Turbid Tides

EU Horizon has funded the selection of six artists to each reflect on one of six ecological restoration sites in Europe as part of the large-scale, ambitious project ‘WaterLANDS‘ (2023-2026).

Marjolijn Dijkman develops ‘Turbid Tides’ concerning one of these six sites, reflecting on ecological restoration and depoldering in the context of the Ems-Dollard estuary and the surrounding landscape in the North of the Netherlands. This will lead to presentations in 2026 and 2027. The estuary is an ecosystem that spans national borders; this is why she also examines processes on the German side.

‘Turbid Tides’ explores the parallel between rising siltation in the Ems-Dollard estuary and the expanding influence of computational thinking, with silt and data as its protagonists. The research within the landscape examines the impact of different paradigm shifts on this particular landscape over time, from the pre-Christian Wierden dwellers living on mounds in a tidal landscape to the turbid estuary in the present day. She aims to produce an essay film, installation, and publication that will explore shifts in thinking about sentience, intelligence, and our place in a more-than-human world in the context of the estuary.

An artistic approach to landscape projects like this can reveal hidden stories and relationships that might be overlooked. The estuary is depleted of life due to siltation of the water, which is caused by various interacting factors, including dredging, land reclamation, soil subsidence due to gas extraction and peat oxidation, sea level rise, and water management infrastructure such as the major dam, the ‘Afsluitdijk’. The water quality problems and the need to reinforce flood defenses have led engineers to consider removing sediment from the estuary in a newly created intertidal area in the hinterland. The silt in the Ems-Dollard estuary can be regarded as both an antagonist and a protagonist in the story of the recovery process in and around the estuary. When water silts up, it kills organisms in the water, but it can also bring a fertile layer of clay to the land.

Ecological restoration is part of a philosophical “recovery process” from the dominant European worldview that divided nature and culture to allow for economic exploitation. These projects in the coastal zone require a shift in perspective and a new form of relating to our environment. In his book ‘The Good Ancestor,’ Australian philosopher Roman Krznaric used the rich history of dike construction and maintenance in the Netherlands as an example of long-term thinking and intergenerational care. These aspects are essential when considering the restoration process of the coastal zone and its inhabitants.

Documentation of the first walk De Waker (The Watcher), October 2024, photo: Wim Dijkman

Waker Slaper Dromer (Watcher, Sleeper, Dreamer)
‘Waker, Slaper, Dromer’ is a series of three walks named after the poetic names and functions of dike systems in the Netherlands. Here, the ‘watcher’ first protects against the outside water, and the inland ‘sleeper’ catches any breach. Behind this sleeper sometimes lies another ‘dreamer.’

These events connect artistic research, dike construction, ecology, philosophy, and regional history, offering an in-depth look at the landscape through contributions from various experts, each with their unique and local knowledge. These walks will be organized in 2024 and 2025 as part of Dijkman’s WaterLANDS artist residency.

See for more information: www.wakerslaperdromer.nl (Dutch only)