In Horto (Latin for ‘in the garden’) is a visual research project based on the enclosed garden. A monastery garden in Steyl, a village in the north of Limburg, was examined as a case study. This garden is an example of a historic green space that has retained its function and relevance to this day.



In the enclosed garden, the landscape becomes an outdoor interior. The visual orientation towards the horizon, which we usually experience in a landscape, is replaced by a vertical orientation between heaven and earth. Trees naturally form the archetypal image of this vertical axis, the axis mundi.



The project focuses on the diversity of trees in the monastery garden and led to an exhibition in the Odapark in Venray. The publication In Horto and models were presented here.

In Horto was part of the Nieuwe Uitzichten (New Perspectives) programme organised by Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo and Odapark in Venray. Six art projects were realised as part of this programme, all of which contributed to the value of greening: how do we create and preserve space for nature in order to contribute to a pleasant living environment, biodiversity and climate adaptation?

At the same time as the exhibition in Odapark, a spatial intervention was on display at Dominicanenplein in Venlo.

Doerak Film made a video about the realisation of the project.

Ingeborg Meulendijks in collaboration with Rick van der Linden