De IJsselbiënnale deelt haar liefde voor de IJssel en haar landschap door met verbeelding- en verbindingskracht een breed programma vol kunst en cultuur aan te bieden. We proberen zo veel mogelijk partijen te verbinden die deze liefde met ons delen. Met liefde bestaat ook de zorg voor de toekomst. Hierin herkennen we de drive van actiegroepen, zoals bijvoorbeeld FridaysforFuture. In dit blog reageren zij op een anonieme activistische groep: de Delta Rebels. De Delta Rebels gebruiken hetzelfde beeld – de schedel van de Mosasaurus – als Tue Greenfort verwerkt heeft in zijn sculptuur voor de IJsselbiënnale 2021.
Forward to the past instead of back to the future
The symbol of the Delta Rebels is the Mosasaurus skull, who once inhabitated the Dutch river system. Who are the Delta Rebels? An unknown militia of climate activists whose mission is to return the Netherlands to its natural state before the Delta Works was built. Yes, the dams, dykes and locks protect us humans from storms and overflooding. But what about the others, the non-human species that live or have lived there too? Do we humans simply have the right to dominate our lands and waters, or are we unfairly seizing them? Humans as we know them today only exist a fraction of time. When the Mosasaurus was still gliding through the waters, there was a complete sense of freedom of the world itself. Although there might not have been one central species of high intelligence such as in today’s world, the wisdom of life was holistically encapsulating all of existence.
No more species suppression
The delta works have made the tides disappear, making it harder for fresh and salt water to naturally flow in and out of each other as it was happening before for millions of years. Flora and fauna that had been thriving in these areas before human existence had to suffer, as they were being subjugated to human needs. What is their right to exist? There was only little environmental awareness when the main construction projects began but now is the time to use our collective consciousness to make intelligent decisions that empower not only humans, but especially all the other natural beings that usually had to conform to human interests.
The work of the Delta Rebels
To fight for a future which honors world before human existence, this what the Delta Rebels do. They believe that from a scientific and economic perspective the only way to go forward is that humans strongly decrease their activity and violations against the planet, which also means accepting hardships such as human death through environmental impact. We will never be able to be invincible. The only way in which we can live forever is through understanding that all life on earth comes from the same source, and will return to that same source in an ever-moving cycle.
FridaysforFuture Nederland bestaat uit studenten en scholieren die staken en actievoeren voor het klimaat. Ze streven naar een leefbare en rechtvaardig wereld voor iedereen en staan voor en ambitieus klimaatbeleid dat de ongelijkheid in de samenleving verkleint, in plaats van vergroot. Ze staken, demonstreren, verspreiden wetenschap en voeren compagnes om de urgentie van de klimaatproblematiek te benadrukken.