FLACC
WORKPLACE FOR VISUAL ARTISTS
In 2010, Wapke Feenstra will explore the Limburg landscape by following the movements of land-related products.
20 May – Bichterweerd Dilsen Stokkem and Zuid-Willemsvaart – Freight
In the Zuid-Willemsvaart the Lena is being loaded with 120 tonnes of quarry fines, forty truck loads. Three trucks are driving to and fro, and dump the sand into the barge. Skipper Ab Wemmenhove checks that the load is evenly distributed and son Lennard is removing rust, buzzingly sanding. As soon as the vessel is full up, the hatches are closed - to prevent sand from flying about. Bargee's wife Mini starts steering. On the way, the deck and hatches are rinsed and scrubbed well. As the Lena has been loaded at the maximum draught for the Zuid-Willemsvaart, Mini is steering cautiously. Around midnight the family moors north of the lock of Born. That is just over 3 miles from Bichterweerd, as the crow flies, where the boulders from the Maas had been crushed.
21 May – The Lena – Sailing
At six in the morning the heavy diesel engine is started. Ab is steering the first few hours, taking turns with his wife and son, later that morning. They are moving steadily up north, via the river Maas and the canalised Maas. Early Whitsun holiday-makers are lounging on the banks. The landscape is rippling on. Lennard is to go ashore in the afternoon; he has a football match to play and may even become top scorer this weekend. After the Maas-Waal canal the Lena enters the river Waal. The current is stronger there, but shipping traffic is very quiet. "There is not a lot of freight," Ab says, "and when there is, prices are low." He feels the crisis, but "ships must sail," his father taught him. New freights are negotiated by phone in the cabin. In all, they are allowed to sail 14 hours a day. It takes some calculating, but they arrive at the Prinses Irene lock on time and moor alongside the Delta from Dordrecht.
22 May – The Lena - On the way to Lage Weide
Again in the cabin at six and they are off. For Ab that's routine. Mini takes his breakfast upstairs and in the course of the morning they reach Utrecht. There is a nostalgic red coat of arms on their barge. Ab hails from Utrecht, but the family has been domiciled in Werkendam for years. The children were at the reformatorial boarding school De Merwede there and live ashore. Around noon, the Lena arrives at the company Pouw in Lage Weide. It’s quiet and deserted. They don't work at Whitsun.
25 May – Lage Weide – Unloading
Today, Pouw is a hive of activity. Trucks are driving to and fro, there is recycling on long conveyor belts, loaders are grabbing raw materials and on the quay a yellow crane is unloading. At ten it is the turn of the Lena. Unloading takes much less time than loading. Five hours loading to two and a half unloading, that is about the ratio. The yellow crane never rests and is operated by four operators in succession. Via a transporter, the quarry fines are stored in blue silos. They are to be used for the wearing courses of motorways. Ab and Mini are happy that they don't have to clean the hold this time. The bobcat of Pouw cleans it all well and moreover: this type of sand is very pure.
26 May - Sonnisheide – Herd to the moors
At seven in the morning the first sheep are sauntering out of the pen. First they hesitate, run a bit, wait for the rest and then dash off like a big cloud of dust towards the moors. Johan Schouteden closes the electrical fencing, a white ribbon. Today the fencing will be checked: the ribbons should not sag. With his border collie in the back of the pick-up, he drives through fire lanes and narrow paved roads with skull-and-bones signs . The moors are a military training ground and live ammunition is used here. Sheep get used to it, but the farmer is not allowed on the heathland after nine.
26 May - Sonnisheide – Herd to the pen
It has been pouring, but around half past seven the rain has stopped. Toon Schouteden, Johan's son, brings in the herd. As soon as the dog is spotted, the light patches on the heathland are set in motion. After a few minutes a compact herd is formed, growing steadily in size. Hundreds of sheep are in front of the fencing. No cloud of dust now, but running sheep trying to avoid the pools. When they are all in the pen, the noise is overwhelming. Lambs looking for their mothers. Mothers calling their lambs. "They always find each other," Toon says. Slowly, the noise is dying down. Lambs are drinking and ewes are nibbling at a bit of hay.
27 May – Terril of Waterschei - Geology on the slag heap
Geology is incomprehensible. Fortunately Michiel Dusar is here again. He talks about all those millions of years as if they are nothing. The story of coal is told by fragments at the foot of the terril. A layer of sand in the coal is evidence that a flood took place here more than 300 million years ago. As I have drawn a time scale and am making notes on it, I am slowly getting used to talking about millions. We are going along the Kattevennen Education Centre to see the Stone Path. Stones lined up in chronological order.
27 May Borgloon – Freshwater quartzite
In the orchard at Borgloon Koen Martens is leading us past a piece of freshwater quartzite. He found it when he was working the soil in the orchard. This quartzite is about a hundred million years old, and under it is a layer of loam that ended up here 20 000 years ago. I had never heard before that loam can also be deposited by the air. Then Michiel Dusar breaks up the quartzite and puts a manageable piece under his arm. That will go to Brussels, to the Belgian Geological Office.
28 May – Waterschei terril – Nature walk
Luc Vanoppen organises walks, during which he determines plants. He also regularly walks on the terril. "This is one of the few places where biodiversity is increasing," he explains. In the nineties, a chemical layer with "terril seeds" was put on this terril, to the annoyance of experts, as this disturbed the natural course of plant development here. Nevertheless, he sees new plants every year. Today: lamb's lettuce! So this is a walk that pays off. On the way back he meets another naturalist, who focuses mainly on butterflies and insects.
