Yes, everyone can contribute to the Botanical Biography. Whether you have a lot or a little drawing experience, you are welcome! This is because we are visualizing archived botanical heritage; the drawings were made in the past, and we are bringing them back to life by combining them into a monumental pen drawing. Send an email to vanweertmarian@gmail.com to participate.

A pen drawing is a drawing made with pen and ink, traditionally with a goose quill, reed pen, or metal dip pen.

The lines are sharp, requiring the artist to work with great concentration and control.

Pen drawings are loved for their clear lines and the play of contrast between light and dark.

Unlike paintings or watercolors, the image is not created from areas of color, but from lines, hatching, dots, and structures.

Pen drawing is a technique that originated in the late Middle Ages and was widely used in the Renaissance (15th–16th century).

The interplay of thin and thick lines, of light and shadow through hatching and dots, makes it possible to visualize complex stories with a single simple technique – clear, accessible, and with its own recognizable aesthetic.

In the pen drawing of the Botanical Biography, we connect the province's botanical heritage with lines: plants, places, and stories flow into one another.

Drawing together with residents creates not only a picture but also a connection between people, heritage, nature, and the province in which they live.

The original pen drawing remains in black and white. This makes the image strong and refers to the past. The biography, however, is being digitized, allowing for play with color—digitally or in print.

Yes. The biography of Utrecht and the subsequent eleven biographies are being digitized. They are being incorporated into the website, along with the underlying information.

This idea is inspired by the digital panorama of Panorama Mesdag.

A significant part of Dutch prosperity in the seventeenth century was due to plants and plant products. Spices, sugar, coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were in high demand worldwide. Because these crops did not grow in Europe, the trade in them yielded large profits.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) focused on Asia and traded, among other things, pepper, cloves, and nutmeg. The Company built trade networks and forts, and enforced monopolies in various locations. The revenues made Amsterdam an important global trading center and contributed to the flourishing of art, science, and urban development.

The Dutch West India Company (WIC) was active in West Africa and the Caribbean. It traded in products such as sugar, tobacco, and coffee, sourced from plantations that relied on the labor of enslaved people. The WIC also played a role in the transatlantic slave trade, which made the plantation economy possible.

The trade in plant products brought great economic prosperity to the Netherlands, but was accompanied by colonial domination, coercion, and exploitation. This dual legacy makes this chapter of history an important subject for reflection.

The Botanical Biography of the Netherlands focuses on the Golden Age (circa 1600–1800), the era of the VOC and the WIC. During these centuries, the Netherlands grew into a world power in trade and shipping. The VOC is often regarded as the world's first stock exchange company and made the Republic one of the wealthiest countries of its time.

That prosperity, however, had two faces. The trade in spices, sugar, coffee, and other plant products brought economic prosperity, but was accompanied by colonial domination, forced labor, and slavery. Fortunately, today there is increasing attention paid to that dark side of history.

At the same time, a 'green side' also emerged during this period: plants that arrived on the VOC ships found their way to Europe. They were studied in botanical gardens, cultivated on country estates, and eventually became part of our gardens, parks, and even cemeteries. Local plant knowledge and botanical art also flourished during this time.

The Botanical Biography reveals how the history of plants is intertwined with colonial history – and how every province bears traces of that global exchange and of the Dutch history of slavery.

The biography forms the background to lectures I give at various locations (see the agenda).

In addition, we want to exhibit the Biography in multiple locations, such as the Neude Library and on estates. Discussions regarding this are ongoing with various organizations.

In 2030, all biographies will come together in a large retrospective exhibition.