Wala’adin Abdurahaman, 22, photographed at a military hospital in Khartoum. Courtesy of Faiz Abubakr

Test of Time: On My Mind — Ahmed Umar

The Rivera Bad Girls, LA 1983 © Janette Beckman

Test of Time: On My Mind — Janette Beckman

Book Club Gift Guide

Aby Fulani

Dialect, 2020-2023

Dialect, 2023, Courtesy of LooseJoints

Installation view of Dialect

learn more

Ask The Artist: Felipe Romero Beltrán

Telex Iran

Telex Iran by Gilles Peress

Archives are all around us: in the form of family albums, or the community, city and national archives. Learn more about the latest issue of Foam Magazine

Image from the series Audacity As We Were and Mirages of Dreams Past

Queer Choir Amsterdam, 2021

Image from the series Where We ve Been, Where We re Going Why

Image from the series The day you were born I wasnt born yet

Image from the series Collection of Unjust Enrichment

Image from the series After Hours

Image from the series A Reprise

Woman standing in a gallery

Foam Magazine #59 Histories: The Archival Issue

Out now: Foam Magazine #59 Histories - The Archival Issue

We&rsquo;ve rounded up our favourite Spotlight articles of the year and summed them up below for your perusing pleasure. Estimated reading times vary from 1 to 7 minutes (give or take), so cuddle up with a hot cup of cocoa and catch up on your holiday reading.

<ul>
<li><a href="#1">MARTON PERLAKI: RAISING UNCANNY QUESTIONS&nbsp;</a></li>
<li><a href="#2">NIKOLAS VENTOURAKIS: WHO DEFINES THE LINES?</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="#3">DEPICTION, EXISTING, DEPICTION, EXISTING</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="#4">MANON WERTENBROEK: SCULPTOR, PAINTER, PHOTOGRAPHER, NONE OF THE ABOVE</a></li>
<li><a href="#5">A VISUAL HISTORY OF VIOLENCE</a></li>
<li><a href="#6">ALONA PARDO: ON MY MIND...</a></li>
<li><a href="#7">WE CAN DESTROY IT</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<a id="1"></a> MARTON PERLAKI: RAISING UNCANNY QUESTIONS Inspired By&hellip; by Marton Perlaki <a href="/talent/spotlight/marton-perlaki-raising-uncanny-questions"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x431/c9066cc09a/mperlaki_insp__2_body.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="431" /></a>Archival image from New York Public Library,&nbsp;Harmsworth Magazine ca. 1892 An insurance illustration from the 19th century depicts in an oddly pleasing way how much money you get paid in case you lose one or more limbs. &ldquo;This image is beautiful, elegantly simple, creepy and heartbreaking at the same time. All these feelings together don&rsquo;t typically match... yet here they do.&rdquo; Estimated reading time: 1.30 min. <a href="/talent/spotlight/marton-perlaki-raising-uncanny-questions">&gt; Start reading</a>&nbsp;<a id="2"></a>&nbsp; NIKOLAS VENTOURAKIS: WHO DEFINES THE LINES? Interview by Kim Knoppers <a href="/talent/spotlight/nikolas-ventourakis-who-defines-the-lines"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x476/7d6c66d4d5/595_motocross_and_radars_from_the_series_defining_lines_2015__c__nikolas_ventourakis.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="476" /></a> Motorcross and Radars, from the series Defining Lines, 2015 &copy; Nikolas Ventourakis 
In a world full of invisible boundaries, this Greek artist stresses the importance of equality. Through his photographs, he makes the viewer question their perception of borders.
&ldquo;I shot a quick photo of a boulder, and then moved literally two meters to the left and took a second photo. The geo-tagging revealed to my astonishment that the first photograph was shot in Cyprus while the second was shot in the UK.&rdquo;
Estimated reading time: 7 min.
<a href="/talent/spotlight/nikolas-ventourakis-who-defines-the-lines">&gt; Start reading</a>&nbsp;<a id="3"></a>
DEPICTION, EXISTING, DEPICTION, EXISTING Inspired By&hellip; by Sofia Borges <a href="/talent/spotlight/depiction-existing-depiction-existing"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x397/c6b5d46136/595_the_entrance_of_chauvet_cave__2015.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="397" /></a> The entrance of the Chauvet Cave replica, 2015 &copy; Sofia Borges 
Sofia Borges (now in Foam 3h) was inspired by massive 36.000-year-old cave drawings. They helped her understand what humankind has been trying to do since the very beginning.
&ldquo;It was looking at this one, the hand prints at the very the entrance of the cave, that got my eyes to fill with tears and finally realised one thing I was trying to solve for many years: my problem was their problem.&rdquo;
Estimated reading time: 1.30 min.
<a href="/talent/spotlight/depiction-existing-depiction-existing">&gt; Start reading</a>&nbsp;<a id="4"></a>&nbsp;
MANON WERTENBROEK: SCULPTOR, PAINTER, PHOTOGRAPHER, NONE OF THE ABOVE Interview by Mirjam Kooiman <a href="/talent/spotlight/manon-wertenbroek-sculptor-painter-photographer-none-of-the-above"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/933x700/d9b1add101/01.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="446" /></a> Tandem Noir, 2014 &copy; Manon Wertenbroek Remember Manon Wertenbroek from the Second Skin exhibition in Museum Van Loon, or her Foam Magazine Talent #42 cover? Mirjam Kooiman interviewed her on her extremely interesting way of working and her new series. &ldquo;Many people have said that the portraits frighten them, because of the explosion of emotion: the portraits express something I can&rsquo;t put into words to the subjects themselves.&rdquo; Estimated reading time: 5 min. <a href="/talent/spotlight/manon-wertenbroek-sculptor-painter-photographer-none-of-the-above">&gt; Start reading</a>&nbsp;<a id="5"></a>&nbsp;
A VISUAL HISTORY OF VIOLENCE Profile by Hinde Haest <a href="/talent/spotlight/a-visual-history-of-violence"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x422/0fd08ea9fc/06_595_pedestal__family__2016__ink_on_vinyl_and_dibond.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="422" /></a> Family,&nbsp;from the series Pedestal, 2016 &copy;&nbsp;Indrė &Scaron;erpytytė
Indrė &Scaron;erpytytė&rsquo;s Lithuanian background features heavily in her work, which deals with her father&rsquo;s mysterious death, the end of the Soviet Union, and a waning collective memory.
&ldquo;Her images are accompanied by archival voice-over fragments describing the dismantling of the statues, reading lines such as: &lsquo;Lenin&rsquo;s torso is driven away in the back of a truck. His only remains on the pedestal are his two feet cut off at the ankle&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Estimated reading time: 5 min.
<a href="/talent/spotlight/a-visual-history-of-violence">&gt;&nbsp;Start reading</a>&nbsp;<a id="6"></a>
ALONA PARDO: ON MY MIND... On My Mind: Chen Wei <a href="/talent/spotlight/alona-pardo-on-my-mind"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x476/b4f4752ee4/595_in_the_waves__2013__copy__chen_wei.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="476" /></a> In The Waves, 2013 &copy; Chen Wei 
Alona Pardo introduces us to the young Chinese artist Chen Wei. He creates carefully crafted nightclub scenes, attesting to power of the music to foster authentic self-expression, tolerance, and community.
&ldquo;Imbued with a dream-like quality, Chen&rsquo;s striking sense of composition is combined with neon highlights reminiscent of old-school nightclubs to create an intoxicating haze. Architectural details appear out of a sea of darkness and leather jackets are bathed in a seedy red glow.&rdquo;
Estimated reading time: 3 min.
<a href="/talent/spotlight/alona-pardo-on-my-mind">&gt; Start reading</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a id="7"></a>
WE CAN DESTROY IT Inspired By&hellip; by Maya Rochat <a href="/talent/spotlight/we-can-destroy-it"><img src="/userfiles/spotlight/inspired_by/vivienne_westwood__fw09_2_wit.jpg" alt="" width="253" height="373" align="left" /><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/300x245/42570d0a80/vivienne_westwood__fw09_3.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="245" /> </a>Vivienne Westwood, 2011 &copy; Juergen Teller 
In her own unique tone-of-voice, Maya Rochat explains to us why most of her favourite images lost all feeling over time, except one picture of Vivienne Westwood with an axe.
&ldquo;The thing is: with the way my look at things changes over the time, all iconic images that I really was fascinated by, did at some point lose some of their effect, like a great song you abused by listening in a loop. I appreciate them still, but I feel towards them something like a non-emotional sympathy. But this image has an actuality, a relevance in the contemporary context.&rdquo;
Estimated reading time: 2.30 min.
<a href="/talent/spotlight/we-can-destroy-it">&gt; Start reading</a>

Spotlight: Best of 2016

on my mind

On My Mind: Wala’adin Abdurahaman by Faiz Abubakr

On My Mind: The Rivera Bad Girls by Janette Beckman

Ask The Artist:
Felipe Romero Beltrán

Are we seeing the full picture?

Foam Magazine #59 Histories – The Archival Issue

Spotlight: Best of 2016