Siebold's Dreams
View of the exhibition. Museum De Schat van Simpelveld, Simpelveld, The Netherlands
Fragment of the exhibition. Museum De Schat van Simpelveld, Simpelveld, The Netherlands
Fragment of the exhibition. Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands
Fragment of the exhibition. Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands
The encouragement of the wide world
In 1821, Von Siebold regularly woke up with the fear that his house in Würzburg would be flooded. Ultimately, the source of the leak came to him in the form of an archetype, easily recognized as an impatient Mother Nature. Her steady infusions and encouragement also reveal the other side of the castle in which the dreamer had entrenched himself for too long: the ship with which he had to explore the world.
In the footsteps of Willem Ten Rhijne
Von Siebold was keen to learn about the art of acupuncture, as described by his predecessor Willem Ten Rhijne, a botanist in the service of the VOC. Due to the presence of the Dutch on Dejima, Western medicine made its appearance in Japan. As Von Siebold was afraid of needles, he asked his practitioners to use a practice doll. This doll kept on appearing in his dreams, floating above the Western science from which it had been so haughtily banished.
The shadow wolf
This dream outlines the dilemma of the shadow wolf. The wolf mother cautiously watches over the sleeping child, keeping it safe while it is small, but in order to grow, the child will have to wriggle itself out of her clutches.
Just like the mother protects her child, umbrellas can be effective in protecting plants and humans from the bad influences of the sun, but too much shade will hinder their growth and health. If the shadow wolf appears in your dreams, it is a warning that you have become too dependent on someone else, and you need to take your talents public.
View of the exhibition. Museum De Schat van Simpelveld, Simpelveld, The Netherlands
View of the exhibition. Museum De Schat van Simpelveld, Simpelveld, The Netherlands
Fragment of the exhibition. Museum De Schat van Simpelveld, Simpelveld, The Netherlands
View of the exhibition. Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands
The ship and the doctors
In this dream, doctors and botanists were bending over the ship on which their colleague went to Japan. They can't figure out the route he decided to take, but secretly admire his adventure; a desire sublimated in the lush crops on their crowns. It means that a person is never too old to continue to strive for what seems beyond his or her capabilities.
The Igarashi sisters on Mount Fujiyama
Until 1872, it was forbidden for women to climb Fuji volcano, but in 1832 twin sis- ters Natsuo and Raicho Igarashi secretly tried anyway. Only one of them survived the climb, but on her return she decided not to reveal her name, out of respect for the sister she had to leave behind. ‘Whether you call me Natsuo or Raicho is of no matter to me,’ she said, ‘because as we once saw the light of day at the same time, we watched the sun rise together on Fuji.’ A dream of the Igarashi sisters emphasises the importance of cooperation over solitary exercises of ego.
The botanical lesson of the tulip
A pedantic laboratory rabbit recites phrases from world literature, while a team of naturopaths dissects a flower on the operating table. What these dream images indicate should be clear: you are making things much too difficult for yourself. Too much reading too much clouds your vision, while digging too deep destroys the roots of knowledge you already possessed naturally.
View of the exhibition. Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands
In the first year of our life in Maastricht, during the city walk, our attention was pulled to a particular plant. It was the early spring, and while most of the trees and shrubs were still leafless, this one was showing off large white flowers. Later we found out that this shrub was one of the many plants which the researcher Philipp von Siebold brought from Japan to the Netherlands.
In the 18th century, this German doctor in the service of the Dutch government opened Japan to the Netherlands. Arriving on a merchant ship in Japan, Siebold passionately started collecting everything that passed his eyes and sending it to the Netherlands: household items and traditional clothing, stuffed animals and geographical maps of Japan, models of Japanese houses and prints by Japanese artists, but most of all, he would send plants. Plants and more plants. Von Siebold brought more than 750 kinds of Japanese plants to the Netherlands, including the first living tea plant. He was a staunch supporter of rapprochement between peoples and cultures and continued to prove the necessity of this upon his return to the Netherlands.Which in the 18th century, wasn’t that natural for everyone.
Philosophizing about von Siebold's biography, we came up with the idea of a new art project. We saw some similarity between our own experiences and von Siebold's life story: just like us, he started a new life in The Netherlands, he wanted to be useful to this country and he he found applications for his qualities here. And his fascination for, in today's language, 'invasive plants' helps to look at politically charged topics from a different perspective.
Based on their characteristics, many of the invasive plant species pose a threat to native European plants and are illegal across the EU to grow, trade or transport. We saw a parallel between the fate of these plant species and the fate of lot of our neighbors struggling to find common ground with Europe. With our project Siebold Dreams we want to contribute to the discussion whether the restrictive measures contribute to a more inclusive society.
In cooperation with the Textile Museum in Tilburg in the Netherlands, we have made several wall hangings depicting the dreams of Philipp von Siebold. Ultimately, Siebold Dreams found its embodiment in a spatial installation. In this installation, the tapestries depicting Siebold's dreams are integrated with the texts that interpret these dreams. At our invitation, these texts were written by the well-known Dutch writer Marente de Moor. According to our plan, the combination of images with texts interpreting them should create the necessary tension in the perception of the viewer.
This project will be shown simultaneously at three locations in the Netherlands: museum De Schat van Simpelveld (Simpelveld), museum De Lakenhal (Leiden) and Japanmuseum/Sieboldhuis (Leiden).