Thursday 27th of January the group of experts involved with Draught in Waterland and Biodiversity in Port of Rotterdam met at V2_Lab. For many it was the first opportunity to meet ‘in real life’ (due to Covid restricitions), a few experts were present via Zoom.
The artists and the experts discussed the progress made in both residencies. Discussion was lively, and new ideas and opportunities for both Mark IJzerman and Zack Denfield, Cath Cramer and Emma Conley. were generated.
A few quotes from the meeting:
Ebbing van Tuinen – senior projectlmanager watermanagement Witteveen+Bos : “Veluwe is one of the highest areas of the Netherlands, and will not be affected by sea level rise. However, the surrounding areas like the Flevopolder and the river area will be affected. So this ‘Drought in Waterland’ area might indeed become a museum of pre-sea-level rise landscapes, providing both a proving ground for the ideas and techniques developed in the residencies and a future conservation area.”
Anne Nigten – Centre of Expertise KUnst en Educatie AHK, The Patchingzone: “The residencies have a great capacity to resonate with people. Apart from the art + science + technology cooperation, this is one of the key aspects of STARTS4Water that should be focused on”
Geert van der Meulen – researcher at the Chair of Urban Design, Theory and Methods: “In the Netherlands, the argumentation around ‘natural landscapes’ versus ‘cultural landscapes’ is a very interesting one. The case could be made that the Netherlands has no natural landscapes but has been wholly planned and made by man. This is an interesting context for residencies that reflect on and may end up doing interventions in this landscape, for they will always be interventions on top of earlier interventions.”