IJsselbiennale celebrates the relationship between people and landscape

Our readers will be aware of Livegreenblog’s interest in land art and art in general as an engine driving change and, above all, provoking interest and involvement in certain social and environmental issues among the general public. Drawing on the experience of other posts and model projects such as Beaufort (on the Belgian coast) and Emscherkunst (in Germany’s Ruhr district), IJsselbiennale is an initiative that began in 2013 with the intention of “focusing on people’s relationship with landscape”, in response to a series of projects organised by Kunstenlab in partnership with Ruimte voor de Rivier Deventer, the Deventer op Stelten festival and festival director Alex de Vries. 
The reason and the theme behind the event are the impact of the climate crisis on our landscape: a highly relevant and very urgent issue facing society with major dilemmas and discussions. We will only be able to address this problem if we are ready to radically change our attitude. This means looking at ourselves and everything around us with new eyes. And this is where art comes into the picture, as the people behind the event say: “Art is a powerful tool for visualising, experimenting, discussing and understanding complex problems. The same applies to complex issues involved in our landscape, under pressure as a result of the transitions (required) for sustainable living.”
For the open-air exhibition, the team of curators appointed by the IJsselbiennale foundation invited 27 Dutch and international artists to create a new temporary artwork in the IJssel valley between Doesburg and Zwolle. The theme of the 2021 edition, which began on June 18 and continues until September 19, is “Tide, Time and Temporariness”. What effects will climate change have on the landscape and the people who live in it?  What can be done to mitigate or prevent these effects? And what opportunities might they bring? What will be the effect of TIME on our landscape and its challenges?
A number of artists focus on the particular point in the IJssel valley assigned to them for their work, while others raise their eyes to look beyond the country’s borders. Some search for traces in physical and spatial memory, while others sketch a possible future. The IJsselvallei is the participating artists’ place of work and research, their studio, their muse and their stage.
In the best Dutch tradition, the organisers offer two-hour bicycle trips from Zwolle, Deventer, Zutphen and Doesburg in which an expert guide takes visitors to explore the monumental artworks of the IJsselbiennale and explains everything there is to know about the beautiful Ijssel landscape. An exciting, sustainable idea for visitors holidaying in this part of the Netherlands!

Christiane Bürklein

IJsselbiennale
18 June - 19 September 2021
IJsselvallei, The Netherlands
Find out more: https://ijsselbiennale.nl/
Images: courtesy of IJsselbiennale, see captions