Herengracht401

23/09/2026

We are happy to look back at the recent Xarkis Festival in Kalavasos, where the work of 23 artists came together in a vibrant programme of exhibitions, performances, encounters and exchanges.

As part of Contested Desires , the festival offered an important space to share the outcomes of artistic research and residencies developed throughout the project.

A special thank you to the Xarkis team for bringing these works and encounters together, and to all the participating artists for their commitment and creativity.

We are especially happy to see the work of the artists who also spent time in residence in Amsterdam with us: Charmaine de Heij , Sithabile Mlotshwa , Maria Luigia Gioffrè , Carlos Noronha Feio , Elisabeth Efua Sutherland , and Mohammed. It has been wonderful to follow their journeys and now see the results of their work.

We are proud to have been part of this process and grateful for the conversations, collaborations and connections that continue to grow.

XF2026 took place as part of Contested Desires: Constructive Dialogues project. CDCD is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Xarkis Residency is also supported by the Deputy Ministry of Culture & the Community Council of Kalavasos.

Photo by 
Andreas Gregoras 📷ANDREAS GREGORAS📷 
Andrea Constantinide Unicon Visuals
© Xarkis

21/09/2026

Today, on the International 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, we look back at last Friday’s gathering with Victoria Capriles and Geraldine Ch. as part of the project.

Through Victoria’a collages and our conversation on displacement, belonging and everyday peace, we explored how peace can also be found in small, everyday practice of making, remembering, connecting and rebuilding. Her work remind us that peace can also be composed from fragments of everyday life.

The conversation continues through the exhibition 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 which remains open at H401 Monday to Friday, 13:00-17:00.

📼If you couldn’t join us, the recording of the talk is now available on our YouTube Channel.

Come and visit the exhibition and discover the collages yourself.

🇪🇺 Peace & Mobilities is founded by the European Union.

11/09/2026

One week to go! ✂️
Next Friday, 18 September, join us at H401 for 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨: 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚.
Through a selection of collages created during her experience of forced displacement, Victoria Capriles reflects on 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.

The exhibition will be followed by a conversation with Victoria, moderated by Geraldine Chacón-Villarroel (Geraldine Ch. ), curator of the exhibition.

🗓️ Friday, 18 September | 17:30
📍 H401 – Herengracht 401, Amsterdam
✉️ RSVP: [email protected]
💻 Live stream available! Register for the link.
 
Come discover how fragments, images and everyday creative practices can help us think about displacement and peace.
 
🇪🇺Peace & Mobilities is funded by the European Union.

Amsterdam HumanRights

04/09/2026

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 & 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗻-𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗲𝗹 ✂️

On 18 September, H401 will host 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨: 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚, a talk and small exhibition by Victoria Capriles , as part of project.

Victoria is a Venezuelan human rights lawyer and visiting researcher at Bielefeld University. Through a selection of collages created during her own experience of forced displacement, she explores displacement, belonging and the everyday practices through which peace can be composed from fragments.

The conversation will be moderated by Geraldine Chacón-Villarroel, curator of the exhibition and Venezuelan human rights advocate. Geraldine leads advocacy work focused on mass atrocity prevention and freedom of religion or belief, bringing together advocates, policymakers and art practitioners.

Join us on Friday, 18 September at 17:30 to explore how collage can become a way of reflecting on displacement and everyday peace.

📍 H401 – Herengracht 401, Amsterdam
✉️ RSVP: [email protected]            
💻 Live stream available! Register for the link.
 
Peace & Mobilities is funded by the European Union.🇪🇺

03/09/2026

27/08/2026

A child’s portrait as a silent act of resistance

In 1943, the artist Gisèle van Waterschoot van der Gracht painted the young girl Karin, granddaughter of Kees and Mieke van Son-Broers, owners of the well-known delicatessens ‘De Wijs and Broers’ in Bergen and Alkmaar.

At first glance, it is a simple child’s portrait. But the painting tells a much bigger story.

From late 1941, the German occupying forces required artists to join the ‘Kultuurkamer’. Anyone who refused was barred from practising their profession. Gisèle refused. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and accepted commissions. As a result, this 1943 portrait was created in secret.

It is likely that the contact between Gisèle and Kees van Son came about through the poet Adriaan Roland Holst. During the war, Van Son presumably helped by providing food parcels for Gisèle and the people who were in hiding with her in Amsterdam. His daughters also cycled from Bergen to the Herengracht to deliver packages, without knowing what was inside them.

In this way, countless small, often invisible networks emerged during the nazi-occupation, in which people helped one another. Artists, shopkeepers, families and others — each from their own position.

The portrait remained in the family for decades. This week, Saskia Vleugel donated the painting to our foundation, in accordance with the final wish of her late sister Karin, the girl in the portrait. The original dress in which Karin was painted was also donated.

A portrait of a child, then. But also a quiet reminder of resistance, cooperation and courage — and of the important role that women played in all of this.

The photo collage shows: the childhood portrait of Karin Vleugel (1943), alongside her sister Saskia Vleugel, who is donating both the portrait and the accompanying dress to the house of Gisèle; and, in the bottom left-hand corner of the photo, Cornelis van Son in his shop, photographed by the poet Lucebert.

14/08/2026

🎙️ Diving into the Contact Zones – Connexiones Improbables

Our Diving into the Contact Zones podcast series brings together the voices behind the Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) project. Hosted by Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest), each episode explores a partner's local activities, workshops, and lessons learned, and how these shaped the shared TCZ curriculum for cultural mediators.

In this episode, Lukas Dedyn, Project Coordinator at Connexiones Improbables, and Alex Carrascosa—artist, activist, and professor at the University of the Basque Country—reflect on the development of the curriculum and discuss how artistic thinking and multipartial cultural mediation can help us engage with contested heritage.

Drawing on experiences from the Basque Country, they explore how cultural mediation is not about resolving conflicts, but about creating spaces where different perspectives can meet. Through artistic practice, memory becomes something we actively engage with, and everyone—not only museum professionals—can contribute to how places, histories, and their many layered narratives are understood and shared.

🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube – link in our bio!

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+ Adult Education.

09/08/2026

🎙️ Diving into the Contact Zones – H401

How can inclusive, decolonial heritage work be realised? What tools do we need to engage with contested histories? Our Diving into the Contact Zones podcast series brings together the voices behind the Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ) project. Hosted by Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest), each episode explores a partner's local activities, workshops, and lessons learned, and how these shaped the shared TCZ curriculum for cultural mediators.

In this episode, Joachim Umlauf (Goethe-Institut Bucharest) speaks with Micol Manunta, project coordinator of the Training for the Contact Zone project at H401 in Amsterdam, and multidisciplinary artist Minal Naomi Wickrematunge, who facilitated H401's TCZ pilot training.

Together, they reflect on the Contact Zone concept at the heart of the project and why it is especially relevant in post-colonial and post-totalitarian contexts, where contested histories, unequal power relations, and questions of whose voices are heard continue to shape collective memory. Minal also shares insights into the ongoing colonial continuities in Sri Lanka and explores how artistic and participatory practices can create new ways of engaging with identity, belonging, and difficult heritage.

🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube – link in our bio!

🔵 Training for the Contact Zone is co-funded by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+ Adult Education.

06/08/2026