how desire drives us

'A subtle thread runs through the programme—one that gradually reveals itself. We trace how desire (désir, verlangen) sets us in motion: the restless urge to transcend, to obtain what is missing, to make ourselves whole. Desire, longing, wishing, yearning, aching, craving, thirsting, burning, sighing, feeling compelled, hungering, waiting impatiently, wanting... The abundance of words portrays how deeply our sense of lack and need is woven into language itself.

Each work evokes, in its own distinct way, the force of desire in motion—Fort Europa as a utopian destination for thousands, the sublime gift of a musical work offered to a beloved, the childlike pastoral coming of age of Daphnis and Chloë.

Three stories of desire, then, each with its own perspective.

We invited slam poet Lisette Ma Neza to render this thread tangible through newly written texts. Her words are heard before each piece, or appear as projected intertitles, like in silent films. Yet they follow their own path, fragments of thought that emerge while listening. Her texts are not static captions but living, resonant commentaries—like a dancer freely associating within the symphonic space.

Motion designer Ychaï Gassenbauer transforms these words into images: fragments of text sliding across and off the screen, seeking their path and visually echoing the play of words. He contrasts them with stylised video images of an abandoned building overtaken and reclaimed by nature—an exploration of absence and presence, instinct and culture. His imagery creates a contemplative backdrop, at once a pastoral space and an echo of flight and uprooting.'

Gerd Van Looy