Sint-Truiden ‘Last Words’, so hot the catchy tribute from artist Tom Herck to his deceased mother Nicole Swennen. Nicole worked since her 13th as a cleaner in the Sint-Trudo Hospital, until she is 62-year-old age – one month for her pension – the diagnosis AS received, which they in 2017, passed away. ‘Last Words’, a collection of letters from Nicole during her illness, is now in the entrance hall of Saint-Trudo.
The installation ‘Last Words’, Wednesday evening unveiled by the mayor of Veerle Heeren, consists of 19 handwritten lyrics, presented in plexiglas boxes. Tom Herck chose these frameworks as a conscious reference to the grave stones and plaques in cemeteries and crematoria. You read the last words of Nicole Swennen, with on the left the beginning of her illness to the right, the final death. Nicoles last words connect the past with the present, and remind us of our own future or mortality.