Hey psst! This is where the whispers in the Stadshart came from years ago

In the 1990s, there were mysterious whispers in the Stadshart. Soft voices whispered whole sentences across the city. And also so strange: shoppers who put their ears to lampposts. What could those two things have in common?

In an image archive we came across old photos of whispering lampposts in the middle of the Stadshart. You may still recognize the gold-coloured posts with a push button. They were on Promenadeplein, among other places.

Press once

The whispering lampposts were part of an art project. In March 1992 they gave not only light, but also sound. CDs containing spoken poems by well-known and lesser-known poets had been packed into the piles. At the touch of a button you could listen to poetry.

For a short period of time

While shopping we listened to recorded poems by, for example, Jules Deelder, Lucebert, Simon Vinkenoog, Annie MG Schmidt, Dick Hillenius, Rutger Kopland, Mischa de Vreede and Judith Herzberg. Artist Tony Dielen was behind the project. He made sure the lampposts radiated a neon color at the time.

The lampposts whispered only for a short time. In December they shut their mouths again.

Source: Fidelity