Wouter Osterholt – Golden Tide

Wouter Osterholt is the current artist in residence at Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) in the program funded by Mondriaan Fund. He’s currently in the closing phase of this period on Curacao and will be culminating his residency with a special action in Otrobanda.

During his four months (May till August 2019) working period at IBB Osterholt conducted a research project into the explosive growth of sargasso seaweed in the Caribbean region. The end result of this research will be publicly shown from the 28th of August till the 31st of August at the Rouvilleweg on the tourist market.

Since 2011 one can see a clear growth of Sargasso seaweed in the Caribbean Sea and the gulf of Mexico. Osterholt’s research indicates that one of the important causes of this sudden bloom is the large scale deforestation in Brazil and the development of industrial cattle-rearing and farming in the Amazon area. This results in massive amounts of fertilizer ending up in the oceans via the Amazon river. The combination of these nutrients and the ever warming sea conditions form the ideal conditions for the continued growth of the sargasso seaweed.

While the seaweed forms an important habitat of life on the open ocean, when it reaches land it becomes a danger for the local flora and fauna. Once it washes ashore on the white Caribbean beaches it turns into a brown sludge. On Curacao this happens primarily on the northern part of the island. This means that the tourist beaches on the south side of the island are spared this onslaught. A blessing in disguise for Curacao, especially compared to other Caribbean island where next to the ecological damage, the sargasso also forms a clear danger to the tourist industry. Still the sargasso also means a big problem on Curacao. The ecologic damage at places like ‘Boka Ascencion’ has far reaching consequences for the fisheries and turtle population. The rotting process of the seaweed pulls oxygen from the water and spreads dangerous gasses like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia; both dangerous to man and animal. These so-called dead zones make all life impossible.

Because the sargasso on Curacao is largely out of sight it’s given relatively little attention. The ‘Golden Tide’ project tries to make the problem visible and open to discussion through a public intervention in the center of Willemstad. The action shall be in the form of a sale of souvenirs made from sargasso paper. The paintings show skeletons of fish and other water animals that died due to the beached sargasso. Some of the animals were found by Osterholt himself through his field research, while others are from research done by local nature organizations on Curacao and other Caribbean islands.

The paintings will be sold for ANG100 each. The funds collected will be donated to ‘Amazon watch’, an organization working with indigenous peoples in the Amazon areas trying to resist the deforestation. Buyers will receive a document with more information about the specific painting they bought such as the name of the species and where it was found.

DATE: 28 Aug till 31 Aug
TIME: from 09:00
PLACE: Tourist market at Rouvilleweg, Otrobanda.