Many artists have attempted to portray the soundlessness, tranquility and peacefulness of silence. Writer and essayist Joost Zwagerman became fascinated by silence in art and shortly before his death he put together an exhibition with well-known and lesser-known artists, friends and contemporaries such as Marlene Dumas, Luc Tuymans, Rineke Dijkstra, Jan Schoonhoven and  Berndnaut Smilde. In the accompanying texts and poems, Zwagerman doesn’t answer the question of what silence exactly is. It is above all the passion behind his selection of artworks that inspired this book, featuring work by sixty prominent figures from the Dutch and Flemish art worlds. It contains images of works Joost was passionate about and selected for what would be his final exhibition. Some of the selection was also included in his exhibition Silence Out Loud at Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen.

Authors: Joost Zwagerman, Pieter Boskma, Pieter Bijwaard and Harald Vlugt.