On the occasion of "100 years Bezette Stad" by Paul Van Ostaeijn, the archive exhibition "Lotta Poetica" at the M HKA and the exhibition "WOORD" at Coppejans Gallery, Alain Arias-Misson will bring a new Public Poem to Antwerp under the title BOEM! The happening is organized by the M HKA and Coppejans Gallery.

The Public Poem starts at the Panamarenko House and travels via Hessenplein, the red light district and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts to the inner city.

From 1965 the visual poetry of Alain Arias-Misson has distinctly evolved towards performance, particularly with his legendary "Public Poems". He tries – on the street, or in some other public place – to sensitize people to both poetry and social involvement, and this by setting down or walking around with man-sized letters and other linguistic material. He performs these urban poetic interventions outside of any aesthetic or artistic context, and so must be distinguished from, for example, performance art. Arias-Misson’s "Public Poems" are at once subversive and liberating, challenging as well as playful.

Artists: Alain Arias-Misson