What could be more northern than suicide? For decades now, Scandinavian suicide figures have outstripped those of the rest of Europe by a wide margin, while those for the northern Netherlands are much higher than those in the southern part of the country. In this programme, the theme of suicide was addressed poetically. Poets Menno Wigman, Willem Thies, Jan Glas and Daniël Vis recited their macabre, rain-soaked and at times utterly depressing poems at Explore the North 2014. The performance was given greater depth with a brief lecture by an expert on depression and suicide, as well as by a piano recital of work by the composer Tchaikovsky, who committed suicide by intentionally downing a glass of Volga water, giving him the cholera he died of. Poetry lovers with tender souls were kindly requested to stay away.
This programme was Dutch spoken. See the Dutch web page of this project for more information about the writers.
