Artists: Caroline Girardot-Bijnen - Dawid Dobosz - Dijntje Bijvank - Isa Dahan - Jade-Elina Vuorinen - Maartje Sanders - Refia Dermancıoğlu - Rocco Enzo ter Haar - Saskia van der Kam - Sohju Kim - Sophie Paloma Thomas

Rietveld Academie (Public & Projects) collaborates with Volkshotel to present 12 alums during Amsterdam Art Week.

The exhibition is supported by Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht. Regional Public Water Authority Amstel, Gooi en Vecht is one of 21 regional water authories in The Netherlands. They manage the water in our country to prevent floods and make sure there is just the right amount of water for agriculture, urban living and other purposes.

Bodies of water

The properties of water are fundamental to our existence, yet our entanglement with it reaches far beyond the physical. Through our bodies, landscapes and ecosystems, water connects us to histories, politics and imagined futures, as well as to one another. How can these connections be made tangible through art? The exhibition approaches water both as a material force and a way of understanding the world. Some works engage directly with water, while others draw on its fluidity and transformative power to examine the structures shaping our lives, our relationships and the ways we inhabit the world together.

In this exhibition, water emerges not only as a resource or natural element, but as a lens through which to understand our place within larger systems of existence.

The exhibition is curated by Jeroen Kramer (Head of Basicyear, Rietveld Academie) and Anna Aagaard Jensen (Head of designLAB, Rietveld Academie).

Participants

Caroline Girardot-Bijnen, Dawid Dobosz, Dijntje Bijvank, Isa Dahan, Jade-Elina Vuorinen, Maartje Sanders, Refia Dermancıoğlu, Rocco Enzo ter Haar, Roos van Unen, Saskia van der Kam, Sohju Kim and Sophie Paloma Thomas.

Partners

Volkshotel is a place where there’s life 24/7 and creativity flows. In Volkshotel, locals and travellers gather to eat, drink, work, sleep and play. With Werkplaats (café & co-working spaces), Doka (nightly basement soundbar), Canvas (restaurant on the 7th floor), Broedplaats VKG (85 work spaces for creative minds) and 216 hotel rooms, this former newspaper building is more than just a place for tourists to sleep.

Stichting Amsterdam Art promotes and connects Amsterdam's contemporary art institutions and artists to strengthen the city's artistic ecosystem and make it accessible to local and international audiences. Since 2011, Amsterdam Art Week strengthens and transforms the city into a meeting hub for (inter)national artists, art lovers, professionals and collectors. Upcoming edition of Amsterdam Art Week 2026 takes place from 18 to 22 November 2026.

Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht is one of 21 regional water authories in the Netherlands. They manage the water in the Netherlands to prevent floods and make sure there is just the right amount of water for agriculture, urban living and other purposes. Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht is situated in the provinces of North Holland, Utrecht and a small part of South Holland. They support this project because they want to offer young artists a platform and are keen to hear their perspectives on water and our living environment, also because these artists belong to the generation that will feel the effects of climate change, urbanisation and changes to the natural world most acutely.