Poet Tsead Bruinja and musician Zea will travel through Fryslân in 2022 to record stories of older Frisians in residential care institutions. A wonderful project that we have taken over from the Poet Laureate Foundation.
Tsead Bruinja was Dichter des Vaderlands (Poet Laureate) in 2019 and 2020. In January 2019 he gave a workshop to three elderly people in Dokkum. He talked to them about freedom, the theme of Poetry Week that year. Tsead Bruinja documented the life stories and poured them into a poem, which resulted in special portraits of the participants.
In 2020 he elaborated the project for eleven care institutions in Fryslân and supplemented his team with musician Zea (Arnold de Boer), photographer Rosa van Ederen and a group of (young) poets. It turned out to be a wonderful participation project with poetry in a connecting role. A project in which the many talents of the residents are discussed. Due to corona, however, it stranded after three sessions. Leeuwarden City of Literature has taken over the project from the Poet Laureate Foundation, so that it can still be completed.
In 2022, Tsead, Zea, Rosa and fellow poets will still visit the healthcare institutions. They have extensive discussions with residents and follow the daily rhythm of the house. The healthcare staff selects four participants per institution, with whom the artistic team will work on four personal ‘portraits’. A self-portrait by the residents, framed with poetry by the poets. The end result is always presented during a festive program and the aim is to eventually produce a bilingual book.
Watch the videos of Tsead and Zea for an impression of Portraits in Poetry:
With the support of LIRA en the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
