Thu 15.05 and Fri 16.05
Jozef Wouters / Decoratelier
The Soft Layer
© Veerle Vercauteren

Jozef Wouters / Decoratelier

The Soft Layer
Openbare Werken
  • Thu 15.05
    19:00 - 20:00
    Locatie
  • Fri 16.05
    20:00 - 21:00
    Locatie

This spring, Jozef Wouters / Decoratelier brings 'The Soft Layer' back to life. These performances are a continuation of The Soft Layer (Tunis), a site-specific work that took place from 2017 to 2019 in the historic building Dar Bairam Turki in Tunis, as part of the Dream City Biennale. 

For several years, we gathered stories and ideas from the building’s residents. In the courtyard, a group of young architects, local residents, actors, and a science fiction writer came together. Together, they took on the renovation of the beautiful 17th-century Ottoman palace. But this was no ordinary renovation: it was a process that did not remove, but added a layer – a soft, temporary layer, built from collective memories, stories, and opinions about the building.

A part of the work was a text that transformed the building into a score, intended to be read at sunset as an act of care and a collective meditation on a building. If the past is the only conceivable future, where are we now?

"‘The soft layer’ is theater pur sang: het representeert met de middelen die voorhanden zijn een heel andere wereld."

Elie Agniel - Pzazz

Text written by: Jozef Wouters and edited by Jeroen Peeters - Performers: Youri Dirkx, Leila Benchorf, John Niyibizi, Sara De Roo - The Soft Layer Tunis was partly created during rehearsals with Fatma Ben Saïdane, Amira Chebli, Hichem Chebli, and Vladimir Miller - Originally produced by Dream City Tunis, L'Art Rue, Damaged Goods in co-production with Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER - Re-performance 2024 produced by Damaged Goods, Kanal – Centre Pompidou in collaboration with Dream City BXL.