The Polder Western is a collaborative project between Erika Roux and Pilar Mata Dupont that uses the genre of the Western to unpack various concerns regarding rising sea levels globally. Situated in the Netherlands, a country where the artists have lived for many years, this experiment in narrative and absurdism allows the artists to lead research and investigate personal concerns arising from living in an environmentally vulnerable country facing complex issues such as climate change and its (mis)management.

Through text-based research and interviews with multiple people working with and by the water in the Netherlands - sea-level researchers, millers, hydraulic engineers, artists and farmers - they have developed a speculative screenplay developed into a publication and a video installation called Scenes from the Polder Western.

The publication Scenes From the Polder Western is designed by Rudy Guedj and published by Building Fictions.

Authors: Pilar Mata Dupont, Erika Roux
Translation: Mirjam Linschooten, Flora Valeska Woudstra
Copy Editor: Isabelle Sully
Proofreader: Nora Steenbergen
Design: Rudy Guedj
Printing: PBtisk
Publisher: Building Fictions, Amsterdam

You can order the book on Building Fictions and Idea Books

The Polder Western is supported by Gemeente Rotterdam, Buitenplaats Brienenoord and Droom en Daad.