Passa Porta

The international house of literature Passa Porta is a unique, multilingual meeting place in the heart of Brussels for anyone and everyone curious about ideas, texts and stories. It is where readers meet their favourite writers from Belgium and abroad and where they discover new talents. It is where authors and translators have access to a stage or a workspace. And every two years the Passa Porta Festival celebrates Brussels as a city of literature with the arrival of hundreds of writers and artists from around the world.

Since 2005 Passa Porta has been working on ‘Vers Brussel’, a project that injects massive doses of poetry into the various areas of Brussels. Eventually, Brussels should feature an urban network connecting 10 lyrical works of art in 10 different areas.

The project ‘Vers Brussel’ can be summed up in six keywords: poetry, visual arts, Brussels, area, participation and cultural tourism. At each step, an international poet and a Belgian artist are invited to explore an area of Brussels and to let themselves be inspired by its most unusual spots. This exploration is transcribed in the form of a poem which in turn gives way to a visual interpretation by the guest artist. The latter produces both temporary interventions in the area and a permanent work. In parallel to this creative process, residents are involved in the project through workshops, literary walking tours, meetings with artists, etc. As a result, the area, the poem and the artworks enrich one another mutually.