Creative Saloon City of Music (Reg Gruson)
Previous Creative Saloon Building Bridges with Marcel de Buck
Creative Saloon City of Music
The theme of our last Creative Saloon was City of Music. EELT challenged young (and established!) artists to respond to the question of how they are connected to their environment. How do you connect people with your organisation? How do you motivate them to contribute actively, participate or think along? Imagine the city as a creative environment, a source of inspiration, or a stage.
And, it is about you and your ideas. Do you have a question, idea or creative project that is itching your brain? Then our Creative Saloon is for you.
This saloon took place on November 28 at Kessels Museum.
Jacq Palinckx, photo: Marie Antoinette Sondeijker
Speaker Jacq Palinckx
Jacq Palinckx is a composer, guitarist, and creator of visual artwork. Ideally, all at the same time! Since June 17th, he has been the City Composer of Tilburg for one year.
Inspiration
Palinckx is a gifted creator in various disciplines and styles. Inspiration comes from the strangest corners, from the Viennese Classics to apartment buildings. “I draw my inspiration from everything. In 2020, what inspired me was the fact that it was 250 years since Beethoven was born. I continue to listen to his music; it has something intangible. I wondered where that fascination came from. I initially started with the idea of creating a series of performances, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Ultimately, it became a film about Beethoven and simultaneously a kind of portrait of the COVID-19 year 2020.
Currently, I’m working on the subject of dreams. I’m reading about how this has been explored over the years. To what extent does your imagination relate to how you experience dreams? And how has that been researched? This ultimately results in music, film, or performance. As the City Composer, I will definitely do something related to the Instagram account ‘Keep Tilburg Ugly.’ I’m thinking about creating music as a tribute to the many ugly buildings that Tilburg has; who knows where it will lead.”
Puzzle Man
“Although inspiration is everywhere, my work as a composer is quite abstract. I am a puzzle man. Sometimes, composing feels like solving a Sudoku puzzle: how do I place the notes in the right order within a certain structure? Other times, it’s more like a cryptogram. I stare at the composition for a long time to see if the meaning changes when you change an accent, just like the words ‘kers-tomaatje’ and ‘kerst-omaatje’ (cherry tomato and Christmas grandma in Dutch). I try to create something that resonates with people. The listener is free to interpret what associations they have with my music. That’s the fun part.”
New Paths
“As the City Composer, I try to do something visible in Tilburg every month for a year, often not in a traditional concert format. This Creative Saloon is a good example of that. My message to young artists is to be open to what comes your way. I’ve done and created so many different things. If you had told me ten years ago that I would direct a theater play, make a film, and compose music for contemporary ensembles, I wouldn’t have believed it. I either didn’t think about it or felt I lacked the expertise. So, ‘keep your ears and eyes open and seize unexpected opportunities.’ It’s a way to discover new paths and the reason why I’ve been doing what I do with so much enjoyment for so long.”
Creative Thinking session
After the speaker the main activity starts: the Creative Thinking session. It is your turn to share and shine in an intimate saloon-like setting with about three fellow creatives around a (non-smokey) table. You are offered the opportunity to present your own idea, question or practice to creative people with a different point of view than your own. Or you can work on a previously presented idea.
Insights
In this manner, your project will be enriched with their insights and your insights will enrich the concepts of others. Together you give the central theme of the Creative Saloon a new perspective.
Share your idea
Do you want to bring your own project idea/question to share with the group? Do you want to meet other creative brains with surprising ideas? Or do you just want to participate as a feedforwarding creative brain? Send an email with a short description of your idea, project in the make or question to EELT.
