SOILS at Van Abbemuseum

The Brabant chapter of the Cow and Landscape is part of the SOILS exhibition at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, until 24 November 2024.

What place can Dutch rural and more-than-human life be given within contemporary art amid growing demands for agricultural transition? We believe that good coexistence between humans and the more-than-human requires us to recognize how the economy is rooted in local cultures and (natural) environments. The work introduces the conceptual framework rural sociologist Inez Dekker and visual artist Wapke Feenstra developed together for this project as they journey through the Netherlands from autumn 2020 to spring 2024.

In the show artist Wapke Feenstra collaborates with five Brabant-based farms: Genneper Hoeve (Eindhoven), De Hofstad (Son en Breugel), Kasteelboerderij (Waalre), Janmiekeshoeve (Mariahout), and Op Den Hoek (De Mortel). Through accessible forms of learning, like drawing, walking, taking photos, foraging and milking, they bring us to other images, possibilities and realities that are already practiced here and now.