At the far end of the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden grows an inconspicuous hedge of almond trees. It would be impossible to know that there was something special about it, if it wasn’t for a small sign standing next to the path that runs along it. It tells us that this hedge was planted by Johan Antoniszoon (Jan) van Riebeeck, a commander of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch).

Van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, Holland on the 21st april 1619. He started working for the VOC in 1636. At that time the VOC was the largest trading company in the world. Its main purpose was to carry out and maintain colonial activities in Asia. Van Riebeeck worked in different countries. He was assigned to outposts in Batavia, Japan and eventually Vietnam, where he was promoted head of the VOC trade post. Jan van Riebeeck married Maria de la Quellerie (a vicars daughter) in 1646, with whom he had eight children. Most of them died at a very young age. He eventually got called back from his position in Vietnam, because he was accused of private trading. Read the rest of this entry »

Our attempt to make our own bonsai has reached a new stage. We have pruned our willow for the first time. It was necessary because the tree started to grow to much branches all over, and we have to anticipate on it’s future shape. Additional benefit is that our willow can cope with the enduring drought a bit better.

Another video of us setting up our mobile studio. This time at different locations in South Africa.

On a rainy april morning in Pretoria, we drive our purple rental car to the other end of the city to meet Charles Ceronio. In a quiet suburban neighborhood, we enter a gate, park next to Charles his bakkie (4wd) and are welcomed by the curious bull terrier Doozy. Charles’ wife Elsie has prepared a very tasty breakfast with eggs, boerewors (sausage), toast and amarula jam. After prayer, we eat and talk with a view on their lush garden where we catch a glimpse of Charles potted trees. When our stomachs are filled, Charles gives us a tour and explains how he started doing bonsai as one of the first people in South Africa.

Read the rest of this entry »

Exactly one day after we left for South Africa, our CUTTING went offline due to some technical problems. So we couldn’t post any updates on it’s progress. And it’s growing! We figure that we soon have to start cutting off some of the new branches.
To be continued…

A few days ago we returned from South Africa after 23 days of work. So now it’s time to scan and review all the material we made. Amongst other things we made a trip to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela kept a vegetable garden during his imprisonment. We also got to see an amazingly 6000 year old Baobab…

We have left for South Africa. We’ll be there until the 20th of May making a lot of new work. When possible we will post an update once in a while. Bye!

Our CUTTING is doing pretty well as it seems. It is growing small branches and leaves all over. So we sent our biologist Bas a picture of its progress. But instead of giving us our -expected- compliments, he made a different analysis. Looking at the color of the leaves and the thickness of the branches he concluded that our studio is to warm and dark. His advice: take it outside. Luckily our studio has a small balcony, and it provides enough sunshine and fresh air. To be continued.

Since we started our project, we’ve been frequently asked if we also started growing our own bonsai. At first we thought to limit ourselves to photographing them. But you got us thinking.

The first thing we had to do in our attempt to make a bonsai was to choose a type of tree. In honour of the bonsai philosophy we chose for a Dutch native species: Salicaceae, or Willow. It could actually be a Salix Alba or a Salix Viminalis. We will be able to determine it when it grows leaves. The ‘Pollard Willow’, which is made from Salicaceae, gets its distinctive shape through cutting off new branches at a height of about 2 metres, every other year. It has been around for ages and is considered as typical for the Dutch landscape. They like to have wet feet.

So we set out into the Langbroekerwetering area with biologist Bas Sprengers. Bas talked about the significance of this tree for the Dutch landscape. Not just in shape but also in function: the cut-off branches where used to make the first dike enhancements to protect our country from the surrounding water. And these willows form fertile grounds in their trunks for other types of plants to grow, increasing biodiversity by just standing there.

Jacob van Ruysdeal - Pollard Willow near lake, 1648	Pollard Willow, 2010

Because we want you to be able to see how we are taking care of the cutting (Dutch Translation: stek), we’ve put up a webcam in our studio. On our CUTTING page you can follow our progress. We’ll start by uploading a new picture every week. Stay tuned!

A few days ago we received an email from the organization of the DUTCH DOC AWARD, to congratulate us with a nomination in the category Best Documentary Experiment 2009!

30 ‘Gatekeepers’ (photography professionals) where asked to send in their favorites, and now it’s up to a jury to select The Bonsai Project for the short-list (at least we hope so..).

The winners will be presented on 2nd of June in Utrecht.