Agripuncture

Agripuncture consists of interdisciplinary artist Sarah van Lamsweerde and performance artist Esther Mugambi. They have been working together for almost 20 years on projects at the intersection of language, image and performance. They do this out of a fascination for the knowledge and culture that people pass on to each other from generation to generation. Since 2019, they have been working on the Sore Spot Songs project, each time at a different location, and this year in Zwalm.

Sore Spot Songs is based on a workshop in which they worked with a group of residents to identify the sore spots in the Zwalm region. They paid special attention to the sore spots that arise from our identity as men, women or non-binary persons. For an entire afternoon, stories of sadness and doubt, but also of comfort and coming home, were shared with each other. The result was displayed on a map designed by Myrna D'Ambrosio. Passers-by with a connection to Zwalm were invited to share their own stories on the map. Sarah and Esther turned these stories into a song – a sore spot song – which could be heard in the chapel. 

They also collaborated with the local village choir Het Dikkoor. They performed Agripuncture's Sore Spot Song in a special choir version, a one-off performance that was presented on the opening day of Kunst & Zwalm.