The art-cycle route for a healthy and co-creative landscape

The story

Wij.land, project manager Lisa Ruseler, and artist Marthe Sophie Zeevenhooven are developing a cycle route through the Western Peat Meadows. The route creates connections between citizens, the landscape and farmers by combining art, knowledge and technology. Along it, participants have the chance to immerse themselves in creativity, biodiversity and a landscape for which everyone is responsible.

We all know that in the future we will have to deal with our landscape differently. Soil degradation, reduced biodiversity and farmers who are on the verge of financial ruin are simply no longer tenable. Wij.land works together with farmers on innovative agricultural techniques in which biodiversity, inspiration and soil regeneration are core values and in which farmers can operate in a financially healthy way. But they cannot do this alone.

The landscape of the future is a landscape for which we are all responsible: a dynamic landscape is a matter of togetherness, not “us” and “them”. With the route, we encourage everyone to jointly shape our landscape and learn about regenerative and innovative techniques.

For this art-cycle route, farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, residents and visitors will exchange perspectives in order to create new landscapes. The route brings people into contact with the farmers who, together with Wij.land, are working on new ways of farming. The route offers new artistic perspectives on the landscape while involving everyone in the creative power of nature.

Participants can expect painted hay bales, buried canvases, soundscapes, happy bees and soil animals, guided tours of the fields and the farmer, workshops, local products and regenerative agriculture practices between windmills, ditches and meadows. And all that on a bicycle!

The artists

For this project, Marthe Sophie Zeevenhooven investigates the way we look at the landscape. She investigates different perspectives on our landscape and the aesthetic expression of soil processes. For this she uses visualisation methods, including burying canvases as landscape art created by the landscape and thermal cameras. The different perspectives come together in an installation that explores the space between them.

Marthe Sophie will also conduct workshops based on natural creativity and neurological, cognitive and practical underlying processes. Both human creativity and landscape creativity follow a certain natural process. This workshop will give participants an insight into how they can use these creative laws in their daily lives. For this project, Marthe Sophie links the workshops to regenerative agriculture processes. Mental and physical exhaustion can be found in both people and soil. Burn-out can be found in humans and nature. The optimal use of natural creativity prevents burn-out and gives more efficiency, productivity and above all creative pleasure.

Skander Jaïbi, co-founder of the successful Utrecht Art & Music Festival Uncloud, has developed a soundscape for the route: a musical translation of a year on a regenerative farm. Listen to the soundscape here.

Young artists were approached through an Open Call to submit ideas and works. We received many enthusiastic and beautiful submissions. We are currently discussing within the organisation and with the artists how to collaborate on this project. These collaborations are closely linked to securing funding for this project. Your donation contributes to these potential collaborations!

The artists working along the route are also being approached to open up their studios or to produce work for the route.

Do you want to support this initiative? Follow the link to donate: Wij.land: farmer and artist

You can come and cycle too! You’ll discover new perspectives on agriculture, regenerative farming and art in meadows and barns. And you’ll take part in guided tours and workshops and taste delicious local products.

The Mondriaan windmill along the route

The route is about 40km long and immerses participants in creativity, biodiversity and the landscape

A buried canvas by Marthe Sophie