Come Back to Your ___ (Nature/Culture)
Line up: Participating artists: Dewi van den Bossche, Alina Bielun, Dawid Dobosz, Kalliopi Ioumpa, Esther Kin, Rucha Kulkarni, Maya Masuda, Monali Meher, Lena Longefay, Philip Ling and Stefania Rada Morariu.

TREEHOUSE NDSM: EXHIBITION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSE COMMUNITIES SHAPING THE LAND

In the exhibition Art Park IV: Come Back to Your ___ (Nature/Culture) at Treehouse NDSM, 11 projects explore how communities shape, or have shaped, the land through personal stories. By showing these practices, Treehouse NDSM highlights the importance of diverse communities and cultural traditions, acknowledging their contribution to a shared environment. The exhibition is part of Art Park, an annual series launched in 2023 that explores how nature finds its place within the city. By bringing together artistic perspectives on ecology and the urban environment, the series offers food for thought for the Municipality of Amsterdam and its plans to create a public park in the NDSM area. It opens on Friday, 18 September and runs until 11 October.

ARTWORKS ON AGRICULTURE

For the exhibition, Dewi van den Bossche photographed the hemp field near her farm. After noticing the smell of cannabis, the artist set out to discover its source and to her surprise, found a legal hemp plantation used to produce insulation material for houses. The result is a contemplative photographic series Veldreis (Field Journey) which reflects on the plant’s diverse uses: as a source of intoxication, but also as a way towards sustainable housing.

Intoxication also plays a role in the Vomit Triptychs by Lena Longefay in which she shares her concerns about exhaustion of land into a bacchanal. Her ceramic triptychs, displayed on grapevines, depict scenes of excess, with figures drinking and vomiting in a relentless cycle visualising overconsumption. At the same time, through these humorous works and a wine tasting that she leads as a sommelier, she celebrates French culture.

NATURE AS A SOURCE FOR NEW RITUALS

The land can also serve as a source of inspiration for new rituals. This can be seen in the community project Shared Garden by Alina Bielun, who is also a co-curator of the exhibition. Together with four Ukrainian refugees, she created an art garden inspired by different plants remembered from their childhood and later rediscovered in their new hometown. The garden becomes a symbol of the resilience of Ukrainian migrants.

ABOUT TREEEHOUSE NDSM

Treehouse NDSM is an art incubator where we support artists of all disciplines and keep our doors open to curious minds. By fostering creative exchange between artists in residence and visitors, we create a community where new ideas and collaborations continue to emerge. We believe that nurturing imagination empowers both our artists and everyone who steps into our space.