Podcast #5: The Butterfly House
Artists should not just show with their work that things are going badly with nature, but go a step further and really make a difference, says Stefan Cools in "What's That Doing Here?

In the fifth episode of our podcast, Esther Didden and co-host Rachel Bacon spoke with artist and botanist Stefan Cools and landscape designer Sandra van den Beuken of The Butterfly House about Op 't Rentelen. This is a 1.3-acre plot of farmland that they lease from the Province of Limburg. They will transform this plot into an ecological flowery grassland through participatory and educational projects.
Cools will use parts of the harvest for his works of art. Cools and Van den Beuken's plans consist of a combination of art and nature development in which knowledge about the landscape is central. They are collaborating with ecologists for this purpose, among others. Forester ecologist Stephan Huijgens of the Dutch Forestry Commission is ONEn of them, and he talks about the added value of The Butterfly House, and the difference in approach between the two of them.
Is it true that ecologists serve more of a niche and artists have their sights set on the broad horizon, as Cools and Van den Beuken claim? And which perspective weighs most heavily in their work, ecology or art?
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At www.bkinformatie.nl/podcast, in addition to listening to podcasts, you can comment on the statements we formulate for each episode. The statement accompanying the podcast with Ida van der Lee: Artists should not only show with their work that nature is doing badly, but go one step further and really make a difference.