Katharina Smets
wpZimmer resident in 2019
Katharina Smets is an independent radio maker and sound artist with a background in philosophy, philology and theatre science. She has worked for the Belgian radio stations Klara and Radio 1, the Dutch television, BBC World Service and NPR. She teaches audio story telling at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp and organises evenings around storytelling.
Katharina participated in the performance KOPfKINO van Annelies of Hullebusch and Radio Kiel of Karl Philips. Together with Inne Eysermans, she made an audio guide for Cultuurcentrum Kortrijk and the performance Detroit Live. In addition, she organizes Luisteren in het duister evenings for the Flemish-Dutch house deBuren and De Brakke Grond, presents the Salon of Imagination in BOZAR and makes the recordings for Belgian Americans in the US.
projects
ESCAUT! ESCAUT! Een literaire Scheldetocht
ESCAUT! ESCAUT! Een literaire scheldetocht, is a poetic radio-set by director and producer rina Smets in association with Verhaeren en Co, and commissioned by Klara (VRT and Letterenhuis Antwerp). This set was generated around the symbolist poets who were born at the shore of the Schelde about one hundred years ago. They were raised in French but received fame on international level: Emile Verhaeren, Maurice Maeterlinck, Max Elskamp, Georges Eekhout, Charles van Lerberghe and Georges Rodenbach.
The poet Emile Verhaeren was a French speaking Flemisch Belgian, born in Sint Amands aan de Schelde. He died one hundred years ago, as he was involved in a fatal train accident. Although he was not very known in Flanders, he was a famous writer at the time. During the radio-set, Katharina travels alongside the Schelde of Antwerp back to the source, in company of Benno Barnard, Jan Lampo, Rik Hemmerijckx, Leen Huet and Maarten Ingels.
credits
Directed and produced by Katharina Smets
Commissioned by Klara (VRT)
In association with Letterenhuis (House of Literature), Antwerpen Boekenstad and Emile Verhaeren Museum
As part of the exhibition ESCAUT! ESCAUT! Een literaire Scheldetocht
Visual website: Olmo Peeters