“When I was seven years old, I walked into an unfamiliar landscape for the first time. A greenhouse. All my senses were triggered by the moisture, heat and smell. I still remember this amazement. More than twenty years later, I capture these landscapes and depict the tension between man and machine. Futuristic and poetic, almost dreamlike images, provide insight into the enormous impact of technical innovation on the agricultural sector.”

Agriculture is in a state of change: a great deal is being automated. Machines are involved in every production phase, because optimization, efficiency and more control lead to higher productivity. The Netherlands is leading in technological innovations and is exporting more and more knowledge in addition to products.

With AgriValley, Mirte van Duppen reflects on the automation of agriculture in the Netherlands. The camera takes the viewer from a small-scale to a large-scale perspective and offers a critical guide through the hidden futuristic-looking contemporary landscapes. For the film, Van Duppen interviewed farmers, growers and experts in the field. She wants to bring people into contact with these 'unknown' landscapes and give them the opportunity to question them.

A preview of this project was shown in 2020 on the TalentWall at Pennings Foundation.

Mirte van Duppen (1990, Tilburg) is a (video) artist with a graphic background. For her, filming is a way of thinking, a way of exploring unknown situations. In her films she analyzes the structures, functions and transformations of (urban) landscapes and the interaction of man with his environment. She uses reality (what we see) and fictional elements (what we imagine) as tools for analysis and composition.

She studied at ArtEZ in Arnhem and Sandberg Institute (master) in Amsterdam.

AgriValley is a self-initiated project that was made possible by Talent Development Creative Industries Fund NL, Impulsgelden Provincie Noord-Brabant, TalentHub Brabant, TalentHub jump!, Tilburg Makersfonds, Tilburg Makersfonds Plus and Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven.