JUUL HONDIUS INVITES CLIMATE ACTIVISTS
Hofwijck, with its shady elms and avenues of pine, was a place where poet, composer and diplomat Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) was able to escape the pressure of Hague political life. But his garden was much more than just a quiet place to relax. As Huygens wrote in his famous poem about Hofwijck, the garden embodied a multifaceted vision of people and nature.
In Huygens’ idyllic garden there was little talk about protecting nature. But centuries have passed since, and nowadays trucks rumble by on that awful A12 motorway. Juul Hondius wakes us with a start, bringing the climate debate to Hofwijck. The slogans are not what you might expect. We are exorted to ‘Boom aen Boom staen’ (‘stand tree to tree’), a banner advertises ‘Gratis Maaltijden’ (‘Free meals’) and activists are called ‘Eve and Adam’. Are we losing our paradise on earth? Constantijn Huygens’ poem Vitaulium Hofwijck expresses a love and fear of nature. This contrast becomes painful in Hondius’ photographs, which evoke contradictory feelings and pose a question that is difficult to answer: what is Nature really worth to me?
Hofwijck is part of a complex and confusing reality. We think we known the banners and slogans of climate protest, but what happens when those images find themselves in the setting of a photogenic country estate? What do we think and feel then? How relevant is Hofwijck in this rapidly changing world?