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this event is accessible for people with mobility impairment.
this event is not included in the weekend pas.
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‘Ghosts’ is the theme of the Passa Porta Festival 2025. Ghosts in various forms and interpretations will be present throughout the festival weekend but they will really come to life on the grand opening night. Come and listen to five new texts by an international group of leading writers, in a scenography by Jessa Wildemeersch. The music is co-produced with B.O.X featuring Margaret Hermant and musicians John Birdsong, Fabien Leseure, Margaret Hermant and Pieter Theuns.
writing assignments
Writers can make us feel what we can’t grasp. Their imaginative powers open the door to the supernatural and offer us a glimpse of what escapes our understanding. Five writers have taken up the challenge to present a new text in La Monnaie, in which they reveal the ghosts that haunt them.
a total experience
We will fill the intangible space between heaven and earth not only with text, but also with images and music. Theatre-maker Jessa Wildemeersch will provide an atmospheric setting while four handpicked musicians will bring the texts to life in an ethereal soundscape.
opening
We couldn’t have wished for a scarier or more appropriate opening for the Passa Porta Festival. True to our ‘Ghosts’ theme, we promise to give you goosebumps and send shivers down your spine. With such a wonderful line-up of international artists taking to the stage, it is bound to be a night to remember.
about the authors
Eléonore de Duve lives and works in Brussels. In her first novel, Donato, she immerses us in the postwar period, going from the sunny Italian region of Apulia to the never-ending darkness of the Belgian coal mines.
Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala in 1971 and spent part of his childhood in the US. After studying industrial engineering and literature, he returned to his native country to teach literature at university. He then lived in the US, Spain and France, finally settling in Berlin with his wife and son. He has received several awards for his work, which has been translated into many languages. His latest novel, Tarántula, was awarded the Prix Médicis étranger.
Bregje Hofstede (b. 1988) is a versatile and widely acclaimed writer and activist. She is active within XR and co-founder of the feminist action group De Bovengrondse and Stichting Nationaal Heksenmonument. Hofstede made her debut in 2014 with the novel De hemel boven Parijs, nominated for the Libris Literature Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize, and the Gouden Boekenuil, among others. Her second novel, Drift (2018), was shortlisted for the 2019 Libris Literature Prize. In 2023 she released Oersoep, a lyrical reading experience which, at times, feels more like a trip than a novel.
Merethe Lindstrøm (b. 1963) was born in Bergen, Norway. She made her debut in 1983 with the short story collection Sexorcisten og andre forteller and has published short stories, novels and a children’s book. In her work, she draws inspiration from authors such as the US writer Jayne Anne Phillips. Uprooted individuals, repressed relationships and quiet madness are central themes in her writing, which explores the margins and the extremes. In 2008 she received the prestigious Norwegian Dobloug Prize for her literary work.
Jón Kalman Stefánsson (b. 1963) was born in Reykjavik. He is among the greatest European writers of our time. He writes novels set in Iceland in a poetic, evocative style. Stefánsson was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and has won the Icelandic Literature Prize and the Per Olov Enquist Prize. In 2019 he was made a knight in the Order of the Falcon.
about the musicians
John Birdsong (cornetto) studied jazz and classical music at the University of North Texas (US). He then moved to New York and San Francisco, where he performed as a trumpet player in jazz and pop groups. He toured with Beck, among others. In 2003 Birdsong moved from New York to Antwerp, where he collaborated with Think of One, FES, Stijn, dEUS, Dijf Sanders, The Golden Glows and Black Flower, among others. He also developed a number of his own musical projects, notably Special Choir. In this ensemble, he uses a primal trumpet, the conch shell. He also plays another unusual wind instrument, the cornetto.
Fabien Leseure is a renowned sound engineer, producer and live sound designer. He was educated at the CNSM conservatory in Paris and has over twenty years of experience in studio recording, film music and live electronic recording, worked with numerous musicians and organizations, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what is possible with sound. Besides his work for Echo Collective, he has worked on projects for Deutsche Grammophon, Dustin O'Halloran, Joep Beving, Rutger Hoedemaekers, Margaret Hermant and orchestration for films and documentaries.Margaret Hermant is a Brussels-based violinist, harpist and composer. She studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and is a founding member of several musical ensembles, including Echo Collective, Quatuor MP4, and the BOW quintet. She has collaborated with many renowned musicians, including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Adam Wiltzie, Dustin O'Halloran, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Stars of the Lid, Joep Beving, Christina Vantzou, and Rutger Hoedemaekers. Her career demonstrates great versatility and extensive expertise in combining classical instruments such as the violin and harp with contemporary and experimental elements.
Pieter Theuns (theorbo) began his musical career in his youth, focusing on rock and pop music. Gradually, his attention shifted to classical music. He obtained a master’s in classical guitar in 2002 and a bachelor’s in theorbo in 2006. In 2010 he founded B.O.X (Baroque Orchestration X), an ensemble that combines the sound world of the baroque with the best of indie and alternative rock and pop. B.O.X has since become a household name in Belgium and abroad, and occupies a unique place in the musical landscape thanks to its hybrid sound. In his projects, Theuns always manages to build bridges between different worlds.
about the scenographer
Jessa Wildemeersch is a theatre-maker and actress. She studied at Studio Herman Teirlinck in Antwerp. In 2006 she was awarded a Lifetime Membership at The Actors Studio in New York. With her organization Les yeux bleus, she creates theatre performances that interweave historical and contemporary events. In 2024 she made her debut as a novelist with De madonna van het moeras. She lives in Brussels.
Organisation: Passa Porta, De Munt
pictures: Bregje Hofstede © Willemieke Kars, Merethe Lindstrøm © Anniken C Mohr, Jón Kalman Stefánsson © Jean-François Paga, illustration © Emine Karali
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