pier pressure

(2022)

pier pressure explores intersections between biodiversity, economy and cultural heritage in the Rotterdam Port, challenging the ideas of the future of the port area.

Three shanty singers sing about how the Rotterdam port was, is and always will be the same – something we've come to understand not to be the case in the light of the current climate emergency.

Next to the singers a Shell barrel hangs from the ceiling. A symbol of endless economic growth, overgrown by a small species, the Ficopomatus Engimaticus- A marine worm being able to form big reefs of up to four meters wide. The marine worm, originally native to the Southern hemisphere, made it to the Netherlands as a result of the warming oceans; in turn a result of the way we have structured economies, the port, and have become reliant on fossil fuels.

Just like the choir’s intangible heritage which is slowly disappearing, so is the idea of never ending economic growth. So what would a future port area look like?

Video on the process.