Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine

Today - 13 Jun 2026
For detailed schedule and reservation, please contact Parenthèses by whatsapp message at 6324 8713.
Parenthèses
Free admission with registration

Introduction

Some people hold books in their memory. Sit with them, if you're curious, and listen. This year, available books include Dino Buzzati’s Le K, Jean Giono’s Que ma joie demeure, Suzanne Collins’s Hunger games, Gustave Flaubert’s Un Coeur simple, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (French translation by Giono), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and more. 

For ‘Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine’ a group of people memorize a book of their choice. Together they form a library collection consisting of living books. The books are passing their time in a library, sitting in chairs, walking around, talking together, looking out of the window, reading in paper-books from the shelves, ready to be consulted by a visitor. The visitors of the library choose a book they would like to read, and the book brings its reader to a place or setting in the library, in the cafeteria, or for a walk outside, while reciting its content (and possibly valid interpretations). 

The idea for this library of living books comes from the science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451. It is a future vision of a society where books are forbidden because they are considered dangerous, that happiness must be obtained through an absence of knowledge and individual thought. The number 451 refers to the temperature at which book paper starts to burn. As books are forbidden in this society, an underground community of people learn books by heart in order to preserve them for the future.  

  • One person only for each “reading” (like one person reading a book). 
  • Suitable for ages 12 and above. 
  • Children between 6 and 11 shall be accompanied by an adult.
  • Each “reading” is between 15 and 30 minutes without intermission.
  • Language of the “reading” varies (English, French, …). Please contact Parenthèses for programme details. 

Website: http://www.metteedvardsen.be/projects/thfaitas.html
Instagram: ___mette_e / hkfis

Mette Edvardsen

The work of Mette Edvardsen is situated within the performing arts field as a choreographer and performer. Although some of her works explore other media or other formats, such as video, books and writing, her interest is always in their relationship to the performing arts as a practice and a situation. She presents her works internationally and continues to develop projects with other artists, both as a collaborator and as a performer. A retrospective of her work was presented at Black Box theatre in Oslo in 2015, and the focus program Idiorritmias at MACBA in Barcelona in 2018. Her project Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine is ongoing since 2010, presented twice at Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels in 2013 & 2017, Sydney Biennale in 2016, Index Foundation in Stockholm in 2019, Oslobiennalen First Edition in 2019-2020, Trust & Confusion at Tai Kwun Arts in Hong Kong in 2021, Sao Paulo Biennale 2021. She presented works and a performative exhibition 'Suppose a Room' at Amant in New York in 2022, and develops a project in long term residency at Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers in Paris 2022/ 2023. Mette Edvardsen is structurally supported by Norsk Kulturråd (2022 - 2026). 

​​NHKP

Credit List

Concept: Mette Edvardsen  
Graphic design print: Michaël Bussaer 
Production: Mette Edvardsen/ Athome 
Co-production: Dubbelspel - STUK Kunstencentrum & 30CC (Leuven), Dance Umbrella (London), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), NEXT Arts Festival (Valenciennes, Lille, Kortrijk, Villeneuve d'Ascq), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), Oslobiennalen First Edition 2019 - 2021 (Oslo), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), Dansehallerne (Copenhagen), 34th São Paulo Biennale (São Paulo), centre chorégraphique national de Caen in Normandie (Caen), Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers (Paris) 
Supported by: Norsk Kulturråd 
Additional support by: Fond for Lyd og Bilde, Fond for Utøvende Kunstnere, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Flemish Authorities 
Special thanks to: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique/Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Sarah Vanhee, Els De Bodt 
 
Title: “Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine” is a sentence from a book by Alexander Smith appearing in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953). 

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