Every year in September, our capital city is the scene of the unique gathering of national and international experimental poets under (and on) the dome of the Planetarium: the Brussels Planetarium Poetry Fest (BPPF).

In this ninth edition of the ever-growing festival, we emphasize the creative use of new technologies in the field of projections through a collaboration with students of MaxLab (University of Antwerp/AP University College) and we further emphasize our international values and collaboration. This is the fourth year that Willemsfonds Brussels and the Planetarium have joined forces to realize the festival, renamed Brussels Planetarium Poetry Fest (BPPF).

At the BPPF, 10 poets and artists will be invited to create a performance especially for the Planetarium and present it on Friday and Saturday nights. Experimental performance is central to this, because in addition to reciting one’s own work, the interplay with the 360° projection on the dome is especially important. 

For the projections, existing and purchased images, specially made 3D projection models, photos/films of artists and results of scientific research will be used. In addition, this year the students of MaxLab, under the guidance of the Planetarium’s technician, will create new projections for the winners of the Open Call. During the BPPF, a unique collaboration between poetry, performance and technology is created, where each poet can present their culture. 

Theme

This year we are working around the theme “word in space”. The artists will be asked to focus their work around this theme and the technician will also return to it in the projections.

In this way, the word (the language, the poetry) is materialized, not only in an oral tradition, but also in a written tradition. The word, like light, as a beginning of creation as we, Westerners, have received it from our monotheistic worldview and that in contrast to other worldviews. The words fill the space as sound waves, as imagery, as an immersive experience. The planetarium becomes, as it were, a canvas, a sound box, an immersive space where the audience really experiences poetry in all its aspects.