A Mass on the Move – A City in Motion

A Mass on the Move is a large-scale participatory performance by Benjamin Vandewalle and Johannes Bellinkx that unfolds in public space together with an ever-growing group of local participants. Through a series of workshops culminating in a performance in the city, they explore how bodies can relate to one another through connection, slowness, and softness. The participants' bodies move slowly through the city, forming a living organism. Rather than leaving behind a monument or a singular message, the work creates an experience that continues to resonate - in the participants, in passers-by, and in the memory of the place itself.

In every city where the work takes place, they organize four public rehearsals over the course of several months. During these rehearsals, participants refine their senses, learn to attune to one another, and practise moving together as a group. They work with simple gestures centred on connection, slowing down, and softening, exploring how each individual relates to others, to the collective, and to the crowd.

Gradually, the group of participants expands in different phases, growing from a small collective into a larger mass. This process culminates in a large-scale performance that becomes a slow, long-duration presence within the city. Participants lie down, sit, lean, or move extremely slowly through the urban space. They help one another lower themselves to the ground, support each other's bodies, and explore touch. Their gazes are directed upwards and towards one another, while their bodies form temporary constellations around the city's architecture, moving together in a shared state of slowness.