Les silences que j'ai entendus

A unique museum trail by Youssef Swatt's

From May 21 to September 30, 2025, the Art & History Museum offers a unique experience: a poetic, personal, and deeply contemporary trail led by the poetry of Youssef Swatt’s. Titled Les silences que j'ai entendus, the project invites visitors to (re)discover the Museum’s collections through the eyes and sensitivity of a present French poet.

Here, Youssef Swatt, rapper and acclaimed finalist of the Netflix series Nouvelle École, reveals another side of himself - one of transmission, listening, and pure emotion. For an entire night, he wandered the museum alone and in silence. Face to face with the artworks, he listened to what they had to say. The result: ten raw, calm, and powerful texts.

These texts now guide a fleeting journey in ten steps. At each stop: one work of art. With each work: a text by Youssef. Visitors are invited to sit, listen, read, and absorb. Depending on the location, they will discover an audio clip, a video, a photograph, or a poem - an intimate encounter between ancient art and contemporary voices.

This project is part of Museums in the Park (MiP), the new identity uniting the three museums in Cinquantenaire Park. The aim is to transform this historic site into a vibrant, open, and inspiring place.

An initiative of the non-profit organization Horizon 50-200, in collaboration with Youssef Swatt and the Art & History Museum, with the support of the National Lottery and its players.