Save Our Souls
Maaike Fransen & Juul Dekker (namens Vis à Vis)
Nederlandse versie »
A bell rings over the dark Weerwater, calling for attention, inviting you. A polyphonic song echoes from the floating chapel. The towering refuge, constructed from recycled life rafts and inflatable boats, is an unexpected beacon of light on the water's surface.
In a place where water once disappeared and yet returned, a story emerges about the future of our environment, our lives, when sea level rise will change the landscape again.
Save Our Souls is an alarming yet hopeful monument about catastrophe and zest for life. A warning and a symbol for humanity's climate challenge. But it is also a reminder of the pioneers who first entered Flevoland, built a community, cities and a future in the void. The structure calls for reflection and action, and asks a critical question about the idea that humans always want to be in control of nature (and whether that will remain the case). If the tide proves impossible to turn, we can come together here.
The artists worked together with Het Noordkoor and choir conductor and composer Joep Hegger to turn this light artwork into a total experience, with text by Gert-Jan de Ruiter. The North Choir is creating a beautiful vocal recording specifically for the artwork Save Our Souls, which can be heard every evening from the floating chapel overlooking Weerwater. On October 20th, the North Choir will perform their singing live once. You can listen to the North Choir in Lumièrepark starting at 7:15 PM.
Save Our Souls can be seen on the water at Lumière Park.
About the artists
Maaike Fransen
Maaike Fransen (1987) is a visual artist working at the intersections of visual art, performance and film. Recent work Comfort Zone(s) was shown in the Kunstkapel in Amsterdam and she presented her series of films How to Make a Living solo with Galery LANGART at Art Rotterdam 2023. She worked for, and in collaboration with, the Danish fashion designer and artist Henrik Vibskov and body architect Lucy McRae. In 2017 she won the PIG-PRIZE (Practical-Intelligent-Genius Prize) in Copenhagen.
Juul Dekker
Juul Dekker (1985) is a scenographer and set designer and recently designed the stage setting for prize-winning performances by Eline Arbo such as Weg met Eddy Bellegeule (Toneelschuur Producties) and De Jaren (Het Nationale Theater). He worked a lot with collectives, on location or not, such as De Warme Winkel, Collectief Walden and Raoul Collectif (Théâtre National, Bruxelles). He has also previously created projects in public space with his own collective LABland, with which he shares a workshop at Het Domijn.
Credits
Choir conductor, composition, arrangement: Joep Hegger / text: Gert-Jan de Ruiter / vocals: Het Noordkoor / construction: Pieter Lustig, Leon de Bruijne / lighting technique: Terry de Ruiter / artistic advice: Rutger Buiter, Marianne Seine - Vis à Vis.
Save Our Souls was commissioned by ALLUMINOUS light art festival, in collaboration with Vis à Vis.
