In October 2023, The Research Group Art & Spatial Praxis organised a workshop with the Brackish Collective and a lecture with artist Müge Yilmaz on salt and the effects of salinisation of earth.
Together with the Brackish Collective, participants experienced a culinary tasting session that intertwined knowledge of coastal vegetation in The Netherlands with future (im)possibilities. At the Sandberg Institute’s kitchen, the group focused on halophytes and salt-resistant plants found in the coastal areas and dunes while sensorially exploring an array of these plants like sea asparagus, dune roses, sea purslane, sea buckthorn, and red clover. Each plant represented a unique taste of the brackish landscapes, emphasising the incredible potential within nature’s offerings. This workshop was a vibrant fusion of art, gastronomy, and the natural world, inspiring us to explore further the intriguing possibilities at this intersection.
Following the workshop with Brackish, the group delved into the critical impacts of salinisation on soil quality and architectural structures, a concern exacerbated by rising sea levels and ground subsidence, through Müge Yilmaz’s lecture. The lecture highlighted innovative solutions like cultivating salt-tolerant crops and halophytes, bio-saline farming and aquaculture in flood-prone areas. Besides, it looked at the cultural belief systems surrounding salt and its speculative potential in a feminist, science-fiction sense. Yilmaz’s research aims to document agricultural endeavours alongside cultural practices, offering fresh perspectives on our relationship with rising sea levels.
Born in Istanbul, Müge Yilmaz lives and works in Amsterdam. Her research presents speculations influenced by feminist science fiction and proposes narratives about the future through installation, performance and photography. Recent exhibitions include The Milk of Dreams, 59th Venice Biennial, 2022, The Seventh Continent, 16th Istanbul Biennial, 2019; Why Not Ask Again? 11th Shanghai Biennial, 2016; Tenminste Houdbaar Tot, Museum Arnhem, 2022; Posterity Hill (solo) at Wilfried Lentz, 2022; On Protection (solo), Bureau Postjesweg, 2021; That Those Beings Be Not Being, W139, Amsterdam, 2021. She has been a resident artist at ACC and is an alumna of Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.
In her work, she examines the paradoxes around the concept of protection with focus on community, survival and belief (faith). Through performances, photographs and installations she creates immersive environments inspired by feminist science-fiction. Following the concept of three ecologies for observing the mental (subjective), societal and environmental developments in a parallel method, she uses these mediums as tools for envisioning potential futures. While keeping protection as a common denominator, her research creates speculations on preservation and scarcity. She constantly looks for trigger points in the shape of visual manifestations that provoke subconscious reactions and reflexes.
Photography by Simon Pillaud