RADIUS is a center for contemporary art and ecology. The center will open in January 2022 in the pump house and water basin belonging to the Delft water tower, a historical monument and architectural landmark. With five hundred square meters of subterranean exhibition space, our program is dedicated to the intersection of art and science, with an emphasis on climate, ecology and the living environment.
Art and Climate
For many people, climate and climate change are abstract concepts, subjects that many people feel desperate and powerless about. RADIUS wants to involve the public in an accessible manner and, on the basis of visual art, aid them on their way by making the complex, often abstract topics surrounding the climate negotiable and tangible. For this we want to bring together and present the work of artists and scientists to show that positive collective change is both necessary and possible. We consider the current pandemic as a warning signal for the way in which humans deal with nature and natural resources and we believe it is more important than ever to make the need for systemic change transparent to a wide audience.
Art Center in Development
RADIUS is an art center in the making. We started taking the first steps in realizing the art center in November 2020. Where the first half of 2021 was mainly focused on writing the upcoming annual program, forming a base team and creating visibility, the second half of 2021 will be largely dedicated to generating financial resources.
RADIUS is the first Dutch art institution with an ongoing program focussed on climate, nature and ecology. We currently find ourselves in a promising, adventurous but equally vulnerable and precarious position. We have a space that we can permanently program, an unprecedented time investment by those involved from the very beginning, and ambitious plans. The missing part is a solid financial foundation to lead the renovation and realize the program. This year the pump house and our future underground exhibition spaces will be renovated—following a design by DP6 architecture studio—but this will not possible without your support! We want to join forces at Voordekunst to ensure that we can ground an art center that seems more important than ever, especially in these uncertain times.
Underland
Our first program connects seamlessly with the subterranean exhibition spaces of RADIUS. Under the title Underland—after the eponymous book by Robert MacFarlane—we will present four group exhibitions with more than fifty participating artists, an education and public program from January 2022 onward. We describe Underland as a “journey through deep time”, where the four exhibitions tell the story of the world beneath our feet, traveling past water sources and caves, composite soil layers, mines and drilling sites for the excavation of minerals and fossils, fungal and root networks, and storage and shelters that provide shelter and protection in the increasingly unstable living environment.
Community
We are developing the Underland program mainly as a reason for a broad and inclusive public conversation. For people who no longer want to sit back and watch, and, just like us, desire a place where we can jointly think about solutions to the climate crises. We want to respond to the demand of an audience with different attitudes: from people who need a first acquaintance or who want to be confirmed in their vision, to people who need new points of view or who want to develop a more profound contact in exchange with others.
With Delft as our home base—a city with a rich history that has managed to connect art and science over the years—we are convinced that RADIUS can become a valuable addition to the Delft community. RADIUS wants to create a connection between art, science and the public. Your support is fundamental in this; people who believe in our vision and gain strength from a better future for all of us!
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