Pretend There Is Water (2026)
What was once a Dutch island, surrounded by water, Schokland now rests within a polder. In this reclaimed landscape, young performers bring to life a fictional story, yet the threat they portray is anything but imaginary.
What does it truly mean to see and to adapt in the context of climate change?
Photographer Bebe Blanco Agterberg presents a new body of work examining the Netherlands’ historical relationship with water and the stories built around it. Rooted in the country’s rich visual culture, the project explores how narratives of struggle, control, and conquest continue to shape how we see land, water, and ourselves.
A timely artistic response to climate change, the work reflects on the Netherlands’ evolving relationship with water. How do long-standing cultural narratives influence our capacity to respond to a changing climate?
By revisiting this landscape and its histories, the actors bring to life water stories told for centuries, from the Dutch Lion battling the Water Wolf to local legends of flood and reclamation. At the same time, the performances pose an urgent question: what happens if we can no longer live alongside water? Who are we without the waters that have shaped our identity since the Netherlands’ very origins?
Blanco Agterberg draws inspiration from the work of Dutch photographer Cas Oorthuys, whose images explored water in multiple ways. Particularly influential were Oorthuys’ contact sheets, which informed Agterberg’s approach: it is not a single image that matters, but the act, the movement, and the story that the images set in motion.
Agterberg’s work invites viewers to pause, reconsider, and reflect on the images and narratives that continue to shape climate policy, collective memory, and a sense of belonging.
