WAXING MOON | Wassende Maan

The story of advancing insights and action in response to water management winds like a labyrinth through our national history and has led to a veritable maze of canals, weirs, pumping stations, dykes and quays.
The labyrinth or maze is a very useful metaphor for our centuries-long struggle with water. This labyrinth/maze in the Noordwaard in the Brabantse Biesbosch marks the moment when we toake a different direction in our “water management maze” with the “Room for the River” measure.
In this part of the Biesbosch, the development of wet nature reserves appears to flow together in a very natural way with this desire for more space for river water.

But it is the seasons, the wind and the weather, the sun and the moon, the ebb and flow of the tide that, with their “ritual dance”, give direction to our search in the hydraulic engineering maze.

From 2015 onwards, the artwork in the very fertile landscape became increasingly overgrown, until it was barely recognisable in the landscape. But this overgrowth also brought unexpected qualities, both scenic and ecological. From 2025 onwards, management has resumed, but not completely; one half of the artwork may remain overgrown. On closer inspection, “time” has unintentionally added an interesting layer of meaning to the artwork.