In a futures fiction residency at Pianofabriek with an intergenerational and multidisciplinary group – artists with disabilities from Les Ateliers Indigo, and scenario students from the IAD – we made a radio broadcast of the future of Slessurb. Slessurb – Brussels in reverse – is a city where everything seems to be going haywire and where technology is taking over every facet of life. Radio Slessurb is radio by and for the Slessurbians of 2040.

We start with the news, followed by the talk show Débat Tôt Sur Un Bateau, then we listen to Quiz 2040 Retour vers le Passé and finish with a musical interlude, Lauranne’s Slam. ‘An intergalactic auditory voyage’.

(The radio show is in french but a translation of the transcript can be found underneath)

Conceived by: Patricia Calà, Hugo Leriche, Ralia Kalai, Yassine El Hassnaoui, Alice Forsberg, Paul Diaconescu, Tom Jonval, Paolo Bourget, Anastasiia Sharoshkina, Jean Everarts, Lauranne Fetelian, Victoria Lack, Alexandra Siebert, Charles El Dahdah, Clara Dupont, Clara Vandebotermet, Dahlia Hamdi, Ismail Benallal, Julien Vanden Stock, Magali Cote, Matilde Carli, Pedro Ribeiro, Rufus Mativa, Valentin Dekoninck, Yann Piette

Editing & Post-production: Louïz Radio

Venue & technical support: Pianofabriek

A production of BrusselAVenir, Plurality University, Louïz Radio, Ateliers Indigo: Ellen Anthoni, Lilia Raikhline, Violette Louis-Mathieu, Magaly Briffoz and the team of Ateliers Indigo.

Hello everyone, Radio Slessurb is the radio by and for the Slessurbians of 2040. Radio Slessurb exists to entertain you, to teach you, to wake you up. Radio Slessurb is your Tuesday bubble of air in this rotten greyness. First you’ll hear the latest news. We’ll follow that up with your favourite programme Débat tôt sur un Bateau (Early Debate on a Boat), to finish off with your favourite game, Quiz 2040 Retour vers le Passé (Back to the Past). And happy intergalactic listening.

Hugo: Hello everyone, it’s Isidore, Isidoplatine and Pandora. It’s 8pm and welcome to the 40’s news.

Ralia: It’s Tuesday 23rd September 2040 and we’re celebrating our 48th working hour of the week.

Hugo: The weather today is grey and heavy, but there’s only 40 per cent nitrogen dust in the air. Time for a breath of fresh air.

Patricia: On the cultural front: Star Wars 32 will be released exclusively on TikTok or Facebook. It’s off to the dark shadows. As for Harry Potter 60, we’re still waiting for the Junior TV date.

Ralia: Politics: Oxygen is becoming increasingly scarce, so the Ministry of Air is recommending that you don’t breathe between 4pm and 8pm, so you can train your apnoea. And now a little advert.

Hugo: With the holidays just around the corner, why not give in to the temptation of the new virtual reality headset that sends you under the coconut trees and gives you a full tan thanks to its UV lamps? <not suitable for pregnant women or children under 60>.

Ralia: And now Pandora is going to show us its brand new connected home.

Patricia: The staircase I’ve made here is a virtual one that leads to the door and opens onto the inside: the living room, the dining room, the guest room and my bedroom. So the arts will be virtual. In the house, there’s a virtual major d’homme who does everything, including the shopping, so there’s something like that.

As for the dining room table, it’s also a tablet that sets the table; the cutlery is virtual, as are the glasses, and the kitchen is all electronic, while the bedroom is automatic.

Ralia: Thank you very much Pandora, you also wanted to tell us about the brand new necklace of the future.

Patricia: Yes, the necklace of the future will finally be available on our online portals. The idea is simple: wearing it allows you to talk to all the animals. I’m going to test it on our earth glass Hugues.

Hugues: 〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜 <Là on put the collar on the earthworm>: ah mais, ah mais, you understand me? Well, that’s good! Earthworms have things to say too. So we think you’re all **** and ***

Ralia: Thank you very much Hugues. And now we move straight on to Early Debate on a Boat with Paul and Tom who will be welcoming Alice and Yassin to their show.

Tom: Princess Peach deposed, pop from United Korea, already angry, all on a boat in international zones. It’s 5.12am, welcome to Early Debate on a Boat.

Paul: Hello Tom, we’re off the coast of Bora Bora today.

Tom: Yes, quite a chase yesterday!

Paul: I’d like to remind our listeners of the many sentences handed down to you by the international court. You haven’t seen your wife or children for many years.

Tom: Yes, 10 years to the day, today.

Paul: A happy anniversary of separation. Tom, you’ve defended yourself many times in front of the media against more than 17 charges.

Tom: Anyway, an epilogue, we haven’t had the best of times. Without further ado, Paul, did you know that Princess Peach was a dangerous manipulator in the pay of multinationals?

Paul: Yes.

Tom: To mark the release of Nintendo’s latest game, we’re joined today by Yassin, co-manager of the Mario licence, who’s going to talk to us about this masquerade.

Yassin: Hello, my name is Yassin. I’m a designer at Nintendo and co-manager of the Mario licence.

Tom: So today we’ve got you here for the release of Maria Sisters, a long-running project. Can you tell us a bit more about the game itself?

Yassin: It’s an adventure game, 3D, which is more about exploring different vast locations and with a story told, in which (in which) you play as Maria and the different characters.

Tom: So, can you tell us a bit more about the genesis of this project, its history, how you got to this point?

Yassin: I started to prepare a file that brought together all the creations, the notes and so on. Some time later, I sent it out to the public – around the world – in order to convince them to gain in popularity, unanimity and community, in order to make Maria shine as such, as a character, as Mario’s female alter ego who is Mario’s eternal and legitimate wife.

Tom: And so it all starts with Princess Peach, so you don’t like her. Can you say a little more about that?

Yassin: But I felt so sad when I saw the influence, the endless belief around Princess Peach, where everyone thinks that Mario and Peach are together and that it started from her existence, it started to give rise to a lot of influence, a lot of alternative stories here and there and without ever exploiting and influencing Mario and Maria more. I remember once I only found one but all the rest didn’t fit with what I was looking for. That’s when I realised that my project was really very important. So it was very important to me. Now I’m very happy to be able to put this masquerade behind us, to get rid of all these fabricated stories and rewrite the licence.

Tom: But in any case, bravo bravo for bringing this project to fruition.

Paul: Thank you for that testimonial Yassin.

Yassin: Thank you very much, it was a pleasure.

Paul: Thank you to us too. So Tom, I’m going to give you some information that might give you hives.

Tom: Oh no, I’ve run out of ointment!

Paul: Well, listen, despite all that, the crime rate in Slessurb has risen by 40% since the release of the trailer for this latest Mario game. So that raises the question, Tom, of whether video games make people violent.

Tom: You’re really thinking out loud, Paul.

Paul: I’d like to remind you that we’re about to engage in our traditional express debate sponsored by Petrolax ‘100% plastic, 0% natural’ energy drinks. So do video games make you violent?

Tom: Yes, thank you, you’re welcome.

Paul: Tom, I think you’re bloody handsome when you debate.

Tom: That’s right, and you know what I think is beautiful, K-pop idols.

Paul: Yes, because the town of Slessurb recently played host to Michael Jackson’s resurrection tour. This event is the first European date for the K-pop group Twenties.

Tom: So today we have Alice, a fanatic fan of the group. She knows all the songs backwards, even in other languages. She owns all 270 of the band’s posters and was in the front row at last night’s gig.

Paul: So, hello Alice.

Alice: Hello.

Paul: Tell us, what is K-pop?

Alice: Well, it’s Korean pop. So pop, pop is anything that’s music like you said Michael Jackson pop and all that, and Korean, it’s a country, Korean pop.

Paul: Right. And you Alice, what do you like? What do you like about K-pop?

Alice: I like kind of music. I like the…, not the feminine ones, the masculine ones. Boy bands. I’ll come and talk about it.

Paul: OK, boy bands. OK, boy bands. A bit American?

Alice: Yes, a bit of a hunk, a bit of a pec like you say.

Paul: That’s it. Plastic. And so, if we go back to the Twenties concert, can you tell us what that concert was like?

Alice: Well, it went well. There were robots making music, playing music and all that. And idols getting up on stage and dancing like crazy. They dance, it’s hot, he’s the pretty boy in front of the whole stage in front of all the fans. It was really cute.

Paul: OK, Alice, you’ve certainly made us want to go.

Alice: Maybe one day?

Paul: Absolutely. I’d like to talk about something I’ve heard about a practice that involves a verbal battle between fans. Do you want to say a few words about this practice?

Alice: I mean the fans, so I was beaten, don’t forget the words, so I was beaten, I rehearsed all the songs. I sang in front of all the fans to beat them, to take them away and I won something.

Paul: Would you mind revealing live on the radio what you’ve won?

Alice: Yes. Yeah, I mean. It’s actually a trip to South Korea.

Paul: OK, so what kind of trip are you going on there?

Alice: Maybe I’m going to meet my idol so he can be my boyfriend.

Paul: Well, that’s a wonderful programme. We wish you all the best. We hope it works out.

Alice: I also wanted to say that I really didn’t like the fans at all. The fans say: yes, it’s mine, it’s not your idol. It’s, how can I put it, don’t touch me. I want to marry him, tatata. Me, that’ll be my, women like a three-year-old. I said it bothers me. And I want to make it clear that my opinion is that K-pop is for everyone.

Paul: Absolutely, Alice. We’ll end with this humanist message. Tom, a tour like that, it’s got to use a lot of fuel, it’s got to pollute, and I think, it’s got to contribute to this cloud of dust that’s been keeping the people of Slessurb from seeing the sun for years.

Tom: Well, I think it’s time for another quick debate.

Paul: Tom, today with the hologram concerts, with the technology that exists with virtual reality, is it really tolerable to have private jets criss-crossing the earth to do this tour in fact? Does it really make sense because…

Tom: I have to admit I’m not much of a plane person.

Paul: Because it’s also music with ultra-liberal values but consumerism and what kind of example does it set for young people?

Tom: Young people, yes yes, talk about them.

Paul: They don’t work any more, they’re already holed up at home like a bunch of moles glued to their screens, and that’s not good for me any more. In my day, and I think you can agree with me, in our day young people got up early in the morning!

Tom: We had two pebbles, we were happy. At least in my day, we knew how to work.

Paul: Well, that’s another tie in the debate. Thanks Tom. Another great show

Tom: Without further ado, I think I hear the combat drones from the Wallonia-Slessurb federation have found us.

Hugo: We’ve found you Tom Jonval, rendez-vous sans violence.

Tom: It’s time to conclude our broadcast. Thank you all for following us. Tom: It’s time to conclude our mission. Thank you all for following us. See you tonight for the debate. See you then.

Paul: See you tonight!

Ralia: While our dear friends recover from their emotions, we move on to the long-awaited 2040 Back to the Past quiz presented by Paolo. Our candidates Anaia and Jean are more determined than ever to win the prizes!

Paulo: Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the 2040 Back to the Past quiz. Today we welcome our two players. Yov, Anaia!

Anaia: Yov!

Paulo: Yov, Jean.

Jean: Yov!

Paulo: We’re delighted you’re here, I hope you’re determined.

Anaia: Totally, I’m going to win all the prizes.

Jean: I want to win every single prize.

Paulo: Perfect. Let me remind our potential new listeners of the concept of our show: we have rediscovered words and terms from the past that have disappeared from our current language or whose meaning people have lost over time. The aim of the game is simple: the two players compete to find the right answer, the right definition of these words from the past, from among the three proposed answers. It’s also a game of speed. You have a buzzer in front of you. The fastest player takes the hand and can propose an answer. If the answer is wrong, I pass the hand to the other player, who can choose from the two remaining options. Each question is associated with a prize. Is everything clear?

Anaia: All clear.

Paulo: Are you ready?

Anaia and Jean: Yes.

Paulo: Perfect. First question: what was a supermarket? Answer A: luxury shoes to walk in; answer B1: a large gathering of people demonstrating in the street; answer C: a place where people came to buy what they needed. Anaia, you’ve got the hang of it.

Anaia: So, if you unravel the words a bit, there’s “super” it must be super expensive a luxury one, there’s walking in it too, so I hesitate with C, but I’ll say A.

Paolo: Luxury shoes for walking really well?

Anaia: Yes.

Paolo: Well, that’s the wrong answer. I’ll pass to Jean.

John: I think C is right.

Paolo: Do you agree with the answer?

John: Yes.

Paulo: Well, that’s a good answer. Well done, John. In those days, people used to gather in a sort of big warehouse to buy the products they needed.

Anaia: Isn’t that practical?

Paulo: Not at all practical. Now everything is online.

Jean: Now it’s all online.

Paulo: Jean, you’ve won the first prize of the show. It’s a month’s supply of pure oxygen for individual use. You will have the purest lungs in Slessurb.

Jean: Thank you.

Paolo: Ready for the next part? Question number two: what was a dog lead? Answer A: a rope that connected a human and his dog; answer B: an expression meaning that the dog abandons his human; or answer C: a famous brand of edible dog toys.

Paolo: Anaya, you’ve got the touch.

Anaya: I think that’s what reads human to dog.

Paolo: So answer A?

Anaia: Yes.

Paolo: Do you validate the answer?

Anaia: Exactly.

Paolo: Good answer! Back then, humans thought they were cleaning dogs. Now they’re independent and they’re on their own in Slessurb. So you’ve won the second prize in this show, a single-seater flying vehicle. Well done! Are you ready for what’s next?

Anaia and Jean: Yes.

Paolo: Question number three: what does handwriting mean? Answer A: to take medicine in the evening so that you’re fit the next day; answer B: it was the slogan of a cruise ship company in the days when people still lived at sea; answer C: to mark words by hand using paper and pencil. John, you’ve got the hang of it.

Jean: I think answer B.

Paulo: Can you tell me what you think?

Jean: I think… what’s B again?

Paulo: It was the slogan of a cruise ship company

Jean: I think people take cruises and go round the world on them

Paulo: OK, what a lovely idea, but unfortunately it’s not the right answer. I’ll give Anaia my hand.

Anaia: I’ll say A.

Paulo: Unfortunately, that’s also the wrong answer. What a disappointment. And yes, in those days we did mark things by hand on paper and pencil. It seems to me that at the nature museum in Slessurb we can see this kind of object. Today everything is dematerialised. It’s much, much better than it was back then. What an age we live in!

Jean: In the times we live in, we used to live with a lot of technology, with a lot of teleportation.

Paulo: Of course. We’ll now move on to the last question of the programme. Are you ready? What does it mean to roll a cigarette? Answer A: to roll out a long carpet when you welcome someone into your home; answer B: an expression that means that the person you’re chatting to online isn’t answering you any more; or answer C: to put tobacco in a leaf to smoke it. Jean, you’ve got the hang of it.

Jean: I think the middle answer.

Paulo: Answer B. An expression that means that the person you’re having an online discussion with stops replying to you.

John: Yes.

Paulo: Can you share your thoughts with us?

Jean: I think I got that on my second one. I think that was it because I got that a lot from the messages on my iPhone 27.

Paulo: So you validate the answer?

Jean: Yes.

Paulo: And unfortunately it’s the wrong answer. I’ll hand over to Anaya.

Anaia: Well, before I thought about it, I remembered that my great-great-grandmother, who is still alive thanks to our AIs, had a funny smell and she smokes something funny like this, which rings a bell.

Paulo: Answer C? Well, that’s a good answer. Well done Anaya. And yes, as surprising as it may seem, people knew how to smoke, even more than the one above Slessurb. Anaia, you’ve won the fourth and final prize on this show: a narcissistic mirror, a mirror that lets you see yourself as you want to see yourself.

Anaia: That’s great.

Paulo: Well, that’s the end of the show. Thank you Jean, Yov jean.

Jean: Yov!

Paulo: Thank you, Anaya. Yov Anaya.

Anaia: Yov!

Paulo: And I thank the listeners.

Jean: Yov, listeners!

Ralia: Thank you Paulo and thank you to the candidates for taking part. Dear Slessurbians, this is the end of our show. Thank you for listening and for your support. See you in 16 years’ time for the next episode. In the meantime, take care!

Jean: Outro

Lauranne: “I wish you a safe journey!

For destiny,
we’d like to wish you some beautiful
so pay attention to these few words

For you Lauranne,
we wish you a peaceful trip in a caravan,
on the roads of Louisiana

My friend Pedro,
a trip on a sailboat or a boat
to Porto

Little Alexandra,
take your camera with you,
also take Ismaël
to immortalise your close relationship.

You may find Ralia,
in Casablanca
laughing out loud
with Lilia and Patricia

Whether in Canada
or in the Sahara,
Victoria will welcome you with open arms

Jean, the master of the verlan
always forward
will certainly go far

Probably in Tokyo backstage,
you’ll find Alice
and a friendly K-pop star

Yassine will no doubt be surrounded by gameboys and machines
Believe in your dreams
and go all the way with the project you’ve imagined

You’re already a long way off, Yann.
We hope you enjoy the success of Paul Cézanne
and will be acclaimed by millions of fans.

Julien, often silent in his corner,
is nonetheless
the best friend a dog could hope for
Ice, this cutie,
is all he needs

Magali, you can blossom in peace and quiet with your friends

Charles is such a sweetheart
He always has a smile on his face when he talks

Especially with Matilde by your side
the love you share
will make you soar

Valentin,
will surely cross paths with many musicians on his way

Thank you Violette and Ellen
We send you hundreds of kisses!

Hugo, Tom, Paul and Paolo,
keep your tempo
stay a bit nerdy and funny

Even if your doubts about the future persist
Don’t forget that life is made up of hard and sad moments
Let’s think about today and the present
and enjoy these wonderful moments