NL

Waterwerken

  • 18/05
  • 01/10
'Water Works' is an exhibition on the fortress island Pampus of five works from students, an alumnus and a HKU teacher. These works of art make the water challenges of the Netherlands tangible and personal: how and in what environment do you want your (grand)children to live? And what can you do today to contirbute to the world of tomorrow?
  • 18 May 2023 - 01 Oct 2023
  • Forteiland Pampus


The earth has warmed by an average 1.1 degree in last century. All around the world, the consequences can be seen. Think of increasing storms, heavy rainfall and heatwaves, the melting of sea ice and the thawing of permafrost. This is caused by human activity, as concluded in the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Dutch meteorological institute KNMI indicates that a possible rise in sea level might be noticeable in the Netherlands from 2050 onwards. But there is still lots of uncertainty on the question if this rise can be accelerated even further, and to what extent. The effect of rising sea levels is further reinforced by the sinking of the adjacent land. The Dutch western soil is lowering by an average of 10 centimetres per century, due to geological movements and subsidence of soil material, exacerbated by long periods of drought.

Although the ecological crisis and its consequences have become mainstream knowledge, the urgency among the general public is still lacking. The problem is complex, and the link to our everyday behaviour is too abstract. People are not shocked by news reports or statistics. At least not enough to actually change their behaviour.

Climate scientists cannot solve this problem. And neither can artists, but artists, designers and creative thinkers possess the imaginative power to make complex issues more accessible. And artists bear the responsibility to show the different perspectives on an issue and to present new tangible perspectives.

Waterwerken, or Water Works, is an exhibition of five works by students, an alumnus and a teacher of HKU. These works tell, each in their own way, something about our relation to water. From macro to micro level, from a historical perspective as well as personal experience. In these ways, the artists want to confront the public with the water issue, while challenging everybody to relate to this challenge in a different way.

Artists involved
Mijs Both (Media/IMT), Eline Flinck (Design), Nadine Kroon (Design), Storm van Gils (Design), Tim Benschop (Media/IMT), Tijn Olling (Media/IMT), Dewi Mac Donals (Media/IMT), Esther van Leeuwen (Media/IMT), Lyssah Otterdoom (Media/IMT), Victor Dissel (alumnus muziek & technologie), Ruud Lanfermeijer (Theater/IPD)

Curator: Martijn van Gessel (Creative Technology/OOI)

Forteiland Pampus