Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide): TRANSMUTATION

Centraal Museum Utrecht is proud to announce the first comprehensive retrospective solo exhibition of Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) that opened at Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd, located in Bunnik, The Netherlands. TRANSMUTATION brings together immersive film installations, 558 watercolours and works on textile from the past fifteen years, revealing the interconnections within Chang's multifaceted oeuvre.

Centraal Museum Utrecht's programming at Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd is a partner project with Hartwig Art Foundation.

Blueprint
In her work, Chang interrogates the colonial and Eurocentric “blueprint” that still has lasting impact both here in Europa and globally. For example, in the emergence of a large-scale, transracial adoption industry rooted in colonial power relations. It is precisely in form, through poetic and enchanting installations, that she tries to undo that way of thinking. Many of Chang's films and installations stem from years of research, in which amongst others historical events and Korean shamanism come together. Works such as Hollands Kabinet (2010–2012), The Garden (2014) and Art History (2011) unfold over periods of time, offering a critique of Western notions of progress and linearity. At the same time, they serve as meditations on the normalisation of the far right, nationalism and Western hegemony within (art) history. The works hold up a mirror while also invite collective healing. Central is the notion of transmutation: a spiritual process through which historically constructed patterns, structures and hierarchies are transformed, transcending the personal.

Hollands Kabinet
Running like a thread throughout the house is the 558-piece watercolour series Hollands Kabinet. The title refers to the word's double meaning: the Dutch governing coalition, but also a traditional Dutch cabinet piece of furniture. When, in 2010, it was announced that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government would be formed with the parliamentary support of the far-right Geert Wilders' political party PVV, many people were dismayed. As a poetic gesture of resistance against the normalisation of far-right ideology, Chang painted a new Hollands Kabinet every day that the government remained in power from October 14, 2010 until April 23, 2012. 

“By meticulously documenting the multifarious nature and colonial roots of the Hollands Kabinet (the piece of furniture), Chang exposes the vision of the Hollands Kabinet (the government)—namely that of a pure, unique Dutch identity, as a myth.” —Ana Teixeira Pinto, The Gift That Keeps on Taking, 2026.

Dismemberment
Chang's most recent installation, Dismemberment (2024), consists of two interconnected spaces: a cinema and a gallery space that echoes the one depicted in the film. The gallery plays with the ethnographic gaze and is conceived as a ritual chamber filled with Korean shamanic objects: a ceremonial fan, watercolors, phallic sculptures and paper prayers. Dismemberment is a shamanic and political allegory in which the ideals of the Enlightenment, long used to justify colonial domination, are embodied in the figure of a gallery owner named Europe. She personifies the “European Enlightenment project” and modern ideals, a role performed by German actress Susanne Sachsse. Chang herself appears as an artist installing her work. Their interaction lays bare the extent to which Enlightenment thinking is bound up with notions of superiority, how it has led to biopolitics, forced displacement and oppression, and how these mechanisms continue to operate today.

Sara Sejin Chang
Korean-Dutch artist Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide, 1977) lives and works in Berlin. She creates films and large-scale immersive installations and also works with textile, painting and text. Her work is presented internationally at biennials and museums and operates at the intersection of decolonial, diasporic, queer and feminist perspectives. Centraal Museum Utrecht has followed her career for many years and nominated her in 2023 for the Theodora Niemeijer Prijs, which she received in recognition of her oeuvre.

Centraal Museum Utrecht
From 2022 to 2027, Centraal Museum Utrecht is presenting a series of exhibitions at Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd. During this period, the historic country estate provides the setting for exhibitions by leading contemporary artists. Each artist is given an open platform to present work and aspirations in dialogue with the historic interiors. In this way, Centraal Museum Utrecht transforms the estate into a contemporary sanctuary for artistic freedom.

TRANSMUTATION is the eighth exhibition presented by Centraal Museum Utrecht at Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd.

TRANSMUTATION is curated by Laurie Cluitmans, Curator of Contemporary Art at Centraal Museum Utrecht / Director of Nest in The Hague.

Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd
Stichting Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd is an initiative of Stadsherstel Utrecht. The foundation ensures public access to this unique national heritage site and, together with Utrecht-based makers and institutions, develops a compelling programme in the fields of art, science and history.

Hartwig Art Foundation
Hartwig Art Foundation is dedicated to fostering and facilitating the production, presentation, mediation, preservation, and collection of contemporary art. Through artist collaborations and partnerships with a wide range of institutions, Hartwig Art Foundation foster new artistic production and engagement. Currently, the foundation is developing the Hartwig Museum, a new major contemporary art museum in Amsterdam, set to open in 2028. Until the museum opens, the temporary space Hartwig Proxy serves as a testing ground, conceived as a meeting place for neighbours, artists and cultural worlds alike. For more information: hartwigartfoundation.nl.

Following the first survey exhibition by Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) in the Netherlands, the GfZK—Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig will present the artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany from November 7, 2026, to February 28, 2027.