About sea creatures, villages and a city under water in Zeeland.
Text: Monique van den Hout
Summary
For my new project, “Fishing for Drowned Stories”, I, Monique van den Hout, visual artist and illustrator, research, depict and present Zeeland myths and legends and drowned histories in and around the Oosterschelde.
Through my eyes, I breathe new life into this Zeeland heritage. By collecting, depicting, connecting and making visible, this becomes a journey of discovery across land and sea. I share my “catches” with my audience, young and old, inviting them to engage in conversation, reflect and create art themselves.
Fishing for Drowned Stories gives me the opportunity to create new (artistic) work, but also to experiment with new techniques and working methods, such as audience participation.
Goal and motivation
The project is part of the triptych “Oosterschelde Mon Amour”. Part 1, Oosterscheldezwemmen, Stilte in 25 meter (Swimming in the Oosterschelde, Silence in 25 metres), was completed earlier this year. What I discovered as a “by-catch” in this project is how it invited viewers to tell their own stories. About their own encounters with the Oosterschelde, the water, the flood disaster, near-drowning experiences. Something started to stir here. A desire to take the next step with these stories and not just keep them to myself, but to collect them, preserve them, make them visible, share them. Fishing for Drowned Stories will be part 2.
Content collaboration
For this project, I am seeking collaboration with ZB Library of Zeeland (ZB). ZB already has part 1 of my trilogy Oosterschelde Mon Amour, Oosterscheldezwemmen, Stilte in 25 meter in its collection. In addition to its role as a public and scientific library, ZB maintains the Zelandica Collection (a heritage collection about Zeeland) and makes it available to the public. The Image, Newspaper, Magazine and Sound Banks are digital databases in which these collections can be consulted. To go beyond simply making a collection available, ZB wants to collaborate with contemporary Zeeland creators to create new stories. Stories about the past, present and future, inspired by the collection.
ZB facilitates me in the research process, communication, presentation and practical support for public activities (on location) and provides some financial support for Research Phase 1. In addition, ZB is making the Zelandica Collection available. This collaboration is important because it helps me to engage in dialogue with a new audience. I have experience in giving presentations and workshops, but all of this has been within my own network. For this project, I want to reach out further, beyond my art practice and into the province.
Artistic research
My studio is located in a monumental building from 1619 in Tholen with an eye-catching facade stone featuring two mermaids. My research starts here. I want to investigate the origin and story of this facade stone. And in which places in Zeeland can more of these visual references be found in the architecture and/or landscape? What stories, rituals and/or myths and legends are associated with them? What do they tell us about the past? And what significance do they have for the present?
And what else is there to discover and learn about sea creatures (often half-human) but also about the drowned villages and a town (Reymerswael)? And what has been the influence of water on the Zeeland character and culture over the centuries?
My research consists of literature and field research at Zeeland archives and museum collections (such as the book De Mooiste Zeeuwse Mythen en Sagen (The Most Beautiful Myths and Legends of Zeeland)). By placing a appeal (e.g. in local traditional and social media and heritage communities) aimed at the inhabitants of Zeeland, I want to start a conversation.
I have opted for an outdoor approach, experimenting, exploring, travelling, walking, by the water and in new places. I record my findings in an art journal, compiling them in my own playful way, adding notes, reflections and connections.
The public can follow this journey on the ZB website, via my Instagram account and in my own studio. In addition, I will incorporate these stories into public activities and a final exhibition.
Public activities
By incorporating a number of public activities into the research phase, the journey of discovery is made even more visible. By sharing collected stories and images at an early stage, the Zeeland public, young and old, is invited to become acquainted with these histories, to reflect and to be challenged to tell and depict stories themselves. For these activities, I am looking for a combination of inspiration and education, with the aim of connecting the public with cultural heritage and also with each other.
Education project
During the summer holidays, I am organising six workshops for the Zeeland Library entitled “Fishing for Lost Stories”. The children are introduced to my own art practice, my skills and working methods. I share my research question and “finds” so far. After viewing my first works/sketches (art journaling), the children are invited to get to work themselves. Participants learn, just like me, to look and work like an artist and to cherish their magical thinking. I take the results of this workshop with me, because that’s how it goes when you’re on the road. On this journey, like a beachcomber, I take everything I can use in the rest of the research project and in my final exhibition.
Story project, ongoing in the studio.
Open most Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Markt 1 Tholen.
In my studio, I have the opportunity to present my artistic research on an ongoing basis. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in my work and participate themselves. To share their own stories. The historical setting of my studio makes this happen almost automatically. I will take the results of these encounters with me into the rest of the research project and into my final presentation.
Presentation in the Zeeland Pavilion of the ZB
I will conclude my research phase 1 in October 2025 with an exhibition in the Zeeland Pavilion of the ZB. The Zeeland Pavilion is a physical location in the library where, among other things, the Zelandica collection is on display. The exhibition Fishing for Drowned Stories focuses on artistic research in particular and heritage research based on one’s own living environment. It stimulates the imagination and awareness of how special Zeeland is with all its stories about water and how much of that history is now relevant again.
I will also present the “catch” from my previous public activities here. Participants in the education and storytelling project are invited to attend this final presentation. After all, it is also about the stories of these Zeelanders, young and old. Stakeholders are also invited. In addition to an exhibition, I am investigating with ZB the possibilities of permanently opening up these heritage stories. How can stories and images be recorded, preserved or made accessible in the ZB’s Image and Sound Bank?
For me, this final presentation is not an end point. The results of my research will guide the next phase, part 3 of my triptych Oosterschelde Mon Amour. My artistic research will serve as the basis for, for example, a teaching programme and/or a children’s book. At the time of writing, I have had my first meeting with Erfgoed Zeeland. Perhaps this will also lead to a collaboration.
Which “dive” I will take is still open for now.
Website: moniquevandenhout.nl
The Hurgronje Family Fund has made a financial contribution to this project.
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