Nature Talks - with HKU (Utrecht Art College)

non-human centered art and design

For centuries, our world view has centred on people. We believe we can shape our world, that humans define everything. But it is this belief that has brought us to the point where the end of humanity may be in sight. Our actions are now rapidly destroying the world as we know it. In Nature Talks fifteen alumni from Utrecht art college HKU collaborate with nature. This new Fundatie Future Factory exhibition will showcase different ways of dealing with the world, and offer some hope of avoiding the destruction of humanity.

featuring work by
Damiët Anijs, Trix Berendsen, Marije Dijkstra, Emmy van de Grift, Juliette Koster, Aster Kruisbrink, Valerie van Leersum, Josette Oegema, Lidewei Reitsma & Jonne Verheij, Rashel van der Schaaf, Stan Smeets, Kick Veldman, Isabela Verhagen, Pepijn Zuiderveld.

_{Emmy van de Grift, Still, 2021-2022, stained glass, glass fusing, corroded steel, 94 x 112 cm, loan from the artist}

_{Stan Smeets, The Plant-Based Instrument, 2021, projectie, monitor, planten, bruikleen van de kunstenaar
Lidewei Reitsma & Jonne Verheij, Interwoven, 2021, fungi-based installation, 150 x 55 x 55 cm, loan from the artists}

Plants that play music, a river that formulates thoughts, mushrooms that make contact with humans via electrical pulses: nature is the focus of this exhibition. The makers are concerned not so much with individual actions to conserve nature, like becoming vegan or not using the car. Their goal is to fundamentally change our perspective, placing us alongside – or even below – nature, for to secure humankind’s future on the planet we must listen to and be guided by nature. Nature Talks is an invitation from the participating artists to start changing our perspective.

_{Isabela Verhagen, The Collective Imagination, 2021, installation, loan from the artist}

_{Rashel van der Schaaf, Ich bin der Fluβ, 2020, digital video, 20m00s, loan from the artist}

_{Pepijn Zuiderveld, Project Hortum, 2021, book, photo prints, 20 x 26 cm, 3 x 90 x 125 cm, loan from the artist}

Guest curators Erwin Slegers, Anke Jongejan and Kelvin Godee (who all work at HKU) were closely involved in selecting the work for this exhibition. HKU sees it as its responsibility to have its students offer a new perspective on society through their art. Nature Talks showcases the voice of a new generation of HKU designers and artists, and their distinctive view of the world.

A book published (by Waanders Publishing) to accompany Nature Talks includes an interview with Anke Jongejan and Kelvin Godee.

Nature Talks is the second exhibition that Museum de Fundatie has produced in collaboration with HKU in which young makers are given the opportunity to present their work to a larger audience. The exhibition is part of the Future Factory, De Fundatie’s laboratory where multidisciplinary makers seek out the pulse of today’s world and explore the issues that will shape the future. Their findings are presented in displays both inside and outside the museum.

_{Image header: Damiët Anijs, Animal, 2021, digital animation film, 05m54s, loan from the artist}

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