Foam Talent: Paola Jiménez Quispe

Foam Talent: Sasha Velichko

Foam Talent: Ramona Jingru Wang

Foam Talent: Nad E Ali

Foam Talent: Farren van Wyk

Foam Talent: Nazanin Hafez

Foam Talent: Sara De Brito Faustino

Foam Talent: Sean Cham

Foam Talent: Adam Rouhana 

Foam Talent: Daniel Mebarek

Foam Talent: Liubov Durakova

Foam Talent: Chen Yiding

Historic breakthrough at the LURCH lab, 1953

Young girl poses in front of the Kooma F1 UHY Corn Statue at Singerhof, 1960

Foam Talent Runner-up: Bruce Eesly  

Foam Talent Runner-up: Harlan Bozeman

Image from the series Sonechko, Yak Ty? (Sunshine, How Are You?)

Foam Talent Runner-up:  Varvara Uhlik 

Mooncake, Foam Café, Amsterdam

Spread from Chinees-Indisch Stickeralbum

Cahier for Benjamin Li's In Search of Perfect Orange - Chinese Version

Chinese version

Liz Johnson Artur - of life of love of sex of movement of hope, 2021

In Search of Perfect Orange. About the work of Benjamin Li

Aby Fulani

Gigapedia: Haatsymboliek en Online Codetaal

Bereitschaft, 2024

Gigapedia: Exhibition Glossary. About the work of Jakob Ganslmeier and Ana Zibelnik

How do identity, community and the body take shape in an image? On the occasion of

, Foam invites guests to a morning event with Keerthana Kunnath, Dr Priya Swamy (

curator Globalization and South Asia at the Wereldmuseum)

), bringing together art, research and community. This event centres on the experiences of Brown and Black communities.

Sandra, 2024

Foam

Bisha and Kavitha, 2026

On a diet, 2026

Sandra with her child, 2026

In conversation with Keerthana Kunnath, Dr. Priya Swamy and Meron Taye

Understanding Identity, Community and the Body

Spend Museumnacht at Foam for an evening of photography, creativity and music. In collaboration with 

, Foam invites you to look beyond the image and ask yourself: what do you notice when you take your time, and what stories does your own way of looking bring to the surface?

Throughout the night, young makers lead workshops, performances and music. Have your name written in calligraphy by 

, or give a photograph a new narrative at 

’s zine workshop. Pick up a stick of charcoal with 

 and consider how you would like to present yourself.

, who has put together a playlist especially for the occasion.

This Museumnacht, there is plenty at Foam to intrigue, inspire and share.

Museumnacht Amsterdam, 2019

Museumnacht Amsterdam 2026

Front cover of What Lee Wore

Book Club: Gisela Torres - What Lee Wore

Nadav Kander - The Edge Of Things

Verena Blok - Love Shit 

Julia Kochetova - War is Personal

Foam Talent 2026

Martin Parr - Very Modern and Rather Ugly

Hajar Benjida - Atlanta Made Us Famous

Jasmijn Vermeeren - You Don't Look Sick

For information and visual material please check www.foam.org/press or contact the press office of Foam on +31 (0)20 5516500 / pressoffice@foam.org

Note to editors

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Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

Credo, from the series MADRE

challenges the binary opposition between the ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’ deeply rooted in the Catholic traditions within Bolivian society. Closely collaborating with the sitters of her portraits, Marisol Mendez counters the simplified, sinner-versus-saint, vision on femininity. 

‘Madre’ in this case signifies much more than just a mother figure. It connects to the complex and multi-layered female goddesses traditionally worshipped in indigenous cultures and points to the rich, complex and varied experiences of 

Mendez deliberately uses the alternative spelling to, also linguistically, rid herself from limiting definitions of femininity. 

The portraits play with traditional symbolism associated with the stereotypical female: fragile, devout and proper stand next to rebellious and sexual. By doing so, the photographs show the contradiction experienced by many womxn between rebelling against and adopting these expected gender roles. 

Llorona, from the series Madre

Durazno, from the series Madre

Killa, from the series Madre

El marido sin cabeza, from the series MADRE

Huevo, from the series Madre

Our Lady of Plaster, from the series Madre

Pliegues, from the series Madre

Efigie, from the series Madre

Dolorosa, from the series Madre

Pared, from the series Madre

Estampita, from the series Madre

Quinceañera, from the series Madre

Virgen Andina, from the series MADRE

Soft, from the series Madre

Dual, from the series Madre

Marisol Mendez

Dine Dine Khasiya Paribe

 is a visual folktale, following the tunes of local songs from the Rajbanshi community in Assam and Bengal, India. Historically, this community has continuously been mis-identified and culturally erased through the crushing weight of colonial bureaucracy. The series documents Akshay Mahajan’s journey in search for what ‘identity’ truly is.

Growing up in Mumbai as a child of the Indian partition, without any knowledge of his own heritage, Akshay Mahajan attempted to construct a new identity: not by birth, but through love. Folksongs, sung by his wife, drew him to north-eastern India, to the Rajbanshi people—bringing back to live a cultural tradition on the brink of obscurity. 

The resulting works are an intuitive and associative exploration about the meaning of ‘identity’. The use of the collaging technique refers to the constructed nature of identity, as something that is continually challenged and reassembled. Mahajan explains: “We are all people of clay, our identities constantly changing, not chained by the borders we have inherited.”

Listen to "Dine Dine Khasiya Paribe" by clicking the play button at the bottom of the exhibition.

From the series People of Clay

Akshay Mahajan

Created by Manon Wertenbroek in 2014. The artwork is a pigment print on Hahnemuhle Fine Art 285gr, on aluminum, on wood, and with paint, and displayed at 90.5 x 72 cm.

Waves from the Web, 2009

Visible in

The bright colours and cartoon-like drawings on the model’s body create a playful image. At the same time, the model’s elegant posture might remind you of a classic sculpture from the Renaissance era. In 

, Manon Wertenbroek combines the art of sculpture with the medium of photography. By incorporating the model into all sorts of compositions of colours, circles, blocks, numbers and frames, Wertenbroek explores a rather unconventional approach to portraiture. The young man in the photograph is her brother. They were very close as children, but grew apart as they grew older. Creating this series was a way for Wertenbroek to restore the bond with her brother. Yet her brother cannot recognise himself in the portraits, so that these represent her own projections rather than his actual self. 

Manon Wertenbroek was part of the 2015 Foam Talent selection. Her image 

 served as the cover image for the talent issue of Foam Magazine. 

Tandem Rose, 2014 from the series Tandem, 2014

Tandem Rose, 2014

Created by Jaya Pelupessy & Felix van Dam in 2014. The artwork is displayed at 95 x 76 cm.

In how many ways can you create a photographic image? From the complicated chemical procedure in the medium’s early years to the advanced technology that underpins digital cameras: besides being an art form, photography can also be seen as a consistently evolving science. The artist duo Jaya Pelupessy and Felix van Dam became intrigued by the idea that a silkscreen print is, in principle, also light sensitive and hence can serve as a photo negative. Despite being told by others that the idea was ‘impossible’, the duo was determined to create their own unique ‘silkscreen’ camera. Eventually they managed to coat a silkscreen with a light-sensitive emulsion and to expose this to direct sunlight for two hours. You might wonder what this story has to do with the white sculpture wearing sunglasses. The point is that, in an attempt to reduce the required exposure time, the duo decided to experiment with ultraviolet light. The required amount of UV light forced Pelupessy and Van Dam to wear sunglasses, to protect their eyes against the intense light.  

Glasses, 2016 from the series Traces of the Familiar

Glasses - Traces of the Familiar

Created by Peter Puklus in 2015. The artwork is a inkjet print and displayed at 68 x 48 cm.

One day, during his daily online search for photographs, Peter Puklus came across a black and white image of the sculpture of a male head. This early cubist sculpture, titled 

, was made in 1913 by the Hungarian avant-garde sculptor Joseph Csaky. Just a single image remains of 

, showing only the front side. Peter Puklus reinterpreted this photograph of the bust, which bears some resemblance to Puklus himself, by modelling his self-portrait in clay and photographing the result in different settings.  

, it won’t come as a surprise to discover that this Hungarian artist often seeks to push the boundaries of the medium of photography. Not hindered by any conventions, in his own unique way Puklus merges different art forms to create this absurdist self-portrait. With a sharp eye for the interplay of lines, geometrical shapes and vivid colours, he creates a sense of order within a playful chaos.

Painted plaster head (Self-portrait of a man in orange), 2015 from the series The Epic Love Story of a Warrior

Painted plaster head (Self-portrait of a man in orange), 2015

Created by Fleur van Dodewaard in 2012. The artwork is a inkjet print on aluminum and displayed at 35 x 29 cm.

How does photography relate to the arts of sculpture and painting? These are the types of questions that Dutch artist Fleur van Dodewaard explores in her work. Like her 

 is a contemporary conceptual interpretation of the classic still-life. However minimalistic the work might be, the questions it evokes are highly complex.  

, Van Dodewaard plays with the distinctions between different art disciplines and examines where these boundaries turn blurry. Image 

, showing two red stripes against light-coloured backgrounds, could just as well have been a minimalist painting. The depth contained within the composition is only revealed by the shadow cast by the red block. In this way Van Dodewaard plays with the concept of sculpture, creating a photographic sculpture that lets the viewer see a three-dimensional object through photography’s lens.  

#4 / red

 in 2016. Using burned inkjet print as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 150 x 220 cm.

White Charcoal, 2016

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds

visible in

Borges experimented with the destructive power of fire in relation to imagery. She burned the photographic surface of a large-format print, a way of exploring what happens to the meaning of an image when it is burned. Does the piece lose its signification by being damaged or does it acquire a different sense?

Borges portrays objects and artefacts to free them from their specific meaning, to let them stand by themselves. She strives to show us that even photography, a medium bound up with reality by definition, can let go of reality, as happens in a painting or sculpture. In her work, she investigates what representation is, and what a photograph can be. Myths, fabulous creatures and philosophical questions about representation, mimicry and imitation play a major part in her work.

White Charcoal

Created by Nerhol (Yoshihisa Tanaka & Ryuta Iida) in 2015. Using stacked inkjet print as the medium, the artwork is a sculpture displayed at 23 x 20 x 4,5 cm.

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan, 2015

Nerhol (Yoshihisa Tanaka & Ryuta Iida), 2015

Nerhol is a collaboration between graphic designer Yoshihisa Tanaka and sculptor Ryuta Iida since 2007. Together they explore the concept of the photographic image. Traditionally, a photograph presents a depiction of a person’s three-dimensional face on a flat plane. The work 

, however, is a time-lapse portrait consisting of numerous photographs taken over a three-minute period, a process which captures each and every small, involuntary movement of the subject. Subsequently, Nerhol meticulously scoops out and carves the faces in their photographs, combining a layering of the multiple images with reductive carving. By merging many images into a single picture, the artists unveil the small, ever-present alterations within a photograph. In an ingenious way, the duo questions the genre of photographic portraiture and photography as a snapshot of 'reality': every single, minimal movement can already produce a different representation of the sitter.

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

. The artwork uses C-type digital photo, wood, paper, ink and pigments as the medium.

The Crossroads from the series My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, 2014

Using unorthodox materials, Paul Bogaers tries to avoid the conventions imposed by photography: the flat surface and documentation of reality. He combines various media in an attempt to push the absolute limits of photography as an artistic medium. At first glance, the sculptural form of The Crossroads seems to suggest real, three-dimensional depth but is, in fact, a photograph. This work is part of the series 

 (taken from the acclaimed 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, who in turn borrowed it from a novel by Nigerian author Amos Tutuola written in 1954), with which Bogaers refers to the ‘Bush of Ghosts’ that he visits in his studio daily.

The Crossroads

This Christmas break, children can let their imaginations run wild during a special workshop at Foam! 

 have developed a singular visual language. Their work invites viewers to reconsider what they see and how they see it. 

Inspired by the exhibition and the working methods of artist duo Blommers & Schumm, children will discover how everyday objects can be used to create surprising works of art.

By looking closely, shifting and combining, they learn how simple things can come together to form a completely new image, a face, a flower, or perhaps something completely unexpected. Using illusion and imagination, the children create their own artwork that shows how differently you can look at the world around you.

This workshop is for children between 6 and 12 years old. Parents and caretakers can join the workshop for free.

Sculpture

Chen Yiding
Natural Born Left-Handed Killer

Sara De Brito Faustino
A Home With No Roof

Nazanin Hafez
Spectators

Bruce Eesly
New Farmer

Harlan Bozeman
Failure to Appear

Varvara Uhlik
Sonechko, Yak Ty?
(Sunshine, How Are You?)

In Search of Perfect Orange
About the work of Benjamin Li

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online Codes
Exhibition Glossary

On Identity, Community and the Body
In conversation with Keerthana Kunnath, Dr. Priya Swamy and Meron Taye

Museumnacht Amsterdam 2026

What Lee Wore by Gisela Torres

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

Foam Talent 2026

Marisol Mendez

Akshay Mahajan

Tandem Rose, 2014

Glasses - Traces of the Familiar

Painted plaster head (Self-portrait of a man in orange), 2015

#4 / Red

White Charcoal

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

The Crossroads from the series My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Foam Talent 2026

Kids workshop:
Becoming a Surrealist Artist

Hinde Haest talks about

Mark Dorf in the exhibition On Earth

Sculpture

Chen YidingNatural Born Left-Handed Killer

Sara De Brito FaustinoA Home With No Roof

Nazanin HafezSpectators

Bruce EeslyNew Farmer

Harlan BozemanFailure to Appear

Varvara UhlikSonechko, Yak Ty? (Sunshine, How Are You?)

In Search of Perfect OrangeAbout the work of Benjamin Li

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online CodesExhibition Glossary

On Identity, Community and the BodyIn conversation with Keerthana Kunnath, Dr. Priya Swamy and Meron Taye

Museumnacht Amsterdam 2026

What Lee Wore by Gisela Torres

Hiền Hoàng - Garden of Entanglement

Foam Talent 2026

Marisol Mendez

Akshay Mahajan

Tandem Rose, 2014

Glasses - Traces of the Familiar

Painted plaster head (Self-portrait of a man in orange), 2015

#4 / Red

White Charcoal

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

The Crossroads from the series My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Foam Talent 2026

Kids workshop:Becoming a Surrealist Artist

Hinde Haest talks about

Mark Dorf in the exhibition On Earth

Chen Yiding
Natural Born Left-Handed Killer

Sara De Brito Faustino
A Home With No Roof

Nazanin Hafez
Spectators

Bruce Eesly
New Farmer

Harlan Bozeman
Failure to Appear

Varvara Uhlik
Sonechko, Yak Ty?
(Sunshine, How Are You?)

In Search of Perfect Orange
About the work of Benjamin Li

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online Codes
Exhibition Glossary

On Identity, Community and the Body
In conversation with Keerthana Kunnath, Dr. Priya Swamy and Meron Taye

Kids workshop:
Becoming a Surrealist Artist