The Pollination Room
Date: 1 June – 21 July, 2013
Location: In the garden of GEM and the Photography Museum, Stadhouderslaan 43, The Hague
Part of the Honing Bank (Honey Bank)
Part of the Ja Natuurlijk manifestation
Saturday, 1 June, 15:00 Hrs: Opening by Mayor Jozias van Aartsen
Friday, 21 June, 17:00–19:00 Hrs: Midsummer Drink
Sunday, 21 July, 17:00–19:00 Hrs: Finissage with live music
Over the past year, thanks to the input of a large number of Bee Savers and Bee Ambassadors, the Honey Bank has been able to support around 20 bee colonies in the city, contributing to urban pollination by bees. By bringing the honeybee into the city, the Honey Bank also raises awareness about the importance of bees, thereby bringing people and bees—city and nature—closer together.
The aim of the Honey Bank is not so much the production of honey or the collection of money. For the Honey Bank, both money and honey are forms of energy, which are transformed into life through this art project. In this way, art connects economy and ecology. The Honey Bank also proposes, in a sense, an alternative value system. Central to the project is the question of how economic value and money relate to ecological value.
With this project by French artist Olivier Darné, in collaboration with Emmanuelle Roule and Le Parti Poétique, Stroom Den Haag introduces two installations in The Hague: the Queen Bank and the Pollination Room.
The breeding of the bees takes place in the Queen Bank on Maziestraat (at the rear courtyard of Stroom). Every Sunday afternoon from 1:00 to 5:00 PM (except March 31), this "maternity ward" is open to the public. Between 2:00 and 4:00 PM, a beekeeper from the Beekeepers Association of The Hague and Surroundings is present to provide explanations and information. >> more info
The first bee colonies have already been placed in the city. Two of them, for example, are housed in beehives in the garden of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag as part of the Ja Natuurlijk! manifestation. From June 1 to July 21, 2013, this setup will be expanded with the arrival of The Pollination Room. The Pollination Room is a temporary installation, a meeting space, and an information center all in one. In this space, visitors share a room with thousands of bees flying in and out. This artwork allows for a unique experience of the bee and nature, offering the visitor a contemplative, almost meditative experience. Through this, art makes the invisible—or what is often taken for granted—visible: the miracle of pollination.