De Verdronken Dorpen (the Drowned Villages)

Installation Artwork + Artist Publication
'De Verdronken Dorpen' (The Drowned Villages) at Kunstschouw theme 'Water', 2022

‘De Verdronken Dorpen’ tells the story of the many drowned villages of the island Schouwen-Duiveland. Schouwen-Duiveland knows more drowned villages than remained villages. Few water authorities were so heavily affected by disasters, storms, dike slides and other accidents as water authority of Schouwen. In total a quarter of the island was taken by the sea. The total loss counts over three-thousand hectares. Where the land used to be cultivated, deep depths are located nowadays. The landscape is sculpted by the power of the sea. Artist Gwen van den Bout is dedicated to unite stories of history, folktales, myths and the eternal interaction between human and natural forces in her artworks.

Gwen van den Bout investigates these drowned villages and literally dives into the depths. Between 1300 and 1700 the southland, a four kilometer wide polder strip on the South side of Schouwen with seven church villages and some hamlets, disappeared entirely. One of the disappeared villages is Koudekerke. The church tower ‘Plompe Toren’ remained as a seamark for shipping. The massive land loss on the South, shaped the land in the form of a crescent.Throughout history the intangible heritage of myths are deeply intertwined with the history of floods. The artwork refers to folktales of mermaids announcing the loss and doom of towns and villages. Sea creatures that announcing the end of villages, were a common story on the island.

The artwork ‘De Verdronken Dorpen’ (2020–2022) shows a video accompanied be a soundscape and a glass sculpture. The video is a result of an aerial and aquatic investigation of the drowned villages. This creates a poetic translation of the history of the landscape. The soundscape contains the anthem of Schouwen, in which the continuous struggle with water is emphasised. In the glass sculpture, not only sand from the island is incorporated, but the object also immortalises seawater. When you look closely in the glass object, phantoms of a mermaid and a merman are visible.

Collaborators

Rene van der Laan: Video footage, Robert Hughan: Video footage, Dorine van Dijk: Harp edit, Eveline de Jonge: Voice

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'De Verdronken Dorpen', still of video depicting Plump tower marking lost land, accompanied by glass sculpture containing sea water.
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Coat of arms of water authority Schouwen picturing the aquatic couple - Diving - Artist Publication
© Studio Gwen van den Bout 2025