Symposium River Deep

Meet the International Environmental Arts Research Network

Like in many places in the world, the water level of Dutch rivers has never dropped so low. This is also the case with the river Lek: a branch of the epic European river the Rhine, where this symposium is physically located. Still in 1995, the people in this area were evacuated because a historical high level of the Lek and neighboring river Waal threatened to break the dikes and flood all of the Betuwe river area in the center of the Netherlands. Climate change is painfully visible in this way. There are artists worldwide who care about the changes that are happening in nature and who express this in their work.

A hybrid (both physical and online) symposium will take place from De Gelderlandfabriek (an artists’ collective and cultural center) in Culemborg on Friday 23 September from 9.00 am to 11.00 am. The symposium is organized in collaboration with the LekArt foundation, Leiden University and the International Environmental Arts Research Network: a network of artists, curators and scientists from various countries, including England, Sweden and New Zealand.

The theme of the symposium is River Deep; artists and curators/researchers from different countries will show art and tell what is current in their work in the field of rivers and more generally climate change. The symposium also aims to connect the Netherlands and Dutch artists and other professionals whose work focuses on nature, landscape and climate change to this ‘International Environmental Arts Research Network’.

If you are interested in the role of art and culture in nature, landscape, climate and changes taking place therein, sign up and keep an eye on this page for more detailed information about the speakers.

This symposium is made possible by the Pictoright Fund.

Location:        Gelderlandfabriek, Stationsweg 7, right next to Culemborg station and online
(zoom link will be sent after registration and prior to the symposium)

Time:               Friday September 23, 2022, 9.00 am – 11.00 am
Access:            Free
Language:       English
Sign up:           aanmelden@lekart.nl

Please note: if you join via Zoom from New Zealand or the UK, there is a time zone difference:
Netherlands / Sweden 9 am – 11.30 am
UK 8 am – 10.30 am
New Zealand 7 pm – 9.30 pm

 

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Meeting ID: 647 4838 9287
Passcode: 09y9=bBn
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Program (GMT +2)

09:00am – 09:15am
Maartje van den Heuvel (LekArt/Leiden University)
Welcome
On LekArt, LekArt Air, Leiden University LUCAS (Leiden University Center for the Arts in Society)

09:15 – 09:30 am
Edwin Zwakman
On Emergo (2022), augmented reality art work on the river Lek (Dutch extension of the Rhine)

09:30 am – 09:40 am
Jonathan Kay (Whiti of Rehua School of Art, Massey University, New Zealand)

09:40 am – 10:00 am
David Cook and Wiremu Puke
(Whiti of Rehua School of Art, Massey University, New Zealand)
River Road: a bi-cultural journey

10:00 am – 10:15 am
Break

10:15am – 10:35 am
Professor Tyrone Martinsson (HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg, Sweden) Gorki Glaser-Müller (Visual Arena Gothenburg, Sweden)
Extended Rephotography / immersive visualization of climate change

10:35 am – 10:45 am
Heidi Morstang (University of Plymouth, United Kingdom)
Introducing the International Environmental Arts Research Network

10:45 am – 11:00 am
Yan Wang Preston (China/UK)
On Mother River (multiple performance art work on the river Yangtze in China)

11:00am – 11.30am
Discussing themes, exchange and collaborations.