Daems van Remoortere & Fallow
Archaeology on saline soil
The soil is becoming salinated! Not only due to old irrigation methods, but also due to flooding from the sea and the upwelling of seawater through the subsoil. The agricultural sector in particular is concerned about this ongoing evolution, and all kinds of techniques are being developed to combat the advancing salinisation. In the midst of a climate crisis, the time seems ripe to re-examine this relationship between salt and fresh water.
For Veldwerk, artist duo Daems van Remoortere and design collective Fallow are therefore investigating a crucial link in our relationship with this changing landscape: saline agriculture. But what exactly does this entail? Which crops can and cannot be grown? What are the possibilities for the future? They frame this research into salt-loving plants in a broader context, informed by interviews with farmers, residents and botanists. Ultimately, this will take shape in a saline garden, a section of the landscape that, like an archaeological site, allows history, the future and the present to merge.
BIO
Daems van Remoortere consists of visual artists Lena Daems (°1988, BE) and Frederik van Remoortere (°1986, BE). As graduates of the KMSKA, they have created a diverse practice that ranges from gallery works based on geometric abstractions and astrophysical principles to in situ installations in public spaces. Recurring themes include voyeurism, the relationship between private and public space, man versus nature, geometry, light and time.
In addition to the artist duo Daems van Remoortere, Lena Daems is also the co-founder of the Zilte Scheldetuin (Salty Scheldt Garden). At the dry dock site in Antwerp, a salty garden has been created in one of the docks to draw attention to the salt-loving plants that occur naturally in the Scheldt Estuary. From time to time, they organise cooking workshops and guided tours there.
Fallow is the Brussels-based collaborative platform of designers Matthias Salaets (°1990, BE), Michaël Stas (°1990, BE) and Carmen Van Maercke (°1990, BE). The collective focuses on the spatial aspects of social and socio-ecological challenges with a multifaceted interest in the open field of architecture, landscape and urban planning. Together, they build on valuable experiences from various projects at firms such as Elding Oscarson (SE), 51N4E (BE), Architecture Workroom Brussels (BE) and Studio Paola Viganò (BE), as well as at the Department of Environment (BE), and from involvement in higher education and academic research.
