Wednesday 11 June at 5pm the Plantagebuurt will embrace the Reseda mask bee! The special bee totem will be revealed, making the Plantage a good place for this wild bee.
In a city where even the pavement tiles whisper stories, a rare city dweller will get a face, and a totem, on Wednesday 11 June. At 5 p.m. on the Plantage Westermanplantsoen, opposite the Groote Museum of ARTIS, the third Amsterdam BeeTotem will be unveiled. This totem is dedicated to the reseda mask bee (Hylaeus signatus); a bee so small that it is easy to overlook, until you know where to look.
Unveiling of the bee totem
The official unveiling will be done by Carlien Blok, director of the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam. The Hortus is a partner and ambassador of this project, with which it shows how institutions can play an active role in the public space in this day and age – as an inspiration, connector and ally of the unexpected life outside.
Join in and make our neighbourhood bee happy!
Kalliwoda’s art project invites us to look differently, think differently, and ultimately act differently. Via www.refubees.org you can find out which wild bee lives in the Plantage neighbourhood and what flowers this bee needs. As a Plantage resident, you can order our reseda mask bee’s favourite, organically grown flowers directly. The plants will be sent to you by post, you put them in your garden or balcony box, and you make our neighbourhood bee happy.
RefuBees
The BeeTotem is part of the long-term action research RefuBees – The City as a Temporary Nature Reserve. This initiative by artist Hans Kalliwoda operates at the intersection of art, ecology, citizenship and system change. RefuBees is looking for ways in which city residents, policy makers, ecologists, designers and funds can jointly create space for the wild bees that we are in danger of losing.
You are welcome to attend the unveiling of this special BeeTotem of the Hortus, in the Westermanplatsoen, at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, June 11.