Mike Tyler , Louwrien Wijers
New burial grounds in Spijk

The central focus of these artists’ approach was the idea of an ‘open enclosure’. A type of Hortus Conclusus, or enclosed garden that does, however, open towards the east. Since only around eight people are buried here each year, the artists conceived of the area as one that will remain empty for a long period of time. As long as the grave plots are not being used they will be filled with a mixture of annual seeds to which will be added slow-flowering bulbous plants. The consecutive flowering periods of the plants serve to visualize the progression of time and the differences in height found on the property allude to the idea of ancient sepulchral mounds. The garden was additionally furnished with a large number of full-grown trees ensuring that this burial site will, in a few years, have its own individual and fully-grown character. The botanical diversity of the property invites one to take a stroll and it is in this way that the burial grounds become not merely a place where one buries the dead but also a place in which to linger. A type of Hortus Contemplationis.

The burial grounds in Spijk are viewed by the Province of Gelderland as being an exemplary project for other future plans regarding burial grounds.