''The Letters of Utrecht'' ( nl, De Letters van Utrecht) form an endless
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
in the stones of a street in the center of the Dutch city of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. Every Saturday at 13:00, the next letter is hewn into the next cobblestone, with the intent to continue for as long as there are Saturdays. It takes about three years to publish an average sentence. Every year the poem grows by about five meters.
Every few years another poet extends the poem.
The poem is created by members of
Utrechts Guild of Poets and was started by
Ruben van Gogh,
Ingmar Heytze,
Chrétien Breukers,
Alexis de Roode, and
Ellen Deckwitz. The poem was continued in February 2013 by
Mark Boog, in December 2015 by the Iraqi-Dutch
Baban Kirkuki, in December 2018 by
Vicky Francken and in March 2022
Anne Broeksma
The first 648 letters (one for every Saturday since 1 January 2000) were unveiled on 2 June 2012 by Utrecht's mayor,
Aleid Wolfsen, who contributed the letter hewn on location that day. Since this opening, stone masons from the ''Lettertijd'' guild have hewn the characters into subsequent stones every Saturday. The font was designed for the purpose by Hanneke Verheijke of ''Avant la Lettre''. Stones with year numbers mark the planned route and turn the growing line of letters into a meter of time. If the citizens continue to fund the making of stones long enough, the line of poem will itself draw the letters U and T on the map of the city, and future citizens can decide on the future route beyond the year 2350. A future there will be, but it is unknown; the poet keeps the continuation of the poem beyond the most recently published letter secret.
The project is expressly intended for the benefit of future people. It is funded by contributors who donate Letters and add stories to them, which results in a growing number of people with an interest in the project's continuation and generates excess funds for practical good causes. The effort is driven by a not-for-profit foundation, ''Stichting Letters van Utrecht'' and run by volunteers. The concept for the Letters of Utrecht grew out o
Milliongenerations' work of milliongenerations.organd was inspired by the efforts of
Danny Hillis
William Daniel "Danny" Hillis (born September 25, 1956) is an American inventor, entrepreneur, and computer scientist, who pioneered parallel computers and their use in artificial intelligence. He founded Thinking Machines Corporation, a paralle ...
and the
Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
to build a
10,000 Year Clock to promote long-term thinking. The
Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
had contributed a stone cut from the Sierra Diablo Mountain Range in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
where the 10,000 Year Clock is being built. That stone now carries letter number 1 (a "J").
As a
social sculpture Social sculpture is a phrase used to describe an expanded concept of art that was invented by the artist and co-founder of the German Green Party, Joseph Beuys. Beuys created the term "social sculpture" to embody his understanding of art's potential ...
, ''The Letters of Utrecht'' refer to the ''
7000 Oaks
''7000 OaksCity Forestation Instead of City Administration'' (german: 7000 Eichen Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung) is a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys. It was first publicly presented in 1982 at documenta 7.
The project ...
'' of
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...
in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Beuys named his work ''City Forestation Instead of City Administration'' and conceptualized man's dependency on nature, referring to it as a 'Wärmezeitmaschine' ('heat-time-machine'). ''The Letters of Utrecht'' evoke civilizations' growth of knowledge and the dependency of future inhabitants on the actions of contemporaries and visualize the passing of time and the reality of the future.
The continuation of the ''Letters'' depends on the willingness of citizens to sponsor the creation of a letter in return for having a name or dedication engraved in the side of the cobblestone and on a website, which hopes to let people consider their reputation among posterity rather than their status among contemporaries.
Milliongenerations' ''Letters'' page
Retrieved 29 June 2012
See also
* 10,000 year Clock of the Long Now
* ''7000 Oaks
''7000 OaksCity Forestation Instead of City Administration'' (german: 7000 Eichen Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung) is a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys. It was first publicly presented in 1982 at documenta 7.
The project ...
''
* ''As Slow as Possible
''Organ2/ASLSP'' (''As Slow as Possible'') is a musical piece by John Cage and the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. Cage wrote it in 1987 for organ, as an adaptation of his 1985 composition ''ASLSP'' fo ...
''
* ''Longplayer
''Longplayer'' is a self-extending composition by British composer and musician Jem Finer which is designed to continue for one thousand years. It started to play at midnight on 1 January 2000, and if all goes as planned, it will continue w ...
''
* On Kawara
was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in New York City from 1965. He took part in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.
Early life
Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on December 24, 1932. After graduating fro ...
* Roman Opalka
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
* Social sculpture Social sculpture is a phrase used to describe an expanded concept of art that was invented by the artist and co-founder of the German Green Party, Joseph Beuys. Beuys created the term "social sculpture" to embody his understanding of art's potential ...
* Street art
Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.
Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...
* ''Zeitpyramide
The ''Zeitpyramide'' () is a work of public art by Manfred Laber under construction in Wemding, Germany. The pyramid, begun in 1993, at the 1,200th anniversary of Wemding, will take another years to complete and is scheduled to be finished in th ...
''
References
External links
''De Letters van Utrecht'' (Dutch)
An article on The Letters of Utrecht by Jennifer Nalewicki in the Smithsonian Magazine in March 2018, including an English translation up to Letter 942.
(Retrieved 7 April 2019)
A video of a keynote speech in September 2017 by Warren Ellis with a description of The Letters of Utrecht at 7:54 to 9:50 and 26:10 to 26:35 minutes)
(Retrieved 7 April 2019)
(in Dutch). Retrieved 12 June 2012.
‘Ciudad escrita‘ (written city)
a newspaper column by Liuba Kogan over the ''Letters of Utrecht'' January 17, 2014 in the Peruvian daily ''El Comercio'' (in Spanish). (Retrieved 7 April 2019)
TiWalkMe
(Retrieved 7 April 2019)
Milliongenerations' page on ''Letters''
(Retrieved 26Apr2021)
Future Library by Katie Paterson
(Retrieved 7 April 2019)
Music by Letters of Utrecht - P A Buchanan
(Retrieved 7 April 2019)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letters of Utrecht, The
Buildings and structures in Utrecht (city)
Dutch poems