SPEECHWATER

 

A child learns that it is indecent to speak with one's mouth full. Rivers are raised differently. They have to speak with their mouth full: full of water. A river with a dry mouth has nothing to say.

For ages, the voice of the water is heard (and feared). Only a few have taken the effort to reply its call. SPEECHWATER offers young Heijplaat-residents the unique opportunity to talk back to the water. 14 pupils from 6-12 years of elementary school 'de Klaver-Heijplaat' wrote words, sentences and poems as a tribute to the water they live by. The children's recorded contributions can be heard through a speakerbox installed on the river bank. Some phrases are easy to understand, others a little harder. This has a reason: to make sure that the river understands that it is spoken to, the children uttered some contributions, just like the river, with their mouth full of water: with gargling, rattling and murmuring noises.