Over two thousand years ago, stories were written that we still cling to today. When Eve plucked the apple from the tree, knowledge of good and evil emerged, and we began to be ashamed of our nakedness. Since the industrial revolution, economic growth has been the sacred ideal, capitalism and consumerism emerged, and in 1885, the great powers of Europe decided to partition Africa with pencil and ruler. These have been the major changes upon which our civilization is based today.

But how civilized are we really? And what do we learn from the civilizations that came before us? When one civilization crumbles, it seems another is already emerging, and we quickly build something new without reflecting on the wreckage of the past. We are constantly preoccupied with our future: trying to prevent disasters, emancipate, and choose which people should keep the world turning. But if we critically examine our history, can we breathe a sigh of relief with the realization that things are much better, or have we become completely lost, and is our civilization just a
thin layer of varnish?

Collectief Het Paradijs (The Paradise Collective) creates a space where the environment will continuously transform, by those who call themselves the civilized.