Wonders of Multilingualism #7: Comforting Sounds
The interactive series Wonders of Multilingualism – a collaboration between Kaaitheater and Passa Porta – is now in its seventh edition. In Comforting Sounds, singing and music prove to be wonderful ways of dealing with language, identity, comfort, and intergenerational cross-pollination.
The performance The Absent Academy – YEK/E kicks off the evening. Author, performer, theatre maker, and storyteller Sîpan Sezgin Tekin teaches us a Kurdish song. Tekin takes on the role of a highly qualified teacher and immerses the audience in the historically oppressed Kurdish dialect. By learning the sounds, words, and phrases that make up the song, we actively participate in the rediscovery and appreciation of this lost, suppressed knowledge. This naturally leads us to the question: how do language and identity influence our society?
Author Aya Sabi then discusses another type of singing. Zo zingt de pijn (How the pain sings) is the title of her latest book, in which she explores whether we can move from intergenerational trauma towards intergenerational consolation. “The pain was in my body, so it was mine. Once I recognized it, after a lifetime it began to break free.” A poetic quest for healing (in the mind and the body) and for safety. In the here and now.
Language, identity, and comfort also flow through the poetry of Myriem El-Kaddouri – a lawyer, slam poetry champion, and the Letterzetter (city poet) of Kortrijk. In 2024, she made her debut with the collection Hier ligt de waarheid in overdaad (Here lies the truth in abundance), for which she won the C. Buddingh' Prize in 2025. She explores universal, human emotions alongside different layers of identity. Or how contradictory worlds often turn out to be just an illusion.
Programme
19:00: Sîpan Sezgin Tekin – YEK/E – 50’
20:00: intermission
20:30: Myriem El-Kaddouri presents a selection of poems from her work that thematically tie in with the evening, in Dutch and English translation. Aya Sabi presents an excerpt from her new book about intergenerational pain and comfort. This is followed by an interactive discussion with the audience.
Moderator: Jeanne Kinoo
Sîpan Sezgin Tekin (1996) is an actor, performer, theatre maker, and storyteller. As an artist and nomad, Tekin's search for meaning takes shape through a rich mix of performance, music, language, sound, light, and documentary, rooted in the oral tradition of stories and storytelling. His works offer dynamic reflections on political and existential realities, using mythological and real stories to create experimental, narrative performances that blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. Tekin focuses on the political dynamics of language as a power dynamic, exploring multilingualism and the embodiment of language in performance in terms of accessibility and narrative diversity.
Myriem El-Kaddouri (1994) holds master's degrees in Law and Business Economics. She works as a contract and healthcare law solicitor and is a sought-after public speaker. In 2023, Myriem became the slam poetry champion of West Flanders, and has since performed her texts on many stages in Belgium and the Netherlands. She was named Letterzetter (city poet) of the City of Kortrijk for 2024–2026.
Aya Sabi (1995) is a writer. In 2020, she was named by the NRC as one of the literary talents of the year. Her debut novel Half leven (Half-life) was nominated for the Confituur Boekhandelsprijs, the Hebban Debuutprijs, and the Opzij Literatuurprijs, and won the PrixFintro Publieksprijs. In 2024, Sabi received the Jonge Veer ( a prestigious prize for a young writer who has made a special contribution to the Dutch language) and the Flemish Culture Prize (Ultima) for Emerging Talent. Zo zingt de pijn (How the pain sings) was published in 2025.
credits The Absent Academy YEK/E : concept and performance Sîpan Sezgin Tekin sound designer/operator Roleda Yunus Bilir credits Agat Sharma - Julia Van Der Putten