A Voice for the Eel

In and around Amsterdam the Embassy of the North Sea will be investigating new forms of cohabitation with the eel and its environment with a team that includes landscape architect Thijs de Zeeuw, marine biologist Maarten Erich, artist Sheng-Wen Lo and environmental sociologist Darko Lagunas.

In particular, the research team of A Voice for the Eel will be focusing on the interaction between eels, politics, infrastructure and other factors that influence life underwater. The aim is to gain a greater insight into the perceived world of the eel, from a range of different artistic and scientific perspectives, that will be followed up by practical designs and policy proposals aimed at improving the representation of this animal in Amsterdam.

“If people believe that an eel should be allowed to simply be an eel, then at the very least, to a certain extent, we must allow it to remain something of a mystery.”

Patrick Svensson, De lange weg naar huis

About EELS

Much about the life of the eel remains a mystery. We do know that eel reproduce at great depth, in seawater, but no human has ever seen how it actually happens. We know that adult eels migrate from freshwater to the sea, before swimming around 6,000 km to their spawning ground in the Sargasso Sea, and that eels are found all across the Netherlands. We also know that population numbers have fallen alarmingly since the nineteen eighties. The inland migration of elver has now fallen to less than 1% of its original level. Overfishing, migration barriers and climate change have been identified as the main causes of this fall in numbers. International eel smuggling is another major problem. Read more..

Thijs de Zeeuw

landscape architect

Maarten Erich

aquatic ecologist

Sheng-Wen Lo

artist

Darko Lagunas

sociologist and action researcher

An eel park for Amsterdam

Landscape architect Thijs de Zeeuw designed an Eel Park for the water behind ARCAM in the Oosterdok Amsterdam. A meeting place for humans and marine life. Read more here….

Anguilla Anguilla

Environmental sociologist Darko Lagunas wondered what human beings can learn from eels. Commissioned by the Embassy of the North Sea, he sought out people with a special, embodied relationship with the eel. As part of his ethnographic research, he created a series of short, filmed portraits in which ‘eel interpreters’ attempt to answer this question.

The videos were presented in the OBA Oosterdok Amsterdam, 1 – 31 October 2022, framed by a mural painting by artist Dewy Elsinga / BUTTERFINGAZ, inspired by the four metamorphoses of the eel. Watch the video’s here.

Introduction video A Voice for the Eel by landscape architect Thijs de Zeeuw

In 2020, Team A Voice for the Eel took various dives to encounter the eel and her community. This resulted in a beautiful video of Amsterdams underwater world. Have a look here!

F/EEL was an interactive spatial installation by Sheng-Wen Lo and Yi-Fei Chen commissioned by the Embassy of the North Sea. In the Shooting range at the Marineterrein Amsterdam/ Living Art Lab, the public could experience what it’s like to be an eel in a world not designed for non-humans during the manifestation Welcome to the Parliament of Things, 20 November – 6 December 2020. Read more here..

F/EEL security cam

Where Do Eels Come From?

There is much to be learned from how little we know about them. Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker, May 18, 2020

Click here for a map of fish passages in and around Amsterdam.

Eel release by DUPAN Foundation

Want to learn more about the eel? Dive into the library here.

A Voice for the Eel is supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie & Bankgiro Loterijfonds.

Partners and advisors: ARCAM | architectuurcentrum, Waternet & Ravon