Words Service reading performance
Sarah Vanhee (Belgium)For three days during the festival, writer and artist Sarah Vanhee, along with local words providers (Marija Luīze Meļķe, Estere Betija Grāvere) are lending a listening ear at Homo Novus. At Words Service, they help visitors find words for matters of mind, heart, and soul. Anyone can make a request for a letter, email, message, description, statement, words for a conversation, etc.
With this work, Sarah Vanhee builds upon her practice of active and deep listening, which is central to her oeuvre.
Curious about the requests and writings? During this reading-performance, Sarah Vanhee will talk about the history of the public writer, her role as a words provider, and her experiences, ideas, and observations. This will be followed by an anthology of texts during a collective reading moment.
EASY-READ VERSION
The basis of Words Service is listening.
Words’ providers listen to people.
They help people to find words.
People can express their thoughts.
This year, Words Service is part
of the Homo Novus Festival.
Sarah Vanhee and the Latvian words’ providers
will listen to festival visitors
and write texts for them.
During this final performance,
Sarah Vanhee will speak about:
- the history of public writing,
- how artists work together with visitors,
- her experience and ideas,
- her observations.
We will all read and listen together.
About artist
Sarah Vanhee is an artist, performer, researcher and author whose work has been presented over the past twenty years on national and international stages, as well as within the fields of visual arts, film, and literature. She is known for original artistic forms that manifest both within and beyond institutional frameworks. Her work is driven by radical imagination and social engagement. Rooted in a performative practice, Vanhee operates transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral, often through co-creation. Art is a tool for her to foreground underrepresented narratives and non-dominant voices and entities. Vanhee has worked in theatres, hospitals, libraries, community centers, prisons, private living rooms, open fields, corporate meeting rooms, and more. She has published numerous texts in both artistic and academic contexts. In 2022, she obtained her artistic PhD at ARIA and KCA. Vanhee is active as a public speaker, guest professor, advisor, dramaturge, and mentor. As a researcher, long-standing and recurring areas of interest include knowledge and knowledge-sharing, law and justice, corporeality and sexuality. Currently (2026-2027) Vanhee is conducting research on the artistic representation of gender-based violence.
Credits
Words Service was initiated by artist and writer Sarah Vanhee.
Concept: Sarah Vanhee
Word Providers: Sarah Vanhee (EN, NL), Flore Herman (FR), Melissa Awouters (NL, EN) Marija Luīze Meļķe, Estere Betija Grāvere (LV)
Outside ears: Flore Herman
Graphic design, visual identity: Miriam Hempel
Set/Scenography: Geeraard Respeel, An Breugelmans
Website design: Wies Hermans
Production: Hiros
Local Producer: Ance Ancova (New Theatre Institute of Latvia)
Date
Entrance
Free entryLength
Location
Language
Accessibility
