40″x30″; archival pigment print; 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Layered Realities
at Fotomuseum Hilversum, Hilversum, Netherlands
21 May-18 October 2026
Fotomuseum Hilversum presents “Layered Realities: Photography & Collage,” an international group exhibition featuring contemporary artists from the Netherlands and abroad who work with collage. The exhibition brings together both established names and emerging artists, several of whom are being presented in the Netherlands for the first time. In this exhibition, the boundaries of photography are challenged through collage and connected to different media, ranging from installation and video to sculptural work.
The artists use collage as a visual language to explore pressing themes such as identity, family history, and the role of images in a world saturated with visual information. Many of the works begin with the layered nature of the material itself: artists cut, stack, and combine images. As a result, the photographic works become almost tactile—not only seen, but felt.
Collage emerged in the early twentieth century as a response to political and social unrest. Artists used images from newspapers and magazines to criticize politics, modern life, and conservative ideas around gender. Collage became a way to protest and challenge existing ways of thinking.
In “Layered Realities,” artists show how a new generation of makers is once again turning to collage to explore fresh perspectives on urgent contemporary issues. Using archival photographs and personal material, Thato Toeba and Guanyu Xu reveal that history is never fixed, but shaped by what we choose to show—and what we leave out. In the work of Michael Young and Samaa Abu Allaban, personal stories and memories come together, presenting identity as something made up of multiple layers. Other artists, such as Sara Bezovšek and Jaya Pelupessy, respond to the overwhelming stream of images we process every day. Noémie Goudal creates constructed environments that invite viewers to imagine scenarios that do not yet exist.
The exhibition features work by Samaa Abu Allaban, Mercedes Azpilicueta, Ruth van Beek, Sara Bezovšek, Cortis & Sonderegger, Frido Evers, Noémie Goudal, Camille Lévêque and Lucie Khahoutian, Neo Matloga, Jaya Pelupessy, Sheida Soleimani, Thato Toeba, Justin Ugochukwu, Guanyu Xu, and Michael Young. The exhibition is curated by Fiepke van Niel.
(text adapted from material provided by the gallery)
INFORMATION
Fotomuseum Hilversum
Kerkbrink 6
1211 BX Hilversum, Netherlands
+31 35 533 9601
Hours:
Tuesday-Sunday, 11AM-5PM