When it went under the hammer at 1,600 euros, the highest bid was for Ruth Lasters’ ‘Ransom suitcase’. — © Sebastien Steveniers
The benefit auction for the Antwerp City Poetracy raised 6,860 euros at the Bernaerts auction house on Thursday. On the Ransomsuitcase from Ruth Lasters was the highest bid at 1,600 euros.
Seventeen lots from twenty years of city poetry went under the hammer on Thursday morning during a benefit auction at the Antwerp auction house Bernaerts. The betting price of each ticket was 60 euros. The online bidding before the auction of the items started slowly. Highlights were the letter ‘D’ from the Boerentoren poem by Tom Lanoye for 200 euros, Lotte Dodion’s community service initially raised 220 euros and the suitcase that referred to the contested city poem by Ruth Lasters was bid 350 euros in advance.
That ranking was more or less maintained in the final auction, which amounted to 6,860 euros. Lanoye’s big ‘D’ fetched 650 euros, Dodion ran a working day for 500 euros and Lasters’ briefcase was the most expensive piece at 1,600 euros.
The raffle tickets with posters, poems and books fetched an average of between 200 and 300 euros. Joke Van Leeuwen auctioned 350 euros for the largest piece, a poem by Stijn Vranken on a canvas measuring 10 by 10 meters. The ex-city poet, who was also present in the room, made an impact during the bidding with four purchases. “I don’t know yet what I will do with that giant canvas in my small apartment,” she says. “But I think it is important that the city’s poetry gets more oxygen through such an auction. Abroad they look at this tradition with wide eyes.”
“I think it is important that the city’s poetry gets more oxygen through such an auction. Abroad they look at this tradition with wide eyes.”
Joke Van Leeuwen
Ex-city poet
Ex-city poet Joke Van Leeuwen, with independent city poet Lotte Dodion next to her, was a diligent bidder. — © Sebastien Steveniers
Lotte Dodion, one of the independent city poets, is satisfied with the proceeds of the auction. “Add to this the 1,000 euros that was already offered for the piece of quay wall by Peter Holvoet-Hanssen in January during the celebration in De Roma. With this amount we hope to secure the future of city poetry. This group of city poets will retire at the end of this year. We hope to appoint a new city poet by poem day 2025.”
For the sake of clarity, we are targeting one person. “This group formula was an interesting experiment, but was more difficult in terms of organization and visibility. Before we look for a new candidate, we first want to create a context with these resources.”(id)
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