The second edition of Hear Here, a sound art festival organised by the STUK arts centre, opens today in Leuven. Running until 9 June, the festival features 15 installations at nine heritage sites linked to KU Leuven, which is celebrating its centenary this year.
After its successful debut in 2022, which attracted more than 25,000 visitors, Hear Here returns as a citywide initiative that combines contemporary sound art with historical settings.
“It wasn’t originally intended to be a recurring event,” says curator Gilles Helsen, “but we saw how well the mix of heritage and art resonated. The accessibility and distributed locations made it feel inclusive and engaging.”
Highlights
This year’s highlights include an installation of resonating bells, one cast from wartime ammunition, in the Justus Lipsius Tower; a piece by German sound art pioneer Christina Kubisch in which bonsai trees ‘communicate’ via electromagnetic waves in the conservatory of Hollands College; a meditative organ installation using inflatable textile bags by 23-year-old Anouk Kellner in the recently restored KADOC chapel; the revival of ‘Ideofoon I’ by the late Dutch artist Dick Raaijmakers in the Bac Art Lab.
The full walk takes approximately 2.5 hours and begins and ends at STUK on Naamsestraat. All installations are free to visit, but guided tours – including themed options such as ‘Apéritif’ or ‘Meditation’ – require registration.
