I'm Listening

This is the musical artwork “Ik Luister” (I Listen), created by sound artist Adriaan Severins in collaboration with the young people of UKJA (ZAS).

The work emerged from an encounter between two worlds: the lively, sometimes restless sounds of a child and adolescent psychiatric ward and the calm, open sounds of a museum park. Children and young people recorded sounds themselves within the walls of the hospital: snippets of everyday moments, voices, rhythms, and echoes of their world. At the same time,
Adriaan Severins listened to the sounds outside in the museum park: the wind through the trees and birds breaking the silence...

Adriaan has succeeded in turning these contrasts into bridges: the tension between care and independence, between inside and outside, between noise and silence, sounds here like a warm invitation. In this soundscape, both worlds come together.
The way Adriaan went about his work closely aligns with the scientific approaches of the connection project between the Middelheim Museum and the hospital. Children and young people play an active role in creating a new connection, which also leads to new perspectives.

The hospital now gratefully reaches out to the tranquility, breathing space, and gentleness of the museum park. This work is therefore an auditory reminder that recovery also requires silence and beauty.

Step through the Salamander Portal into the museum zone Raakvlakken. This audio tour starts at the hammocks.