Much of it still resembled the landscape he had roamed through for days as a scout, but some parts of the forest had changed beyond recognition. Large areas had been clear-cut, while further along, trees felled by storms lay rotting, untouched. It was clear that nature here was being developed and shaped by humans.

In the spring of 2022, the area found itself at the epicentre of the nitrogen crisis. Farmers were under pressure, and Wildschut realised that the landscape he loved cycling through had turned into a political arena, where the battle between agricultural entrepreneurship, nature management, and climate legislation was raging.

During his bike rides, he began to photograph casually and struck up conversations with walkers, shepherds, and farmers. Conversations flowed more easily when he mentioned he had grown up in the area.

A project began to take shape: documenting the inevitable changes that the area and its residents would undergo. Wildschut was particularly curious about the different ways people, each from their personal backgrounds and rootedness, approached these changes. And in the back of his mind was always that one question: ‘Whose landscape is this, really?’

With a sober and contemplative eye, Wildschut, as artist in residence for Rabobank, photographed and filmed the forest, the farmers, the scientists, the motocross, the annual tractor pull, and the day-trippers for nearly two years. Everyone had their own story, and all voices were included in the project.

He focused his camera on the heath, the sheep, the church, the barns, the calves with their white eyelashes and soft snouts, and finally on the oak tree, which has been recording the ever-changing landscape in its rings for nearly a thousand years. For it too has something to say, even if it speaks in a language incomprehensible to humans.

The exhibition Territorium is currently on view in Rabo@Depot in Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam (opening hours; Thu – Sat 11.00 – 17.00 hrs). The book can be ordered via: Territorium- HENK WILDSCHUT.