video: performance by flemish author jeroen olyslaegers, with nikkie van lierop and eric sleichim (bl!ndman)

"When a man has had to entrust three women to the earth, one after the other, and two of them have also left this world with an almost full-term child in their womb, he considers his seed to be cursed."

In the turbulent Antwerp of the sixteenth century, the time of Pieter Bruegel, the Spanish Fury, the great voyages of discovery and the 'Beeldenstorm' (Iconoclasm), fate strikes the high-spirited innkeeper Beer.

This is how Wildevrouw begins, the monumental novel by Jeroen Olyslaegers that was published in late 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19-crisis. For the (online) Passa Porta Festival 2021, the author once again stepped into the shoes of his tragic main character, but not for just any reading. With the united energies of Nikkie Van Lierop (vocals, percussion) and Eric Sleichim (BL!NDMAN, saxophone a.o.) Olyslaegers gave a mesmerizing performance in the ominous twilight of the big empty concert hall of the Ancienne Belgique. An unforgettable moment we would like to share with as many people as possible.