The soil is salinising! Not only by ancient irrigation methods, but equally by floods from the sea and seawater rising through the subsoil. Especially in agriculture, people are concerned about this ever-increasing evolution, with all kinds of techniques being developed to combat encroaching salinisation. In full climate crisis, the time seems ripe to re-examine this relationship between salt and fresh water.

For Veldwerk, artist duo Daems van Remoortere and design collective Fallow are therefore investigating a crucial link in our relationship with this changing landscape: saline agriculture. But what exactly does this entail? Which crops can and cannot be grown? What are the possibilities for the future? They frame this research on salt-loving plants in a broader context fuelled by interviews with farmers, residents and botanists.

Location: Saline landscapes, BE | Program: Design research | Year: 2022 | Client: Kunstenplatform Plan B | Status: Delivered | Task: Research process | Collaboration: Fallow + Daems Van Remoortere | Landscape: Fallow | People: Carmen Van Maercke, Michaël Stas, Matthias Salaets