^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

DOWN TO EARTH reopened on June 9, and with two exhibitions: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS in the Keilezaal, and WATERSCHOOL M4H+ at Studio Makkink & Bey’s and in the public space, both in the Merwe-Vierhavens area in Rotterdam.
A third exhibition,THE HIGH GROUND, will open on July 3 in the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht.

Chief curator George Brugmans: "For everyone - the team, the curators, the participants, the audience - it's been a long and frustrating lockdown, but we haven't exactly been sitting on our hands, so now we can give it everything we have."

You're very welcome, all exhibitions are free, and it is no longer necessary to make a reservation. But all dates, also for the program of events, tours and meetings that we are putting together, are still subject to change, so check this website and our agenda regularly, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

RECLAIMING THE COMMONS

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

The exhibition RECLAIMING THE COMMONS is the 2.0 version of WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the exhibition we had to close after only three weeks, last December, because of the lockdown.
WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? focused on the energy transition at the district level, on the energy district as an energetic district. In RECLAIMING THE COMMONS the curators, George Brugmans and Thijs van Spaandonk, go a step further. Their starting point this time is the observation that energy was once part of the commons: that which belongs to all of us and that we take care of together. And that we might want to look at it that way again: after all, since the sun, wind and hydrogen belong to everyone, the transition to sustainable energy should belong to us all, too. So how can we reinvent the commons for the twenty-first century?
The energy transition is the elephant in the room of politics. It’s high time to say: No energy transition without social transition – let's RECLAIM THE COMMONS!

For more info about RECLAIMING THE COMMONS please click here.

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

WATERSCHOOL M4H+

^{Waterschool M4H+: Artist's Impression Mushroom Production Landscape}

^{image: Studio Makkink & Bey with Juhee Hahm}

WATERSCHOOL M4H+ is a working exhibition in Studio Makkink & Bey's workspace that illustrates what a new living and working environment in the Rotterdam city harbor Merwe-Vierhaven may look like if the planning takes as its departure the sustainable use of raw materials and resources by the future residents of the area .
In addition, at five outdoor locations in the area, as many spatial installations depict how people may live and work here in the future: five different stories about new ways of using raw materials and their impact on Merwe-Vierhaven.

The objective of the curators of WATERSCHOOL M4H+, Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey, is to increase our awareness of our gigantic water footprint and what we can do about it. And to take that as a starting point for an alternative "learning by doing" area development in the Merwe-Vierhavens area. The (awareness of) water is used as a lever for exploring a learning production landscape, a learning environment for the future that we can want in an area which the City of Rotterdam wants to turn into a sustainable and challenging living environment for mostly small business and 6,300 new residents.

For more info about WATERSCHOOL M4H+ please click here.

^{Waterschool M4H+ @Studio Makkink & Bey}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

THE HIGH GROUND

^{THE HIGH GROUND - Live on the Water - PosadMaxwan}

^{drawing: Merel Corduwener for IABR–Atelier Dordrecht}

THE HIGH GROUND, an exhibition curated by DOWN TO EARTH's chief curator George Brugmans, presents the results of the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht, Water Safety as a Lever for Sustainable Urban Development, under lead designer Adriaan Geuze (West 8). The exhibition, in the Biesboschhal on De Staart in Dordrecht, will be open to the public from Saturday July 3 through August 14.

^{Artist's Impression The High Ground, model of De Staart in Dordrecht (Made by Mistake)}

For more information about THE HIGH GROUND click here

For more info about the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht click here.

^{picture: Melany van Twuijver}

DOWN TO EARTH is a biennale in times of pandemic – an anti-biennale. Instead of compressing a multitude of activities – concentrating them in time and place, inviting as many people as possible, from far and wide, through the same door – we unfold the program over time. A biennale true to form is simply not possible under the current atypical circumstances.
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR presnets a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions, guided tours and lectures.

Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here

Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here

Read more about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here

Read more about METEOPOLIS, the first partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here

Read more about NOW! DESIGNING IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CRISIS, the second partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here

^{Whose energy is it, anyway?}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram

Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!