At the end of the 1990’s the discussion about the location of a new National Airport is at its peak. In its planning, the Province of Flevoland already takes into consideration a new polder in Lake Marken, mainly meant forair traffic em to supporters of Eurowood. For this purpose the artists visit the Maharishi
in Vlodrop and evaluate the exhibition Future Parks from the Rietveld Art Academy. They also give some explanationabout the floating islands of the artist Robert Jasper Grootveld. National TV stations take up topics from thislocal television series or create new commentaries about Eurowood. With their future image of a better world inLake Marken Ben Waalwijk and Rob Schrama hold a mirror of today’s reality before the Dutch. With the map of Eurowoodwithin reach and with a camera crew following them, children and their parents come into motion and administratorsand inactive activist are awakened.
Rob Schrama and Ben Waalwijk fill up bags of sand with kids and the mayor of the city of Lelystad against the construction of a slip island in Lake Marken, in 1999. With a ship full of sacks they sail to the scene of disaster and fill up the planned garbage well in the future water area from Eurowood. With success anyway, a day after the broadcasting of this action on SBS6, the provincial government of North-Holland votes against the construction.
Artist still strive after Eurowood. Filling bags with sand for an ideal
LELYSTAD, -The artists Rob Schrama and Ben Waalwijk still dream of their ideal from 1996, building the natural park Eurowood in Lake Marken.
On Saturday during the Art manifestation, with a map in their hands they pointed out to the audience the forty square kilometres Landscape Park in the form of Europe, which has to come west from the dike at Lelystad – Enkhuizen. “Flevoland is beautiful, but it might be made complete with a fourth raised region on which one could develop an area, completely based on spirituality and ecology.” However, Schrama, Waalwijk and sympathizers were in Lelystad to sound the alarm-bell for Eurowood. “The future is threatened by plans to construct a silt deposit in Lake Marken”. And thus they enabled the visitors to fill bags with sand from the Amsterdam (artists) village Ruigoord.
At that time donated by Joop den Uyl to build a harbour over there. With this sand we want to symbolize the virtual hole of the silt deposit.”
With a ship the bags were thrown in Lake Marken in the afternoon.
Mayor Leeuwe of Lelystad is also asked to fill a bag of sand against the silt deposit and in favour of Eurowood.” He took the scoop with some reservation: “I venture no opinion on your project that would be politically inaccurate. The future of the region is going to be determined later. But merely from my sympathy for the artists of Ruigoord I participate”
Whether Eurowood is realistic? “It as realistic as you believe in it yourself,” says Waalwijk.
(Dagblad Flevoland 30th of August 1999 (Daily Newspaper Flevoland)
