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Fertile
Grounds
2022 –
onwards
Imagined as a 1-year long open-ended
investigation, Fertile Grounds transforms three rooms of the
Fries Museum into a dynamic laboratory that engages diverse audiences (local inhabitants, farmers, politicians, naturalists, associations, scholars…) with critical
conversations around one main question: “What future do you want for the
Frisian peatlands?”
The exhibition presents original works by Christien Meindertsma commissioned
specifically for the show by the curators, Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts of
studio d-o-t-s. Meindertsma was invited to look at peatlands with new eyes and
develop a series of plant-based creative proposals that would embrace ongoing
experimentations in the field of paludiculture – an alternative agricultural
practice that favours the rewetting of peatlands and the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional drainage-based agriculture.
Evoking ancient gestures, regional craftsmanship and landscape patterns, the
design scenarios conceived by Meindertsma try to bridge concerns for
environmental awareness with new business and cultural opportunities linked to
the rediscovery of plants – like reed, willow and cattail – available in the
Frisian landscape and that grow under wet conditions.
Favouring a participatory approach, Fertile Grounds tries to
highlight how creativity can help us question and reframe ongoing environmental
issues in a pro-active and inclusive way.
Links: Fries Museum
COMMISSIONED BY:
Fries Museum and Studio Dots
CREDITS:
Kuperus & Gardenier, Laura Drouet & Olivier Lacrouts, Mathijs
Labadie, Roel van Tour, Mevrouw de Molenaar
