State of Wander: Contemporary Art Questions Colonial Nature at Palais Het Loo

'State of Wander: towards environmental restoration,' a group exhibition curated by Anna Bitkina and Renske Ek, is currently on display at Palais Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, until September 27. Featuring ten new pieces from international artists such as Caitlin Berrigan, Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Bryony Dunne, and others, the exhibition critiques the Eurocentric perspective of nature that is intertwined with the palace's past. Originally constructed in 1684 for Stadtholder William III of Orange and Mary Stuart, the palace was the summer residence for the Orange-Nassau dynasty until the 1970s, became a national museum in 1984, and introduced a new underground wing in 2023. The exhibition contrasts the baroque gardens, designed according to 17th-century symmetry, with the untamed surrounding forest, while addressing themes of decolonization and the relationship between humanity and nature.