Opening exhibition MvM! x GLD

In 2020, a new Ministry was established to regain control over the stalled spatial development of the Netherlands. As the first act of this Ministry of Make!, 101 designers joined forces to design one million new homes for the Netherlands, putting imagination and the power to make at the heart of the process.

Since then, political fragmentation has only increased, leaving less and less to be expected from national government. This development did not come out of nowhere. After decades of tension between centralised and decentralised governance, combined with the pressures of globalisation, a new centre is cautiously emerging: the province. No longer simply a connecting force, but a governing power in its own right. Learning from and collaborating with other provinces where needed, while operating with its own mandate and toolkit.

At the end of 2025, the Spatial Lab of the Province of Gelderland gave the Ministry of Make! the opportunity to conduct an experiment with four design teams*. The province’s key themes, water, food, energy, nature and housing, were linked to four specific locations: the Achterhoek, the Veluwe, the river landscape and the Bommelerwaard. Through a process of making, these themes and places were explored in design studios held at different locations across the province.

The outcomes of these design studios have been brought together in an exhibition titled ‘The Land of Milk and Honey’. Through a large scale model, installations, visual explorations and interviews, the exhibition presents more than design visions alone. Above all, it introduces a way of working for the future, marking the starting point for a new province.

This Province is given a new skin, heart and hair. Because the old rules have become too numerous, the lines too long and no one understands how it all works anymore. It shakes off the old habits of bureaucracy and introduces new forms. Playing. Enterprising. Testing. Exploring and imagining. Ready for the difficult conversations, but above all, ready to make.

Welcome to the new Province.

Admission to the event is free.
Registration is not required.
Language of the event: Dutch

Program

16:00-16:30 Doors open
16:30-18:00 Presentations by the research teams and experts
18:00-18:30 Cocktails and exhibition tour