23 — 26.05
Louis Vanhaverbeke Ghent
Tractor Rapsodie
performance — premiere
| Dutch → FR, EN | ⧖ ±1h | €16 / €13
On the land of apprentice farmer Louis Vanhaverbeke, the line between agriculture and performance blurs. In Tractor Rapsodie, the artist explores his own return to the soil after a period of mental upheaval, seeking an anchor in physical labour and the cycles of the ground. Sowing, harvesting, composting: gestures that give time a tangible dimension once again.
Through songs, actions, and machinery, a vulnerable self-portrait unfolds. Alone on stage, Vanhaverbeke reveals the fragile balance between the mind and the deep earth, between the pressure to conform and the stubborn determination to deviate. What begins as an attempt to put down roots again evolves into a reflection on labour, resilience, and the desire to follow one's own rhythm. On stage, agricultural machines become true performance partners: their roar, weight, and movement dictate the pace and shatter the romanticized image of the countryside.
Tractor Rapsodie is a raw ode to slowness, where grounding is no airy concept but asserts itself as a vital, physical process. In a perpetual cycle of loss and renewal, this performance invites the audience to attune themselves with the tempo of the earth, where history, labour, and life continuously intertwine.
23.05
- 18:00
24.05
- 15:00
25.05
- 20:00
26.05
- 13:30
- 20:00
Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, De Kriekelaar
Written and performed by: Louis Vanhaverbeke | Set design and machinery: Simon Van Den Abeele | Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi | Technical direction: Freek Willems | Production and technical supervision: Eva Bracke | With thanks to: Miriam Matthys, Bauke Lievens, Merel Van De Gehuchte, Lars Schmidt
Production: LOD Muziektheater
With the support of CAMPO, VIERNULVIER, Rif, weder | With the financial support of the Flemish Government
