Ameliswaardig – Amelisworthy
Photographs by Tanno Witkamp
Five artists, connected to Het Huis van Betekenis worked on the project called Ameliswaardig, Amelisworthy in English. You can read the drawn reportages in the Special Ameliswaardig in Dutch. Amelisweerd is an estate in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the second most densely populated country of Europe (after Malta) and therefore nature is scarce. In the seventies the government had planned to build a highway that would cut through the forest, which led to many protests that lasted for years. People tied themselves to trees and built treehouses in order to stop the cutting of trees. They managed to save some of the trees, but not all. The highway A27 was finished in 1986. In 2006 the minister of infrastructure came up with plans to widen the highway and this led to protests again. The supreme court of the Netherlands has to make a decision whether the widening of the highway can be made, but thanks to political changes and the high level of nitrogen emissions this will not happen in the near future.
The Huis van Betekenis pays attention to the discussion surrounding Amelisweerd: why does part of the forest have to make way for the A27? Who makes this decision? What do the farmers think? And the road users? What do you think? All perspectives of the story are looked at with an open mind, and an attempt is made to untangle the story.
The artists who worked on Ameliswaardig wanted to highlight all sides of this story and to connect people through drawn reports. In a time of polarization, this connection is what we need. Each artist made their own reportage, in conversation with someone who has a relationship with Amelisweerd. Drawing is the connecting factor in this project. The public is involved in making the reports and sees the impact that drawing can have.
The artists’ goal is to connect people through drawing in this time of polarization. They show that drawing has a wide scope: from observation and investigation to imagination and storytelling. Cartoonists have the power to go beyond the facts and take the viewer along. Het Huis van Betekenis makes use of this aspect in the social debate.
A public event was organized at the manor Oud Amelisweerd. The drawn reports were on display, there was a panel discussion with experts and stakeholders. Visitors were invited to draw a long treeline, and they could have a conversation with artists of Het Huis van Betekenis while their portrait was being drawn. They could go on a guided tour through the forest with a philosopher. Highlight of the evening was the projection of an animation movie on the manor after sunset.
On December 16, het Huis van Betekenis organized a day full of art and culture about the relationship between people and nature at the Neude Library in Utrecht. The stories were on display for several weeks.
Many thanks to Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd, Gemeente Utrecht, Light Up Collective, KF Hein Fonds, VSB Fonds, Pictoright en de Limelight Foundation.
