100 Poets Home Curation Project:
Poetry as Intervention
This experimental project focuses on how poetry can intervene in society. Ruthin International Arts Festival aims to engage with the local community and life in a multi-layered and multifaceted manner, with poetry being a significant component.
As a parallel project of the festival, the 'Home Curator' project aims to return curatorial power to local residents. This allows Ruthin residents to interpret the artworks or create secondary works based on their everyday experiences.
To this end, we have collected 100 poems from 100 poets/collectives from 35 countries worldwide, including bilingual versions in both their original language and English. These poems are being introduced into the homes of Ruthin residents.
This way, the residents, as the primary audience, take on the role of curators. Meanwhile, poetry, as a vessel of emotions and thoughts, forges an emotional bond between strangers from afar and local residents and families.
After displaying the poetry in their homes, homeowners are encouraged to take photos of the displayed poems or record videos of themselves reading the poems aloud. They can then submit these photos or recordings to the town's public spaces for collective display or place them in suitable public spaces for others to enjoy, according to their preference. At this stage, the poems viewed by visitors to the art festival will no longer be the original texts but will instead reflect the unique context of each participating home. This 'home curation' process realizes the transformation of the exhibition from public spaces to private homes and then back to public spaces, transferring curatorial rights from the exhibition team to the local residents.
This project weaves poetry into the daily lives of the town's residents, narrowing the emotional gap between 'elsewhere' and 'here'. From a spatial perspective, it transforms the private spaces of 100 families into a public exhibition space. Although visitors cannot directly enter these homes, experiencing the second scene of the works seems to carry more significance in a deeper dimension. Through this project, the audience can explore the intricate relationships between private and public, authority and emotion, poetry and reality, and here and elsewhere.
Special thanks to all poets who sent us your work:
Ada Limón, Angham Mardi, Anthony Tao, Anyu / 桉予, Austin Hun, Bayaya / 巴哑哑, Caleb Carter, Cecilia Thoden van Velzen, Cemil Yildiz, Chang Shen / 沈畅, Cheng Xi / 成蹊, Cindy Yao, Claudi Piripippi, Diana Sanders, dN eQ, Edmund Dixon, Emma Plover, Eva Da, Fang Han / 方寒, Glyn Edwards, Haike / 海客, Han Dong / 韩东, Harry Theadora Foster, Helen Jeffery, Hong Xing / 红杏, Hu Zhiying / 胡志颖, Hugh Greasley & Helena Eflerova, Ivan Alekseev, Jackie Montague, James Bradley, Jenya Stashkov, Jia Wei / 葭苇, Jiaoyang Li, Jiaqi Wang / 王佳琪, Jonathan Mayman, Katerina Mimikou, Lal Davies, Lanlan / 蓝蓝, Laura Bodo Lajber, Laura Fergus, Laura Theis, Leaf Pettit, Leila Gamaz, Leng Shuang / 冷霜, Li Changyu / 李长瑜, Li Jundao / 李俊道, Li Wen & Xiao Jian 丽文 潇剑, Liang Xiaoman / 梁小曼, Lin Song / 宋琳, Liu Bowen / 刘博文, Liu Chengrui / 刘成瑞, Lu Jiateng / 陆佳腾, Lucy Butler, Mang Ke / 芒克, Meier / 梅尔, Min Rui / 闵睿, Nicholas McGaughey, Noel Connor, Palang Palamrt, Patricia Sumner, Qingqing Duan / 缎轻轻, Rebecca Lily, Rosalind Fielding, Sean O’Brien, Sganglampa / སྒང་ལམ་པ། , Shi Shiran / 施施然, Shimmer Green / 莫诺格, Shuyang / 书洋, Siesling, Sirongyun / 丝绒陨, SL Grange, Stefan Simić, Sue Finch, Suzanne Iuppa, Theresia Lynch, Tian Haiyan / 田海燕, Tim Reed, Tong xi Xiao chan / 桐溪小蝉, Uaueza Kanguatjivi, Valeria, Velika Dolina, Skocjan, Vincenzo Cohen, W.N.Herbert, Wang Shanshan / 王珊珊, Wang Xiaoning / 王小拧, Wu Shaodong / 吴少东, Wu Xinyang / 吴昕阳, Xia Chao / 夏超, Xiaoyu Chen / 陈小雨, Yang Lian 杨炼, Yangyang / 央央, Yichun Huang / 黄一纯, Yin jinan/ 尹吉男, Yizezuoshi Jidiridu 依则佐史|吉狄日都, Yo Yo / 友友, You Li / 幼黎, Yu Aijun / 于艾君, Yu Er / 渝儿, Zhang Jie / 张杰, Zhang Jingcheng / 张敬成, Zhang Shaohua / 张韶华, Zhang Shiran / 张石然, Zhang Zongxi / 张宗希, Zhishui / 致水, Zhu Weize / 朱炜泽, Zuoyou / 左右, Егана Джаббарова
How to participate
Get your postcards:
Residents who wish to receive a poetry postcard can do so in two ways:
Share Your Curation:
We encourage participants to share how they have incorporated the poetry into their homes. If you've created a display or engaged with the postcard in a unique way, please send us a photo of the postcard in its new setting. You can submit your photos through the following methods: