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9/12/2005

Two exhibitions

Noorderlicht Photogallery, Groningen

Shared Land, Hidden Sites

From December 10, 2005, through January 15, 2006, there are two exhibitions in the new Noorderlicht Photogallery. Both are the result of photography commissions.

'Shared Land' shows the photographs that Hans Scholten made for the 2005 Post Middendorp photography commission. This commission is a biennial project of the Province of Groningen.

In 'Hidden Sites', for several regional heritage institutions Machiel Botman, Andreas Gefeller, Terri Weifenbach and Marco Wiegers visualized the traces of historic castles and churches on sites in the Province of Groningen.

Post Middendorp photography commission, 2005 Hans Scholten: 'Shared Land' Since time immemorial the Dutch have had to share their land with water. This relation with water is one of the formative elements in the landscape. According to the individual circumstances, in each case the landscape takes on a specific and characteristic form.

In the exhibition 'Shared Land', in over 60 black and white photographs the artist and photographer Hans Scholten gives us a picture of the way in which this relation with water in Groningen is translated in the landscape. What makes the Groningen landscape unique is its spaciousness. The flatness and the ever visible horizon are overpowering. This vastness of the land shades imperceptibly into that of the sea. Nothing seems to stand in the way of the wind.

Over the course of history a network of waterways were constructed across the land in Groningen, a coastal province with two seaports and numerous wharves. That network, which in part was created by the cutting and shipping of peat, and after that employed for many other purposes, divides the land. It is a pattern in the landscape in which social, political, economic and historical elements become visible. 'A landscape is changed by man. On the other hand, the landscape itself shapes the people who live in it. The mutual influences are subtle but unmistakable,' according to Scholten.

'Shared Land' is the outcome of the seventh Post Middendorp photography commission. This documentary commission has been organized by the Province of Groningen every two years since 1990. It is named for the medical doctor Pieter Bloemers Middendorp and the photographer Tonnis Post, who together in words and pictures recorded the conditions in which the population of the rural areas of Groningen and Drenthe lived and worked at the turn of the last century. The 2005 commission focused on the influence of shipping and ship building on the Groningen landscape.

Hans Scholten (b. Roermond, 1952) studied graphic arts and sculpture at the Minerva Academy in Groningen from 1971 to 1978. In realizing his projects he frequently makes use of photography. Since 2000 Scholten has been an instructor in the postgraduate photography program at St. Joost Academy, Breda.

Hidden Sites

Of the 200 borgen (fortified farms and manor houses) that the province of Groningen once had, only sixteen remain. The rest have disappeared or are only still visible as ruins or as a relief in the landscape. The same fate befell many of the province's historic churches and ecclesiastical sites. In the spring of 2005 Terri Weifenbach (United states), Andreas Gefeller (Germany), Machiel Botman (Netherlands) and Marco Wiegers (Groningen) each in their own characteristic manner photographed the sites of borgen and churches that had almost melted into the landscape.

The commission, coordinated by Noorderlicht, was organized at the initiative of the Old Groningen Churches Foundation and Landscape Conservancy Groningen. Together with the Private Historic Country Homes Foundation, these organizations are working on the 'Hidden Sites' project, which through the restoration of graves, roads, parks and water features is making twenty of the province's borg and church sites visible again.

Earlier this year the exhibition 'Hidden Sites' was to be seen on the Verhildersum estate in Leens. As a result of many requests, the presentation has now been extended, in the city of Groningen.

A catalogue, with a selection of the photographs and an introduction by Marjoleine de Vos (NRC-Handelsblad) appeared to accompany this exhibition.

Image: Hans Scholten

Opening: December 10

Noorderlicht Photogallery
Akerkhof 12, Groningen
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 11:00-18:00
Free admission

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