This project is a search for synergy, co-creation, and listening with the Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam. From a hydrofeminist perspective, it explores how we can exist in fluidity with our surroundings.

In Rotterdam we live very close to the Nieuwe Maas, however the river is seen as a commodity, for economic purposes, without any life nor rights. To change this relationship into one where the Nieuwe Maas is seen as a living being, who we should care for, we designed a play-kit for children to do with their care-givers. The children have the most agency in this game, since we can learn so much from them, especially in fostering relationships in a playful way!

The play-kit is made to carry to different places along the river and starts with a bed time story about the Nieuwe Maas and her guardians. Through sensory practices, listening to the water, and experimenting with alternative forms of communication, the work creates space for reciprocity between bodies of water in Rotterdam.