SILENT SKY PROJECT, 2004 – ongoing, Artefact herproductie, 2016

As a child we have been lying on our back in the grass and spend time looking into the sky. We looked at the clouds, gazed into space and gave room to our fantasies, our dreams, careless of culture, time and place.

And how often do we give ourselves this opportunity just to dream and do nothing special, now that we are grown up?  How much do you really see, how conscious are you of your daily surrounding? 

In the Silent Sky Project, Dutch artist Rob Sweere invites people to collectively watch the sky, lying on their backs in a particular setting. Together with others, you are looking from your own inner universe into another universe, and perhaps simultaneously experiencing that this is one and the same thing. Together with the participants, Sweere creates an environment in which to experience one’s place on Earth in a different way.

The Silent Sky Project is a participatory art project that since 2004 took place in different parts of the world. On 10 February 2016, the edition will take place on the Ladeuzeplein in Leuven. After a short introduction in the Central Library, the 30-minute performance will start, followed by a short debriefing over a cup of warming soup. Participation is free, but registration is required via ticket@stuk.be.

Pictures of previous editions of Silent Sky Project will be exhibited throughout the city, amongst others in STUK, OPEK, Provinciehuis Vlaams-Brabant, Tweebronnen Library and Central Library. An image from this edition will be presented on the Ladeuzesquare shortly after 10 February 2016. 

Rob Sweere (NL)
°1963, Boxmeer

Rob Sweere is a Dutch artist, living and working in Arnhem. Since the 1990s, he has been producing large-scale sculptures, realised and exhibited throughout public space in the Netherlands. Nature, reflection, adoration, temporality and tranquillity are concepts that are key throughout his practice. With the participation project Silent Sky Project# he has been travelling the world since 2004. Sweere studied at the Academy of St Joost Breda, Artez Arnhem and at the Rijksacademie at Amsterdam. He’s represented by Galerie Bart.