On the 1st of October I took part in the one day event as part of the Weekend van de Wetenschap at the UNESCO IHE Delft Water Education Institute. I was honoured to participate. This was part of my Water Quality Project. It was a great experience to meet my audience, partly the youngest members. It was satisfying to see that it had universal appeal.
I want to thank the cultural department of the Gemeente Delft for awarding me a covid grant to make this exhibition possible. For me it was vital to show this project in Delft where my inspiration came from. It actually started when my cellar flooded with sewer water and I realised how important clean water is and how we take it for granted. The technology required to handle this is extraordinary. By coincidence I was approached at the same time to take part in a show about inland waterways and I became suddenly extremely interested.
For this project I collected the rubbish floating in the canals of the inner city, which I cleaned and prepared, then I painted it the exact colour of the canal at the time of painting. The water colour varies according to the effects of the bacteria, algae, sediment and sunshine, it is constantly changing and I created timed drawings in this process. My aim was create something so fragile and attractive that they would become desirable jewel-like pieces. It is a statement on the value of water quality and our general neglect of this.
Remains of a takeaway pizza box, the lines are those of the waterlily stems in the canal
I would very much like to thank the following organisations for making this possible:
UNESCO IHE Delft Water Education Institute
Hoogheemraadschap Delftland
Gemeente Delft
AQUON Leiden
Stadsmuseum Woerden