Each year, the forest rangers on Terschelling draw a line. One part of the island is meant for agriculture, art&culture – culture in all its spectral forms. The other belongs to nature. If you’d compare maps from past to present, you’d see the line dance and twist on it. At times curly, then soft and flowing, sometimes straight. Why all this shifting and resettling of a line?
The sand lizard. The natterjack toad with its mouse-like scurry. The pine orchid. These creatures migrate across the island. Our gigantic feet must stay away from all this life, tender to the crush. Therefore: the line. (If the sand lizard were Godzilla-sized, we too would appreciate him for staying behind the line. Notably during mating season, which coincides to the dot with the dates of Oerol festival. During this period in time, the sand lizard isn’t known for its nuance. Greedy, pushy—outright aggressive.) From June 14–21, at Oerol, Cie. Tumbleweed brings Terschellings twisting line to life. Out of the map, into the landscape. At sunrise, the dancers cross the island, east to west. At six locations, they activate the so called ‘raaklijn’. These six locations are named after the so gently but firmly protected animals or plants