Come Closer

Come Closer was a series of in-depth and performance programs in the Oude Kerk, developed in and around specific artistic interventions. Artists, musicians, researchers, and visitors explore together an underexposed past, alternative versions of the present, and possible futures. The Come Closers took the form of intimate evenings, during which visitors and artists explored the sonic space of the Oude Kerk through dance, performance, and deep listening exercises.

Come Closer was initially a series of encounters on the roof of the Oude Kerk. This summer program was the first program under the name Come Closer, curated by Michiel van Iersel and Radna Rumping (at the time from the Non-fiction collective), which would become a recurring series in the Oude Kerk in later years. The evening program brought together thinkers, musicians, artists, and the public at Taturo Atzu's installation, which offered spectacular views. In the midst of the bustling city, Come Closer offered a moment of reflection, with guests sharing a different story or performance with the audience each evening. In the open air, like a contemporary hedge sermon, Come Closer invited visitors to come closer to the Oude Kerk, and closer to each other. The platform could accommodate a maximum of 70 people, and most evenings were sold out. The audience climbed up via the scaffolding stairs. Given the location, materials and technology were used as sparingly as possible, with most programs consisting of spoken word.

With Oude Kerk Untitled (2015), Germaine Kruip removed all electric light sources in the church, causing the building to undergo a dramatic transformation into darkness at the end of the day. This moment of twilight, as well as Kruip's interest in geometry, mathematical patterns, abstract forms in religion, and the perception of space and time, formed the basis for the scenography for four editions of Come Closer. Each month, the program began exactly half an hour before sunset, so each edition of this series had a different start time.


From that moment on, performance artist Luca Hillen and other performers walked in large circles throughout the church, and visitors were invited to join in—not by saying so literally, but through movement. These continuous hour-long walks, in which many visitors participated and others preferred to watch, proved to be a compelling experience in which the speed and manner of walking was determined by the dynamics of the group, like a flock of birds. Through repetition, a pattern emerged that opened up new ways of looking at the interior of the church as the surroundings gradually darkened. During the same hour, two other short interventions took place at different locations in the church, including in the side rooms.