The IJssel Biennale is a biennial international outdoor exhibition featuring stimulating artworks along the IJssel River and an extensive programme 'Nevengeul'.

At various locations along the route, no fewer than 27 artists zoom in on the relationship between man and landscape. Installations, poetic sculptures, impressive and unexpected places, performances and other interventions in the landscape. Under the title Grondtonen, IJsselbiennale 2023 puts earth, soil and ground centre stage. A cycle route of over 100 kilometres will take you in five stages from 17 June to 17 September through the IJssel Valley, past country estates, waterworks, nature reserves and its Hanseatic cities, past all the works of art and the many activities.

Ground tones

Do we force the earth to deliver what we want, or are we able to listen to what the soil tells us? "The notion that we need to regain awareness of the ground beneath our feet, that we actually see, taste, feel and smell what the soil we live on produces or even is, and that we listen to what the earth actually has to tell us." That led us to the title of this edition of the IJssel Biennial. Looking around us, we have to conclude that as a society we have somewhat lost our way and that we are looking for a new guide that gives direction to our actions, especially with regard to our relationship with nature. In a piece of music, this is a keynote. It is the note that all other notes refer to or are derived from. Fundamental notes are therefore guiding and determining. By listening carefully (looking, tasting, feeling, hearing) we should be able to pick up the right signals and build on them to work towards a more harmonious structure that does justice to the intrinsic values of the earth. Ground tones thus also show us the ground in its true form and guide us towards a more balanced existence. The IJsselbiennale zooms in on the relationship between man and landscape: a problem we can only face if we are prepared to look at ourselves and our surroundings in a different way. And that is precisely where art and artists play a role.

Participating artists: Hanae Utamura, Thijs Ebbe Fokkens, Leonard van Munster, Martin Schmidt, Loes ten Anscher, Maud van den Beuken, Giuseppe Licari, Miriam Knibbeler, Martine van Lubeek, Sidsel Bonde, Vladimir Turner, Willem de Haan, Rob Voerman, Niels Albers, Em’Kal Eyongakpa, Ronald van der Meijs, Giulia Cenci, Karin van Dam, Gijs van Vaerenbergh, Claude Cattelain, James Beckett, Maarten vanden Eynde, Mirre Jayla Seur, Wilma Wilbrink, Wouter Klein Velderman, Giny Vos, Lara Almarcegui.