Dear Supporters,

The exhibition at the Fotomuseum in The Hague is ending on the 14th of August.
We were very happy with the result, it looked really beautiful with the 4k projection.

This Spring Tree and Soil was also on show at the Biennalein Mannheim. From both exhibitions we have some pictures, we would like to show you.

We will keep you updated when we have some news about the project.

All the best, Robert and Antoinette

Dear Supporters,

Last week we had the opening of the exhibition in the Museum Hundertwasser/Kunsthaus Wien in Vienna. It will be on show there until February 13th 2022. It looks wonderful and we had a lovely time there. We felt very fortunate to stay in the apartment of the Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, with its beautiful rooftop garden.

A visit to the museum is highly recommended. We felt very much at home there. The perfect place for a project as Tree and Soil.

https://www.kunsthauswien.com/de/ausstellungen/antoinette-de-jong-robert-knoth/

Another exhibition will start on the 12th of March 2022 at the Foto Museum in The Hague. Soon followed by an exhibition at the Fotobiënnale Mannheim on March the 18th.

Over the last 1.5 years, we received some very good reviews, the book was nominated for the prestigious Arles Book Award 2020. It won a Gold medal at the European DesignAward 2021.

Tree and Soil was also selected for Best Photo Books of the Year 2020 by A 1000 WordsMagazine, Vogue Italy, Lens Culture and The Volkskrant. It was the book of the month by World Press Photo in June 2020

Here are several quotations of reviews of the book in various newspapers, magazines and blogs.

” The result is an in-depth book that can be experienced on an intellectual level as well as a sensory one. The book is important to me because it makes me think about how we humans are part of a larger whole—nature—in which everything is connected. For me, it reflects on how we have lost that connection and on the importance of restoring that engagement. In the pandemic, this seems of great value.”

Kim Knoppers, Affiliated Curator, Foam

"The result is an enigmatic yet radical dialogue between two distinct histories– the post-colonial and the post-nuclear, respectively – which speaks of the hubris of humankind and the value of nature, in the process ruminating on the disturbed relationship between the two."

Tim Clark, 1000 Words Magazine

” De Jong and Knoth do retain the attitude originally required of journalists: to visit the site more than once and to pursue the complicated facts behind various events over time, while consciously choosing to present the results of their activities, as art. I truly respect their choice and when I say their book is beautiful, that is because it represents the complexity of the story as it is.”

Keiko Okamura, Curator Yebisu International Festival For Art & Alternative Visions and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

" The book looks like a fairy tale—with beautiful combinations of fold-out photos in colour and black and white, scans of plants and insects, and old Japanese prints of yokai, supernatural beings with bulging eyes and claws that represent inexplicable natural phenomena -, it gives little explanation and therefore plenty of space personal musings about the disturbing relationship between mankind and the earth he inhabits.

Merel Bem, Volkskrant

"Thus, Tree and Soil becomes its own precious object, and its preciousness only serves to enhance its overall message. You'll have to go through the book many times. I suspect that each time, something else will have to be discovered."

Jörg Colberg's Consciencetious, rated 4.0/5.0

The video installation is a contemplative experience, an immersion into the nature of japan. A pause. Beautiful. Uncomfortable. The book, a poetic work of art, due to the design is, also a small journey of discovery."

Gunda Schwantje, Photonews DE

” The prize for the most beautiful book this year easily goes to Tree and Soil, it is mysterious and you shouldn't read anything about it before looking at it. The book works as a voyage of discovery to a mysterious land, a mysterious place, it stimulates your senses of sight and touch.”

Roeland Dobbelaer, the Reading Club of Everything

We hope to meet you either in The Hague or in Mannheim!
Robert and Antoinette

Dear Supporters

We hope you are all well, and in good health. It has been a long time since you heard from us, but given the situation, with Covid-19, the continuation of the project became unclear. We are therefore very happy to announce the launch of the exhibition at the Museum Kulturspeicher in Wurzburg, Germany.

If the lockdown in Germany is eased as planned on the 7th of March, Tree and Soil will be on show from March 27 to May 24. Later this year the exhibition will travel to Kunsthaus Wien/Museum Hundertwasser in Vienna from October 16th to February 20th, 2022

In the spring of 2022, the show will travel to the Biennale Mannheim from March 19th to May 22nd. At the same time, Tree and Soil can be seen at the FotoMuseum in The Hague from spring to summer 2022. The exact date is not certain yet.

The book has been very well received in the press and was nominated for last year’s Arles Photobook Award 2020.

We will keep you informed about new developments in the project. All the best for now and hope to see you all during one of the exhibitions, Robert and Antoinette.

Given the latest developments around the Coronavirus, here is a brief update on the status of our project. Until now, we have been able to continue our work, mainly from home, like many others in the Netherlands, with occasional –and careful- visits to the printer and designer. Printinghouse Rob Stolk has still been able to continue their work. This week, we have done the test printing and we are thrilled by the promising results. It looks really great and we are happy to be in such good hands with this printer.

If the situation remains as it is now, the printinghouse will likely start printing by the end of next week and in theory the book should go to the binders in the week after. They’d like to continue their work as much as possible for understandable reasons. Most of their staff works from home. Only small teams are present, taking as much precautions as possible.

Of course, it is impossible for us to predict what happens in the coming days and weeks. We hope for your understanding. At worst there will only be a delay until things have normalized.

We wish you all the best in these disturbing times and especially: stay healthy.

Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong

Dear Donors, supporters and friends of ourproject,

It has been quit for a while because we have been very busy with the final details of the lay-out. In the coming weeks we will do some test printing and binding, after that we will start printing the book. At the beginning of May we will start shipping the book and prints to you all.

We have added some impressions of the front–and back-cover of the book. It will work as a dust jacket, wrapped around the book, printed on both sides with beautiful landscapes and images of the Siebold Collection.

We hope you will like the idea!

If you would like to know more, please let us know, when the printing has started we will let you know.

All the best for now, Robert and Antoinette

Yess!! We hebben ons eerste doel bereikt. Dankjewel lieve mensen! In de laatste tien dagen is het ineens heel snel gegaan. Het is voor ons een hele intensieve periode geweest waarin we heel blij verrast zijn door alle aardige berichten, de ondersteuningen het vertrouwen dat mensen in ons stellen. We gaan door met de campagne. De kosten voor het drukken zijn nog niet helemaal afgedekt en we willen graag een extra drukgang zwart toevoegen, waardoor de foto’s veel dieper van kleur worden.Onze campagne loopt nog tot het einde van het jaar. Alsjeblieft, zegt het voort!

We hebben een speciale aanbieding om ons bereikte doel te vieren: drie kleine prints (16x16cm) van weergaloze Japanse bloesembomen en een gesigneerd boek voor 175 euro of de drie prints zonder boek voor 140 euro

Nogmaals heel hartelijk dank!

ENGLISH

Yess!!! We have made it. Thank you so very much! Over the past ten days it went incredibly fast. It has been a very intense but happy time for us. We have received lots of kind messages, support, and signs of trust and appreciation for our work from so many people. We really appreciate this.

We will continue to raise funds, because we haven’t yet covered all our printing costs. Also, we would also like to add another extra black print-run for deeper colours. It is going to look beautiful! The campaign still runs until the end of the year. Please, spread the word!

To celebrate reaching our first goal we have a special offer: Three small prints (16x16cm) of irresistible Japanese trees blossoming and a signed copy book for 175 euro or the prints without the book for 140 euro

Again, thank you so much for all your support!

Hoera! We hebben heel goed nieuws: afgelopen weekend hebben we door al jullie donaties de 75 % aangetikt van ons streefbedrag. Dankjewel!

Hieronder vast een sneakpreview/hearing van onze tentoonstelling met een opname die Antoinette maakte van de Japans nachtegaal, die eigenlijk helemaal geen nachtegaal is, maar officieel de Japanse struikzanger heet. Zijn zang is zo hypnotiserend en mooi dat hij de bijnaam Japanse nachtegaal kreeg. Dit vogeltje is de echte ster van ons project!

Dank voor alle steun en lieve berichten. We houden jullie op de hoogte en alsjeblieft, deel ons project. Op naar de 100 %!

ENGLISH

Hurrah! We have some very good news: thanks to your donations we have already reached 75 % of our target.

Many of you are eager to hear the recording Antoinette made. The Japanese bushwarbler, the uguis, is also known as the Japanese nightingale, for his gorgeous song. This little secretive bird is the real star of our project Tree and Soil. So here is a sample of the soundscape we have made for the exhibition.

Again, thank you so much for your support. We will keep you updated about new developments. Please, share our project so we can reach 100 %

Thank you so much for your support! We are overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response and kind messages we received from you, an unexpected bonus of our crowdfunding. After two weeks we have already secured 65 % of our target, truly fantastic! If you can, please share our project with your networks. We have noticed this really helps and we are not there yet: we still need to cover 35 % .

We met Shinto priest Hiroshi Tada in Itaate who had stayed on and was still living in his temple, even though the grounds were contaminated. Men in white suits came to cut down the trees, remove bushes and shrubs and brush down the tree bark.

Hiroshi Tada told us in Shinto religion people pray to the wind, the water and air, the elements of nature that exceed human power. In his shrine, he said, God is tree and water. “It is a mountainous area and trees are important for the storage of water”, he explained. “Leaves are falling, old trees die and turn into soil. From this soil the seed becomes a new tree, time after time. The forest is a source of renewal, that is why people pray for them”. Tree and soil are captured in the Japanese ‘mori’, he explained. This is how we came to our book title.