Hidden among the houses of a village near Venlo lay a forgotten greenhouse complex: overgrown, undocumented, and without a clear owner. Yet everyone was co-owner in a sense, as the houses formed an unintended ring around it. Inside, trees and plants grew into an almost mythical landscape—wild, pristine, untouched. A rarity in the Netherlands, where all nature is planned.

To Have and to Hold (2012) explored this abandoned area as a living archive. I filmed my journeys through the impassable greenery, spoke with local residents, and conducted archaeological research within the greenhouse. This revealed three human traces: those of the original grower, a downed pilot from World War II, and a homeless man who inhabited the space. I incorporated their perspectives into letters which I delivered to local residents.

To make the site visible without disturbing it, I also organized a walk around the grounds. We did not enter the site, instead, through binoculars, the participants peered inside, guided by an ecologist and a historian. What began as a viewing exercise became a collective rediscovery.

The letters, film, and documentation from the walk now form the work "To Have and to Hold": an ode to the landscape as a bearer of stories—and to the ability to hold onto something without appropriating it.

“You changed this site without touching it” - local resident who participated in the walk

“To Have and to Hold is a wonderful example of how a forgotten place can transform into a space of collective memory, engagement, and revaluation. You work with what exists—physical remains, stories, growth—and invite people to see anew without possessing, to remember without reconstructing”. - curator Saskia van de Wiel of Museum Van Bommel Van Dam