“My residence at Joya: AiR was like living on an island. A lovely arid white-clayed island surrounded by pine-covered slopes. The borders were set by the distance you could travel by foot and return to the house in a day. By doing so I had more time to get to know the area, as opposed to when you only look in passing (as I mostly do when I do my walks). Here I had more time to observe the details, the little gems, the particulars telling the story of the ground. Collecting items I found instead of photographing the landscape was a new experiment of mapping the the landscape, which makes an interesting addition to the vocabulary I use in my books.

Additionally the time to quietly get to know the surroundings gave my the opportunity to find suitable places to make some interventions in the landscape so they are more rooted and connected with the land. And by being here longer gave the greater possibility to invest far more time realising it. Which resulted in far bigger, detailed and profound work.

Beside the great hospitality there was the meeting of other artist and their practice was a great inspiration. The time spend helped me to really position my work better and gave me the incentive to continue on the path chosen. So my visit really worked out well and was a great encouragement”.

Roelant Meijer

He makes special publications of walks near and far. With photography, short texts and the form of books bring the story to life, but above all they give his walks a deeper experience, which connects to universal human dreams. His search for silence and emptiness, fascination for the horizon - and what lies beyond it - call for recognition and expose deeper values.

On the road or on location, he intervenes in the landscape (land art). Previous interventions are made at Concots-Escamps (France), Along the walk - different locations in The Netherlands

Joya: AiR / Roelant Meijer / NDL