At Clemenceau metro station, in a Brussels neighborhood where public space is becoming increasingly scarce, I collaborated with local children to create a site-specific installation. This work builds on my ongoing research into barricades and activist expression, asking how collective gestures and words can transform a place.

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Together with the children, we explored themes of protest, resistance, and image-making. They were invited to write down their dreams, wishes, and needs for their neighborhood, everything from simple desires for more space to play, to deeper reflections about how they feel in their city. These messages were then rendered in large, clear letters on sheets of newspaper. By doing so, the installation both amplifies and gently distorts their words, reminding us that every act of communication is shaped by its medium.

The choice of newspaper was deliberate. While researching Georges Clemenceau, journalist, writer, and politician who published Émile Zola’s J’accuse in the newspaper L’Aurore, I reflected on the newspaper as a historical tool of resistance, a place where ideas can be launched into public debate, and also as a source of polemic. In this neighborhood, media carry a particular weight: they often report on issues like poverty, migration, and redevelopment, sometimes framing them in ways that provoke controversy. This led us to a central question: Can words change the world?

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By occupying this public space with their words and presence, the children reclaim visibility in a context where space for play and imagination is rapidly disappearing. The work becomes both a call and a reminder: children are still here, still speaking, still demanding room for expression, creativity, and a future that includes them.

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The work was presented as an installation as part of Art Anderlecht 2025