Babel

A journey in along public bookcases in Amsterdam and Antwerp. (photos and audio stories) The small bookcases hang from facades or are hidden behind planters. Locals exchange books or browse paper landscapes. A man proudly wishpers that he encounters a variety of languages in his cabinet, from Dutch, Russian, English, Chinese to Turkish. As if the whole world is converging on those tiny self-built bookshelves. Every big city is like a modern tower of Babel and easily accommodate more than 170 different tongues. The story of the Tower of Babel labels multilingualism as a form of penitence, but what if you would turn the parable around? What if the construction of the celestrial tower did not end in a confusion of tongues? Doesn't living together bring people closer together? Supported by Amarte Fonds. Thanks to SonoDocs.