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On View for One Month Only: Guernica de la EcologÍa
In the final month of the exhibition 'Drawn from Nature', a new artwork has been installed in the museum's Foyer: Guernica de la Ecología (2021) by artist Claudy Jongstra.
5 Mar 2026
The artwork explores how humans threaten biodiversity and is therefore entitled Guernica de la Ecología: Guernica of Ecology. The work is a wonderful addition to the exhibition.
Jongstra’s work draws on Pablo Picasso’s 1937 Guernica, known for its large scale and social themes. With this artwork, Jongstra chooses to highlight a current issue: the human impact on biodiversity and the landscape.
Guernica de la Ecología is an immersive work of art measuring almost eight metres wide and three and a half metres high. The work is made from the wool of Drenthe heath sheep, whose grazing helps enhance biodiversity, and from natural dyes derived from plants that Jongstra grows herself. This approach shows what is possible when people create in collaboration with nature.
Claudy Jongstra, Guernica de la Ecología, 2022, Wool, 790 x 360 cm. On loan from the Iona Foundation.
It is a traveling eco-artwork that warns of biodiversity loss, climate change, and the disappearance of color from our landscape. It also invites visitors to reflect on their own relationship with nature and how we can restore it.
On the ground floor of the Klooster, the artwork truly comes into its own. Its large scale is impressive, and up close, the texture of the wool is clearly visible. Visitors are invited to take a seat, take their time, and reflect on the work. For those who would like to engage with the artwork even more deeply, there is a viewing exercise.
On 22 March, a workshop entitled Plantschap will be held, bringing together performance, dialogue and writing exercises to explore, through the lens of Guernica, what the Dutch landscape might look like in the future.
Guernica is on display at the Centraal Museum until 29 March as part of the exhibition Drawn from Nature.