Wednesday 28 June 2017

Friesland calling





A couple of weeks ago I was walking these silky sands in Friesland,in the north of Holland. We took the Catamaran transportation to one of those beautiful Islands out from the Dutch coastline. This area, " The Dutch Wadden Sea Islands",including five different islands, belongs to Worldheritage. Our visit focused on Terschelling, where we took part in a yearly organized Theatre festival called "Oerol". The whole Island turns into a big art experience during this period and the groups of culture enthoustistic visitors can pop into different locations with their bikes. The Nature is so beautiful and the beaches are comforting big, feeling of freedom is dominant. Even it is a big happening, there is no feeling of oversized masses of party people. The cultural happenings are spread all over the Island, many of them in the middle of the the woods, fields or dunes. The Nature seems to have its own voice and the Theatre plays are composed in harmony with this powerful element. A big part of the Island's Nature is protected and there are no architectural monsters destroying the feeling of pure nature. The built and natural history of the island seems to be in good balance.





I was doing this first time journey in this Festival with my husband and with our two friends. We were on our bikes most of the time between drinks, theatre, concerts and meals by the sea. And because of the speed of the cycling, I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked to. I was the only photo person in our group...I had to be flexible. But I fell in love with the beauty of Terschelling and will come back to one of these Islands again and take some more time for pictures too. 





We went to see an interesting Theatre play in the dunes called "Wind still life" and I think it is still inspiring me. Before joining this performance we had to leave our telephones, cameras and other belongings behind. We listened to this theatrically spoken essay over the time and how we sense it and use it as human beings in this bigger context of natural world. It was magical, we walked over the dunes with the headphones on in silence. On the path we could find signs with numbers, we had to stop to the number symbolizing our age. So the path was marked with us, individuals with variety of ages. We heard about the relativity Theory of Einstein and other philosophies from the same period of history, also some personal sounding experiences from the actors. The time has a different meaning to different living creatures and the life span is individual for everyone. And actually how all that time is stored in your minds as memories. Recalling those visions and happenings we are still somehow there, like all time we lived is always part of us and still present. It is comforting to think, we are the time and there is not just measured time, the life is a forever continuing movement. Nothing will stay as it was, everything is changing all the time.


Street performance - dancers in action


"Zo als het is, blijft het niet" (Nothing stays as it was)The location of the "Wind still life" performance.



Reflecting ball was used to reflect visually the landscape and happenings in there via small hole in a big closed cube, where we were closed for a small period of time during the play. Visually and mentally interesting solutions :-)


The whole experience made me a bit poetic and I will continue from here with this mood, combining the pictures with my texts.





There is no one journey, instead of that many possible ones, crossed, separate and together melted paths. The unique chaos of silent dreams, the visible choices and all shaking moments - the good ones and the bad and the sad. A jungle of journeys during the given time.





Like walking in no man's land, taking off those daily shoes, leaving the weight of them behind. We can be ready for the refreshing sensations and views of the present moment. The sand is so perfect and the windy master artist shaped it so well. I don't want to break the silence of this composition. I know the wind is fast and my marks are wiped away very soon. The relief falls into my heart, I do not want to take the same steps back, I want to find new perspectives and accept the firm kiss of the wind.






The time is a modern totem for us. Impulses of the digital seconds and moving pointers of a clock, how we are used to be organized by measuring the day and dealing it into periods.. like minutes and hours and the fast passing seconds. And in the end, the best measurement of a moment is the rhytmn of our own breathing. The better we use it, the better we can enjoy the moment and use our whole capacity.


Breathing in and out






Cycling along the coast line. 


The harbor of South Terschelling



Decorative looking nets from a Fisher boat.

The Brandaris lighthouse in Terschelling - the oldest lighthouse in Netherlands (from 1323)


Breathing the freedom of Summer!! 

Wishing you wonderful moments :-) Erja