frisian language. The project won De Gjalp, a collaboration between literary magazines de Moanne, Ensafh and poetry collective RIXT that creates new platforms for Frisian writing talent.
In the performance, De Boer combines the sound poem with a pastiche of Frisian film footage, bringing together language, image and sound. Schwitters had a special connection to Fryslân: in 1923 he visited Drachten, where he performed at the famous Dada evening at Hotel De Phoenix.
About Erik de Boer
Erik de Boer (Drachten, 1991) works as a Dadaist visual artist, theatre maker, composer and poet. He studied artist drama at Friesland College, published two poetry collections, and is municipal poet of Smallingerland. In January 2026, he came second out of 924 participants at the Poetry Competition of the City of Ostend. In 2025, he won De Gjalp with his Frisian Ursonate.
About De Gjalp
De Gjalp aims to give Frisian writers a place at festivals where Frisian literature is not yet always present. The new edition is open for submissions until 10 May via gjalp25@gmail.com.
