More than half of the world's population lives in cities. But from those jungles of brick and concrete we long for air and greenery. What kind of nature do we need in the city? What nature experience do we dream of? How natural is an urban wilderness?

The Middelheim Museum offers city residents much-needed greenery. This zone in the park looks like a romantic wilderness: it seems pure nature, but was created by human hands. Is it a fantasy or reality?

Dreaming of paradise

Since the beginning of cities, city dwellers have longed for nature. They need a place to relax, recharge their batteries, escape the rat race of everyday existence.

Based on that desire, city dwellers unleash their imagination on nature. They create a dream image of paradise. To some, this looks like an idyllic environment with babbling brooks and meadows full of sheep. The other cherishes a fantasy of pristine wilderness populated by mythical creatures. Civilized or wild, it is a safe haven where city dwellers can relax. At the same time, the great outdoors also inspires fear: some see danger in every insect and in every pond. Nature as a chaotic place, where the law of the strongest applies.

Fantasy becomes reality

These paradisiacal images take shape in gardens and parks. The style of the 18th century English landscape garden is very popular. Many people think that type of garden looks natural, with its varied plants, romantic spots, lawns lined with trees, and water features. This zone of the Middelheim Museum has also been designed in that 'natural' style. At the same time, this image of a wilderness is completely fake: it is a creation of man who converts fantasy into reality. To enhance the romantic character, follies are even added: buildings without a function, such as a ruin or hermit's cave.

Working on wilderness

The natural, erratic effect in this part of the park requires intensive green management. Preserving the fantasy image of wild nature relies on all kinds of tricks: from reintroducing native plants to supporting bats, birds and insects. People create their own paradise. Rewilding is an important strategy: cultivating and reintroducing original fauna and flora, to which other (exotic) forms of rewilding must make way. So what is really wild and natural? How much or little are people allowed to intervene in order to still be able to speak of nature?

The works of art in 'urban wilderness' populate paradise, highlight the tension between 'real' and 'fake', play with the ambiguity of attraction and repulsion, oasis and danger. This theme invites us to think about our relationship with nature and what it says about ourselves and how we view the world.

Urban nature

Artworks

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Interactive plan