During 2025, we will delve into two new themes:
Week one:
The New Ecological, which explores the contrast between thoroughly designed natural landscapes in the Haringvliet, Hollands Diep, and Grevelingenmeer, and the heavily industrialized areas surrounding them.
Tiengemeten and De Biesbosch are paradoxical examples of engineered nature in the Netherlands, where human intervention has reshaped landscapes, creating nature reserves amidst industrial and agricultural zones. While these areas are designed to restore biodiversity and act as green buffers against pollution, the very efforts to restore nature have led to unintended consequences. Species like beavers, introduced to improve ecosystems, have caused flooding of agricultural land and damage to infrastructure, forcing the Dutch government to spend millions on repairs. These reserves are meant to protect nature, yet they are continuously shaped by human management, struggling with pollution, agricultural runoff, and invasive species. In this way, even protected nature is paradoxically dependent on human intervention, showing how the pursuit of ecological restoration often collides with the reality of human needs and consequences.
We will sail through these regions, gaining insights from guest experts to uncover the complexities of these unique locations.
August 3rd - 9th
Week two:
The Flooded Cities of the Oosterschelde and the Veersemeer, reflecting on the region’s history of rising waters and submerged past.
Over the centuries, about 200 cities and villages in Zeeland have suffered from devastating floods, due to its vulnerability as a low-lying region exposed to storm surges, rising sea levels, and breaches in dikes. These flooding events span back to the 13th, 16th, and 17th centuries, long before the infamous 1953 North Sea Flood. Zeeland’s history of frequent flooding has shaped its resilience, leading to the development of advanced flood protection systems like the Delta Works. This long history underscores the region's ongoing battle with water and the critical importance of flood management for its survival.
One of our guest experts for this week will be artist and spatial designer, Aušra Česnauskytė, who will invite us for an interactive expedition - time travel - in a transitional space between the land and water. While constantly wetting and drying our feet, we will explore water as a non-linear timeline archive and practice new world-building through future speculation and watery fiction.
August 14th - 20th
More details about the residencies will be released in the coming months. In the meantime, you are already invited to apply.