At the 2017 Oerol Festival, we launched our project ‘To See a World in a Grain of Sand’. At Oerol 2023, we shared stories of sand through a choreography developed for the audience that roams throughout the landscape. Six themes — history, migration, meaning, ecology, delay and scarcity — form connections along a 500-meter trail. ‘ZandScheppers’ by Atelier NL is bound to move you.
Click here to watch a video about this project.
Our search for characteristic local clay bodies took us to the French village Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye, where potters have been making ceramics from locally sourced clay since the Middle Ages. Due to the clay’s low iron level, the new stoneware displays a beautiful creamy-caramel colour.
The tenth edition in the ZandGlas series was made to commemorate Atelier NL's first retrospective exhibition at the Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo. Made in collaboration with heritage foundation, Het, Limburgs Landschap, we produced this edition using sand from Joamerdal (Valley of Sorrow).
From August 2022 to January 2023, Atelier NL presented 'To See A World in a Grain of Sand' at the Chrysler Museum of Art — their first major exhibition in North America. Here, a new set of glass samples were made from Virginia sand as well as a limited edition Zandglas #11 from Fort Monroe, the first in this series to be made from American soil.
Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo presents Atelier NL’s first retrospective exhibition Earth Alchemy — 15 Years of Digging.
The eighth ZandGlas edition has been made in collaboration with Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden as part of the exhibition on glass which showcases some of the finest glass pieces from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.
"This studio shows a consistent sensitivity throughout their work, concentrating on local materials and responsible production practices whilst also maintaining a very high level of aesthetics throughout all their projects. They tackle ideas such as sense of place and geographic specificity successfully, making the conversation about sustainable practices a richer one. Using impressively rigorous and interesting design thinking, they create beautiful objects with good craftsmanship."
Dezeen Awards Master Jury
"A powerful, thoughtfully produced and beautifully executed project that celebrates imperfection, natural materials and local idiosyncrasies, whilst simultaneously salvaging quickly disappearing knowledge."
Dezeen Award Master Jury
Designers Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk are pleased to announce the acquisition of their most pivotal work by Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch and The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics.
