The work travels on September 24 and October 1, 8 and October 14 big water (2021) by Maud van den Beuken along the Nieuwe Maas. Affiliated with the program 150 years New Waterway the artwork questions our relationship to the river on both a local and global scale. Who bears the responsibility? The work can be visited at four different locations along the river. There is also a substantive program in which the artist enters into discussions with professionals and the public.
By entering into discussions with policymakers, artists, environmentalists, residents, water management experts and dredgers, we investigate the Nieuwe Maas as a non-human form of life and the possibility of its own legal personality. This series of conversations forms the basis for a lengthy artistic investigation into the appropriation of the river and how we can give it a voice through artistic means.
PROGRAM
#1 The river inside
Date: Saturday 24 September
Location: Van Oord, Schaardijk 211, Rotterdam. Also accessible by boat from the Eiland van Brienenoord, Piet Smitkade. The boat runs every hour from 12.30 pm to 17.30 pm (last departure). Also accessible by bike or car.
The work can be visited between 12.30 – 18.00
Content program: 15.00 pm – 17.00 pm
Moderator: Renée Rooijmans
Speakers: Mark van Koningsveld (Professor Ports & Waterways | Van Oord, TU Delft), Esther Blom (co-founder ARK Nature Development) and Maud van den Beuken (artist).
Free entry, no reservation required.
In the first edition of the series Large water travels along the Nieuwe Maas Maud van den Beuken investigates the natural course of the river and its sedimentation processes in contrast to the 'basic shape' of the river that is maintained. During the 150 Years Ahead Festival within the program of 150 years New Waterway At the company site of the dredging company Van Oord, we will discuss the river as an architecture with an engineer, river expert and landscape architect.
#2 We, the river
Date: Saturday October 1
Location: De Maaskantine, Plantagelaan 2, Rotterdam
The work can be visited between 12.00 – 18.00
Content program: 15.00 pm – 17.00 pm
Moderator: Renée Rooijmans
Free entry, no reservation required.
Note: This program was originally scheduled for October 8. On that date you will now find The river as a living entity.
In this second edition, Maud van den Beuken invites the public to participate in the conversation. Inspired by the concept of 'Parliament of things' of the French sociologist/political scientist Bruno Latour, you take on the voice of a non-human and we speak with and about the river as an independent entity.
#3 The river as a living entity
Date: Saturday 8 October
Location: on the quay at Oasis Rotterdam, Schiehaven 15, Rotterdam
The work can be visited between 12.00 – 18.00
Content program: 15.00 pm – 17.00 pm
Moderator: Renée Rooijmans
Speakers: Eric van der Schans (director Environmental Management at Port of Rotterdam), Monique Marijnissen (senior landscape designer at Urban Development, Municipality of Rotterdam), Klaas Kuitenbrouwer (initiator Zoöp and researcher Het Nieuwe Instituut) and Maud van den Beuken (visual artist and field worker) .
Free entry, no reservation required.
In the third edition of the series Large water travels along the Nieuwe Maas Maud van den Beuken examines the river as a living entity. By entering into discussions with the Port of Rotterdam, the Municipality of Rotterdam and a representative of the river itself, she investigates what interests people have in the river and how we give space to the voice of the river. What voice does the river itself have and how do we recognize this voice?
#4 Meet 'Big water'
Date: Friday 14 October
Location: SS Rotterdam
The work can be visited between 09.00 – 18.00
Free entry, no reservation required.
During the fourth and final edition, as a visitor you can have a conversation with artist Maud van den Beuken about her work big water (2021). She will during the International Symposium: 150 Years New Waterway closing on 150 years New Waterway, to be present all day with her work at the SS Rotterdam.
ABOUT THE WORK
big water (2021) is a 1:1 replica of a cross-section of the Mississippi, which Maud van den Beuken 3D scanned at the source. She immortalized the river in her shape by computer-controlled milling of the 3D model on a full scale. The work was created as a result of two journeys in which the artist followed two rivers on foot: the Kaveri in India and exactly on the other side of the earth, at the same latitude, the Mississippi in the United States. Upon arrival at the Kaveri, the entire river was found to contain no water due to persistent drought. The Mississippi just has too much water; the water level shows a sustained rise. Together with dredging and offshore company Van Oord, Van den Beuken scanned a cross-section of the source area of the Mississippi using sonar technology. The sculpture shows the full-scale volume of water from the source of the Mississippi, as if she brought it with her herself. big water Maud van den Beuken was commissioned by the sculpture route Statues in Leiden in 2021, which is curated by Suzanne Wallinga.
Large water travels along the Nieuwe Maas is made possible by Krone Trailer BV.