Writer in residence:
Maryam Ahmadi
When:
24/01/2026 - 29/03/2026
Loose Fibres - The absurdity of everyday life:
During her residency, writer Maryam Ahmadi draws inspiration from the exhibition Draad. The absurd is everywhere. As a Letterzetter, she immerses herself in the absurdity of life, the world, and the artworks. The residency is part of the Memento Woordfestival, curated by city poet Myriem El-Kaddouri.
I hadn't really thought about the many different uses of textile before: from the discomfort of clothing and how it directs your movement, to your grandmother's painted tablecloth that suddenly takes on new meaning. That wealth of possibilities gave me a lot of freedom in my writing.
RESIDENCY
Maryam Ahmadi is a busy bee, always on the move while chasing her dreams and trying to keep her head out of the clouds. Guided by writer and poet Vincent Van Meenen, she immersed herself in the exhibition's exploration of the absurdity of our world. We cling to structure and efficiency, yet at the same time we'd rather throw those rules overboard again. How we live, what we wear and eat: it's all a social construct. Even absurdism has rules as a genre. What if we broke free from all conventions about what language and poetry, or visual art and textile, are supposed to be?
For two weeks, Memento immerses Kortrijk in a bath of language. Through performances, debates, workshops, author encounters, exhibitions, installations and reading sessions, the word arts reveal themselves in all their forms. The Letterzetter collective, made up of writers aged 16-28 from the Kortrijk region, brings the word to life in the cityscape and everyday world in a creative, bold way. Alongside a city poet role, it's also a talent development programme. The exhibition Draad. The absurd is everywhere is part of the Memento art route.
PRESENTATION
For the open call and the Thread exhibition, Texture and Kunstwerkt borrowed Memento's theme: absurdity. In turn, Letterzetter Maryam found fresh inspiration during her residency in the visual and textile arts.
Maryam's diptych â consisting of the texts 'The material' and 'The noise' â forms a bridge between word and image. The references to the artists' daily lives, and the search for tension in seemingly logical things, brought back memories of her own life. The exhibition led Maryam to take a fresh look at the many different uses of textile: from the discomfort of clothing and how it directs our movement, to grandmother's tablecloth that suddenly takes on new meaning. She explores how objects seem to represent us, but also how we perceive things and derive meaning from them â meaning that differs from person to person, even when we're looking at the same thing. Maryam found possibilities and freedom in the absurd, and lets us, as readers, experience that too.
Read 'Loose Fibres - The absurdity of everyday life' in the exhibition until 29 March, and here online.
In collaboration with Memento Woordfestival and Letterzetter Collectief
