Dijk van een Wijf

Het oer-Hollandse landschap met haar nieuwe strakke polders, melkindustrie, aardappels en penen inspireerde Nienke Brokke om iets mee te doen. De kunstenares wil de ‘wulpse’ grilligheid van de natuur weer teruggeven aan dit industrieel agrarisch landschap. De vormen van ronde billen in een letterlijk ‘dijklichaam’ lijkt haar een mooi contrast met de doorgaans rechte strakke dijken, terwijl de cultuur van de uitgestrekte doorploegde akkers vraagt om extra aandacht voor biodiversiteit voor vogels en insecten. Zo ziet Nienke een groot wulps gevormde dijk voor zich, begroeid met kruiden en grassen. Een broedplaats voor insecten.

Dijk van een Wijf – mother Earth

In the vast Frisian polder landscape, parallel to the straight Seedyk, a large reclining nude rises, covered with herbs and grasses. She is large, +/- 65 meters long and 8 to 11 meters high at the hip and shoulders.
Dijk van een Wijf is situated like a Primordial Woman, a Gaia (mother earth and of life), in the vast Frisian polder landscape on  the Slachtedyk. Mother Earth is rich of diversity. Her true nature is multi-colored, multi-species and abundant. A nutritious, protective primordial woman. She does not practice monoculture. And it is precisely there in the Wadden landscape, with its Wadden Sea, salt marshes and vast fields, that the artist sees a Mother Earth in front of her, wrapped in the many robes of herbs and grasses. A breeding ground for birds and insects.

The vegetation of the statue also serves as a research project into how the dikes in the Netherlands can be sown in a more sustainable and biodiverse way. “Let the image challenge linear thinking”. The artist therefore believes that the strict, straight lines of the parcelled cultural landscape around it are also part of the image. The general awareness that we cannot continue to deplete the soil for our food supply is increasing. Diversity in arable farming, making ecosystems work together efficiently, is increasingly being developed. Just as in previous centuries people gave their libations to honour Mother Earth, ‘Dijk van een Wijf’ is an ode to that Primal Woman. The source of existence.

This research is being carried out in collaboration with Cyril Liebrand of EurECO Ecological Consultancy and indigenous seeds and plant nursery Cruydt-Hoeck for ‘Future Dikes’.

About the shape

Like a patroness she lies on her side, stretched out, a lushly formed dike in the landscape. The posture is at rest, relaxed. The face is turned towards the earth as if she is just rising from a sleep. The varying length of the herbs and grasses on the skin of the statue influences the shape. It makes its contours softer or more pronounced. The voluptuous shapes of Dijk van een Wijf refer to the arable land, to where food is grown. The artist wants to return the carefree variation in nature to the agricultural landscape. According to the artist, the decline in biodiversity requires a lot of attention. Her Gaia is a patroness for the land, a Demeter. The statue covered with a mixture of native herbs and grasses, underlines the value of a rich biodiversity. Just as dikes as sea barriers, offer safety against the water, ‘Dijk van een Wijf’ is a safe haven for insects and therefore birds in the arable land that is mainly dominated by monoculture.

About the location

The ideal location was found at the former, slightly elevated landfill near Oosterbierum. Just behind the sea wall, at the point where the old Slachtedijk meets the Zeedijk, also the starting point of the famous Slachtemarathon. A location where a current  cycle path goes land inwards for a while and where a staircase has been constructed over the sea wall. A place that has so far formed a blank spot in the Sense of Place route along the Wadden coast. Dijk van een Wijf connects Broken Jug (Harlingen) with the Terp fan de Takomst (Blije) and, a little further on, Wachten op Hoog Water (Holwerd).

About Nienke Brokke

The visual work of artist Nienke Brokke always has a narrative element. The study of theatre design at the Rietveld Academy has contributed to this. As in the theatre there is always a ‘gesamtkunstwerk’, Nienke likes to work with multiple art disciplines that together form a whole. Because of this narrative side, Nienke Brokke designs not only land art and theatre decors but also educational projects. In this, she is good at connecting content with an art discipline. The land art project ‘Dijk van een Wijf’ was her graduation project at the Rietveld Academy in 1997.

For more information: NienkeBrokke

Possible realisation: 2025

Location: Oosterbierum