A stack of missing childhood drawings is the starting point for a journalistic investigation into the mechanisms of bullying, the workings of memory, and the question of how a childhood experience can shape a life. The project

Willebroek, 27 June 1985.

I am eleven years old. While my classmates are gathering their schoolwork, I briefly leave the classroom. When I return, a stack of drawings I have made has disappeared. The teacher does nothing. Only the next day, after my parents contact the school, are schoolbags checked and the paper container in the playground searched. The drawings are never found. It is a seemingly small incident that comes to represent my entire school experience: I was bullied for four years. Forty years later, I return to the mystery. Who took the drawings? Who saw something but remained silent? And, above all, why? What begins as a personal cold-case investigation develops into a wider journalistic exploration of bullying, group dynamics, memory and the ways childhood experiences can continue to shape a life.

Journalistic investigation

Getekend (Drawn / Marked) is not a therapeutic retrospective, but a journalistic investigation in which a personal history becomes the entry point to a broader social issue. I reconstruct the events through conversations with former classmates, my parents and former teachers, while consulting experts from different fields to place my personal story in a wider scientific and social context. Their perspectives range from bullying and group dynamics to memory, psychology, education and social class. The research also takes some unexpected turns, including conversations about high-school films and mushrooms, opening up new ways of thinking about identity, belonging and the dynamics of groups.

The seven-part series follows the tension of a cold-case investigation. The listener discovers the research step by step, alongside the maker. As different memories and perspectives emerge, the central question gradually shifts from “Who did it?” to “Why?”, and ultimately to “What impact did this experience have, and what can we learn from it?” Getekend combines journalistic research, personal observation, humour and self-reflection with carefully crafted sound design. Status

A pilot episode, Vogelbekdier (Platypus), was developed during a podcast coaching programme at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences in Ghent, under the guidance of Eva Moeraert, and presented in June 2026. The next phase focuses on dramaturgy, voice-over, editing, sound design and the final production of the series.

I am currently looking for partners for the further development and production of Getekend, particularly in editorial support, production, sound design and distribution. a