Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2025: Act Like You Still Know Me

Each edition of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis brings new voices to Beetsterzwaag. A group of emerging artists with diverse backgrounds and working methods come together, giving visitors a cross-sectional view of contemporary art in the Netherlands today. The artists featured in this tenth edition grew up in Drenthe, Ecuador, Denmark, France, and Syria and studied in Groningen, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Breda. Since the last edition of the prize three years ago, much has changed in society, politics, and the international context. This is explicitly felt in all the artworks, especially in the way violence resonates through them. The title of this exhibition is therefore an invitation to continue to see each other, even as alienation and conflict also set the tone in the arts.

All five artists pose pressing questions. Okki Poortvliet offers a different perspective on the meat industry and brings ethical questions surrounding the consumption of animals into view with her installation combining film and drawings. Is it possible to have an open conversation about the killing of animals?

Cecilie Fang explores how trade and power influence the development of language. She seeks alternatives to dominant forms of language, for example by allowing the materials of her sculptural installations to speak themselves through natural processes.

Charlène Dannancier’s work addresses violence, power and control in the domestic sphere and intimate relationships. In her installation, musical composition and text form the starting point for adressing desire, sexual violence against women and transgressing what is considered “acceptable” or “appropriate”.

Ahmad Mallah presents a triptych about the political regime in Syria and the genocide in Gaza—two realities that are intertwined in his personal experiences. Ahmad brings softness to images of suffering, mourning and loss, while highlighting Palestinian and Syrian cultural beauty.

Karin Iturralde Nurnberg creates a homely space to rest and dream, she asks: what can arise in vulnerable moments? For example, at the immigration office, at customs or during an eleven-hour flight home? Karin is interested in how playfulness can enter these situations.

The exhibition is based on the idea that art and life are intrinsically intertwined, a vision shared by the Fluxus artists of the 1960s and 1970s. They asserted that art and life are one. Feminist groups, the black liberation movement and the student movement of that time argued that the personal is political. This credo emphasised that personal experiences are connected to broader social and political structures. The selected artworks in this exhibition can be interpreted from this perspective. Through their work and research, the participating artists question the mechanisms of power, control and profit that influence our daily lives. They invite us to keep revising our view of the world by means of personal stories, dreams, vulnerability and experimentation. They introduce wonder, playfulness and a poetic perspective, reminding us that imagination can be a form of resistance. Imagination is the first step towards change, and perhaps this exhibition can initiate such a step. Feel welcome, spend time with the artworks, talk to each other, be curious, and act like you still know each other.

The exhibition is curated by Titus Nouwens.

On Saturday November 8, the exhibition will be opened at Kunsthuis SYB and the jury will award the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2025 to one of the five artists. This year’s jury consists of: Lih-Lan Wong—Director No Man’s Art Gallery / Femke Herregraven—Visual artist / Oli D’Cruz—Visual artist and nominee Sybren Hellinga Keunspriis 2022 / Judith Vrancken—Art historian, author and dramaturge.

For press inquiries contact: lara@kunsthuissyb.nl

Director: Arnisa Zeqo
Coördinator: Gisanne Hendriks
Curator: Titus Nouwens
Assistant curator and production: Alice Conforti

Communication: Lara den Hartog Jager

Production and curatorial intern: Fiadhira Rasyah
Exhibition construction: Kevin Perrin

Graphic design: Sabo Day, assisted by Augustinas Milkus
Web development: Ronja Andersen