Fidelio Faustino
Tapsei

June 11, 2026by Isabel Walter

In his series Tapsei, Fidelio Faustino creates space for healing, acknowledging that the scars of history can begin to repair through silence, intimacy and solicitude. Seeking to recast colonial narratives of Black and Indigenous identity in Suriname, Faustino approaches his subjects with dignity and care.

The title of the series comes from the Sranantongo word for ‘upwards,’ and is also a synonym for the Surinamese interior which contains the northernmost part of the Amazon rainforest. Colloquially, the word refers to a way of orientating oneself, navigating through landscapes and histories. It is this act of navigation which Faustino seeks to invoke, exploring how his subjects position and ground themselves in their own history and landscape.

© Fidelio Faustino
© Fidelio Faustino

These three bodies — self, history and landscape — are presented as parts of a symbiotic relationship, as entities which collapse into each other in a web of relationality. Out of this interrelationality emerges a strong and embodied self, one which holds presence and space, one which demands quiet attention. Contrasting sharply with the Eurocentric depictions of Suriname portrayed during the colonial period, Faustino reclaims the gaze, drawing inspiration from inspiration from memory, spirituality, and imagination.

© Fidelio Faustino
© Fidelio Faustino
© Fidelio Faustino

Resonating through the series are moments of stillness and silence, of pause, moments of connection; between present and past, between land and body, between the interior and the exterior.

This text was published in Foam Magazine #68: Talent, in June 2026. Read more about the Foam Talent Runners-up.

About the artist

FIDELIO FAUSTINO is a cinematographer, director, and photographer currently based between Paramaribo and Amsterdam. His work explores culture as a tool for shaping new expressions of identity, using image-making to redefine the meaning of Black and Indigenous imagery. In 2025, Faustino was selected as a winner of the Dutch Photography Award and Fresh Eyes Award. That same year, he was named one of PhotoVogue’s 100 top Latin American talents, exhibiting at the PhotoVogue Festival in Milan. His first solo exhibition, Tapsei, took place at Foam in September 2025.

About the author

ISABEL WALTER is a writer and curator based in Amsterdam. She currently works as Assistant Curator at Foam, and Editorial Assistant at Foam Magazine. She is particularly interested in art which expands the technical and conceptual boundaries of photography, moving image and new technologies.

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Image credit: The Silent Lake by Aubin Mukoni


Fidelio Faustino - Tapsei In his series Tapsei, Fidelio Faustino creates space for healing, acknowledging that the scars of hi [...]
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Foam Talent Runner-up: Fidelio Faustino