in conversation with maud vanhauwaert
In What We Trust delves into the significance of religion and meaning for younger generations. For a long time, God provided answers to our existential questions, such as "Where are we going?" or "What is the purpose of our existence?" Anton Bruckner's music translates this religious faith, with his Mass No. 2 in E minor representing an era where the arts and worldview were heavily influenced by Catholicism. But what happens when the support of religious faith disappears? What does that mean for us as individuals, and for today's youth?
Six teenagers involved with LARF! explored these questions. Together with Vanhauwaert, Van Hoeck and Neyrinck, they reflected on their hopes and beliefs during a three-day walk from Zeeland to Bruges. The journey symbolizes the transition from adolescence to adulthood, as Fran, Joste, Maya, César, Damiaan, and Renée are in the so-called ‘coming-of-age’ phase, full of dreams, ideals, and aspirations. Throughout the journey, they engaged in deep conversations and reflections. “What do you believe in?" of "What are you afraid of?”
Bas Van Hoeck captured the journey and its numerous conversations in a visual documentation, which is incorporated into the final performance. "When working with these young people, I want to give them a voice," says Vanhauwaert. The answers to the questions varied greatly. Some shared that they believe in themselves, "a kind of self-confidence as proof of a radiant enthusiasm," Vanhauwaert explains. Others believed in the goodness or humanity of people, expressing that despite all the misery shown in the news, people are fundamentally good. Vanhauwaert is touched: “They exuded a kind of carefree optimism that I found beautiful and hopeful.” Talk of religion was strikingly absent in the discussions. The belief was focused on the power of humanity rather than divinity. In What We Trust tells the story of these teenagers' worldview, a musical dialogue revealing a faith image from the past and “in what we trust” nowadays.
