Waterkracht

State of the Canals

In the Middle Ages, people ate fish from the canal and brewed beer with the water. But with the rapid growth of the city in the seventeenth century and the lack of a sewer system, the canals became increasingly dirty. All kinds of things were dumped into them: household garbage, offal, and the contents of toilet buckets. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the quality of the canal water has gradually improved. Nowadays, various agencies work together to keep the water clean. How is the water being managed? Sea levels are rising, but how do we keep the canals from flooding?

Photographer

Waterkracht is an exhibition of photographic work by the Amsterdam photographer Gosse Bouma. Bouma's photographs are serene scenes of a normally busy inner city of Amsterdam.