The Pigeon Dialogues is a project by Nikki Gonnissen (Thonik), Maurice Boyer and Studio Corvers. For the installation, she addresses the strong separation between city and countryside, aiming to build a bridge that brings together the many different perspectives. Inspired by pigeon post and the historic pigeon lofts you still occasionally come across in the countryside, the design creates a safe space to exchange ideas and facilitate discussion.
The Pigeon Dialogues is meant to be the start of an important conversation. Living in a society below sea level that’s facing climate change, the nitrogen crisis, and increased polarisation, the future of the Dutch countryside concerns all of us.
The Pigeon Dialogues – Wiede Wold Festival
First on show as a part of the design festival Wiede Wold, in Echten, in the province of Drenthe, the installation has been designed to look like a pigeon loft – a metaphor for slow, nuanced communication. Carrier pigeons can find their way home over hundreds of kilometers and only carry one message at a time. The current social polarisation is partly fuelled by the speed of social media, where context is lacking and information not consciously considered. As a result, people talk past each other, and there is no room for dialogue. Only if we choose to take longer and actively think and listen to each other, can we arrive at a meaningful conversation. What is really needed to achieve a sustainable future for future generations?
The design of the installation is based on the construction of the pigeon loft in the village of Echten, in which the wood joints have been carefully studied and reinterpreted. From the loft’s 48 holes, where pigeons fly in and out, come as many messages for the future. These messages were gathered from conversations with a diverse group of Wolden people, including intensive animal farmers, biodynamic farmers, nature and landscape preservationists, landowners, administrators and even the last pigeon fancier in Drenthe.
Inside the pigeon loft are portraits of the farmers and Woldenaars with whom Nikki engaged in conversation with, captured by photographer Maurice Boyer.
Visitors are invited to leave their own message for the future by writing it on colourful ribbons and tying it to the installation. The Pigeon Dialogues thus becomes a temple where many opinions come together.
Wiede Wold Festival
The Pigeon Dialogues was part of Wiede Wold Festival in 2024. Under the theme ‘the future of the countryside’, designers Arne Hendriks, Antoine Peters, Foodcurators, Liselore Frowijn, Nienke Hoogvliet & Tim Jongerius, Nikki Gonnissen & Studio Corvers, and Vera Vos & Julia Roozenbeek explore what the future of rural Netherlands looks like. The design programme is curated by Jorn Konijn and Lisa Hardon.
A round table discussion with farmers, designers, policymakers and nature organisations took place on 11 May. This is how we started the conversation about the future of the Netherlands with different voices.
De Pigeon Dialogues at DDW 2024
The Pigeon Dialogues reached the city in October during the Dutch Design Week 2024. The eight meter tall pigeon loft was rebuilt on Strijp S, in the middle of the festival grounds and opened on the first day of the festival.
The change of scenery was important to realise the initial purpose of the installation: if the Pigeon Dialogues is to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas, it needs to be present in both the city and the countryside. In both places, people have to be able to share their thoughts in order for them to find each other.
Like in Echten, DDW visitors could leave their messages, hopes and dreams for the future of the Dutch countryside on coloured ribbons, which they could attach to the installation.
Over 500 people actually did so. Reading their messages and comparing them to the messages left on the countryside, one could only conclude: city or countryside, our dreams of the future are more alike than we think.
The Pigeon Dialogues in a podcast
Want to know more? The story and background of Wiede Wold are explained in depth in a podcast made by Dide Vonk, called ‘Wij zijn kunstenaar’. In every episode, she delves into ways in which art can make a difference, and in episode 2 of season 3, she, Nikki, Siart Smit and Nick van den Pol (farmer) explain how hard it can be to balance climate goals, biodiversity and the everyday reality of farming. Listen to it here.
Collaborations
Studio Corvers
Maurice Boyer – Portraits and Installation photos Wiede Wold
Esther Hardon – Installation photos Wiede Wold
Thijs de Lange – Installation photos DDW
