An invisible line runs across the island of Terschelling, it is invisible to the daily eye. It can be seen on maps that concern nature, the protection of nature. First there was the island, is what those maps tell us. The island came first. It is the foundation of all. It carries the fields and bike paths. It carries the festival that is celebrated annually.
To keep the island resilient, some areas have been made off-limits to people. This is shown by the line. On its one side, there is no room for voices, scooters, photos, or human scent. On the other, there is plenty of it.
“See it as a line in the sand: a boundary not meant to separate two parts from each other, not to divide, but to forever intertwine both sides.” is a line that Rita Hoofwijk read in a work by Karen Barad. Now Rita seeks that line of intertwining. In her work titled Raaklijn (Threshold), she joins the Oerol Festival for four years. Each year, the work takes on a new form.
In the 2024 edition, Rita made the line visible with the help of the audience. She asked people to stop at various points, momentarily embodying points of it. Starting in 2025, Rita will invite a new artist each year to approach and shape the principle of the tangential line. This year, the inviattion goes to compagnie Tumbleweed: two choreographers based in Brussels and Zurich.