Sarah van Lamsweerde

Sponge Song#0 Looking back at the embodied listening session and its sculptural traces presented at Forplay Society on January 31st and February 1st as part of the collateral programme of the Kochi-Muziris Bienniale “The Gift that Keeps on Giving” curated by Voin de Voin. Participants were invited to dive into a reality where cities and bodies have adapted to climate change and flooding. Made especially for coastal city Kochi in South India, this collective experience kicked off a longer project about the environmental and colonial entanglements between Kerala and The Netherlands. Can we be like sponges and absorb the increasing influx of water instead of resisting it? If water indeed has memory, can listening to it redirect patterns of extraction and exploitation? Audiences were led by soundhealer Josh J. Mathew and artist Sarah van Lamsweerde through a sonic and tactile experience where sound was felt not just with the ears but with the whole body. Both listening session and installation suggest an ecosystem where sentient creatures float towards a different future together. This first iteration ended on Vypin beach with a ritual sponge bath accompanied by beautiful ‘botanical’ songs about mad mangroves and disappearing rivers performed by musician Leela L. Girishkuttan. Sound design Lars Hogenboom @sc.jaine , production Aravind Divakaran and Noel Sebastian @noel.87_ . Supported by a @mondriaanfonds voucher ✨️ Heartfelt thanks to Seljuk Rustum, Roshna Roy, Lakshmi KP and Palamparambil Family. All photos and videos @divakaran.aravind

We are glad to invite you to attend SPONGE SONG listening healing session by Sarah van Lamsveerde @lambswoolf as part of The Gift That Keeps On Giving Platform on 31 January and 1 February from 5 pm. at @forplaysociety For Sponge Song#0, artist Sarah van Lamsweerde and sound healer Josh J. Mathew invite you to follow along on a sonic trip, a dive into a reality where our cities and our bodies are adapting to climate change and flooding. Made especially for Kochi, it is a collective experience to kick off a longer project about the aquatic and colonial entanglements between Kerala and The Netherlands. Josh J. Mathew @soundhealingkochi Sound design: Lars Hogenboom @sc.jaine . production Aravind Divakaran @divakaran_aravind & Noel Sebastian @noel.87_ Duration: 45 min. Places limited, come on time Supported by @mondriaanfonds @aether_sofia

🎙️ Picha Talk – Épisode 25 🎙️ ✨ avec Emmanuelle Nsunda ✨ Dans le cadre des activités de recherche et de création menées à Lubumbashi, @picha_art_center reçoit Emmanuelle Nsunda, artiste engagée dans l’écriture, la curation et la production. Dans cet épisode, Emmanuelle revient sur le projet du Panneau n°8 et sur le collectif international TRACER, porteur de cette initiative. Elle explique comment ce projet, à la croisée de l’art, de la mémoire et de la recherche, éclaire sa présence à Lubumbashi et nourrit un dialogue avec les scènes locales. Elle évoque également la projection du film Changwe Yetu, suivie d’une discussion prévue vendredi 19 décembre 2026 au Centre d’art et de recherche Picha, prolongeant l’expo-performance présentée le 19 novembre au Park Hotel. En parallèle, TRACER et le Panneau n°8 sont en résidence chez Enough Room for Space (ERforS) en Belgique, dans le cadre du programme « Institute of Colonial Culture », initié par Maarten Vanden Eynde, en partenariat avec le MNB et l’UNILU. Membres actifs du collectif 🎙️ Picha Talk - Episode 25 🎙️ ✨ with Emmanuelle Nsunda ✨ As part of the research and creative activities conducted in Lubumbashi, @picha_art_center receives Emmanuelle Nsunda, an artist engaged in writing, curation and production. In this episode, Emmanuelle returns to the Panel No. 8 project and to the international collective TRACER, which is responsible for this initiative. She explains how this project, at the crossroads of art, memory and research, illuminates her presence in Lubumbashi and nurtures a dialogue with local scenes. She also mentions the screening of the film Changwe Yetu, followed by a discussion scheduled for Friday, December 19, 2026 at the Picha Art and Research Center, extending the exhibition-performance presented on November 19 at the Park Hotel. In parallel, TRACER and Panel No. 8 are in residence at Enough Room for Space (ERforS) in Belgium, as part of the « Institute of Colonial Culture » program, initiated by Maarten Vanden Eynde, in partnership with the MNB and UNILU. #PichaTalk #EmmanuelleNsunda #TRACER #PanneauNumero8 #ShangweYetu #PichaArtCenter

Presenting artists for @kochibiennale collateral program @forplaysociety curated by @aetherartspace Sarah Van Lansweerde @lambswoolf Brussels born and based artist creates performances, installations and publications that question the way we look at art and reality. Experimenting with extracurricular methods (oral traditions, unfamiliar languages, underprivileged senses) is central in her often collaborative working processes. She graduated from Dasarts in Amsterdam with a master’s degree in artistic research and performance (MA). Her work has been presented internationally in theatre as well as visual art contexts. She is one of the founders of Tre Tigri, an undisciplined artists’ association for individual and collective projects. Alongside her own work, she contributes to practices and platforms such as Performing Objects (ErfS, Brussels), BAU Dance & Performance (Amsterdam)and IM Company (Paris). She lives in Brussels and Amsterdam For the platform The Gift That Keeps On Giving she develops a series of social interventions and workshop, with the fantastic title Sponge Songs 23 January- 8 February 2026

SWIPE➡️ 📸 Retour en images — TRACER Une plongée dans la mémoire artistique congolaise Avant-Hier le 19 novembre 2025, au Park Hotel, le public a découvert TRACER en collaboration avec le @picha_art_center et la @biennale_de_lubumbashi , une recherche artistique collective réunissant des artistes basés en Belgique, en Hollande et en RDC. Une exploration sensible autour d’un panneau de décor peint par Mwenze Kibwanga pour le spectacle Changwe Yetu (1956), et une réflexion sur l’héritage vivant des peintres du Hangar conservé au Park Hotel. La soirée a été rythmée par une prestation musicale vibrante de Sando Marteau, marchant sur les traces de Jean-Bosco Mwenda wa Bayeke et insufflant une énergie contemporaine à cette rencontre entre mémoire, art et transmission _____ 📸 Images Recap — TRACER A dive into Congolese artistic memory The day before yesterday on November 19, 2025, at the Park Hotel, the public discovered TRACER in collaboration with the @picha_art_center and the @biennale_de_lubumbashi , a collective artistic research project bringing together artists based in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the DRC. A sensitive exploration of a stage backdrop painted by Mwenze Kibwanga for the 1956 performance Changwe Yetu, and a reflection on the living heritage of the Hangar painters preserved at the Park Hotel. The evening was animated by a vibrant musical performance by Sando Marteau, walking in the footsteps of Jean-Bosco Mwenda wa Bayeke and infusing contemporary energy into this encounter between memory, art, and transmission. 📸 @you.mister.g #Tracer #Picha #PichaArtCenter #CongoleseArt #HangarPainters #MwenzeKibwanga #JeanBoscoMwenda #SandoMarteau #ArtHeritage #LubumbashiArt #CongoCulture #ContemporaryArtAfrica #ArtResearch #MemoryAndArt #ParkHotelLubumbashi

TRACER back in Lubumbashi! TRACER is a collective artistic research project around the painting ‘Panel no 8’. It was painted in 1954 as one of 33 stage backdrops of the interdisciplinary colonial performance Changwe Yetu (Our Festival). This production was commissioned by the Union Minière de Haut-Katanga as a cultural propaganda involved many members of the mining communities as singers and dancers. Panel no 8 was painted by Mwenze Kibwanga and after a tour of Belgium in 1958 it outlived its creator, the colonial regime, the other 32 panels and nearly everyone else involved at the time. What role could it have now? How can the joy expressed in this painting be emancipated from its violent history without effacing it? Could it bring joy and freedom to the people it was separated from? With: @le.seum.heureux @jessevanwinden @lambswoolf From Europe: @k.tuiri @victoire.karera Supported by: @picha_art_center @jstshilumba @kasau_wa_mambwe @enoughroomforspace

Sarah Van Lamsweerde - performance- en installatiekunstenaar: ‘De culturele boycot is expliciet niet gericht tegen individuele kunstenaars binnen of buiten Israël die zich uitspreken tegen genocide en onderdrukking. Het is gericht tegen een systeem dat geweld normaliseert. Stelling nemen brengt risico’s met zich mee omdat er iets te verliezen valt, maar als we nu niks doen, is er straks veel meer te verliezen: medemenselijkheid, vrijheid, leven.’ → Sluit je ook aan, lees meer over de @cultureleboycotisrael.nu via 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐨 #nobusinessasusual #cultureleboycotisrael #boycotisrael #freefreepalestine #culturalboycottisrael #BDS

😰Two weeks ago, my father-in-law Achan 'Kuttan' Palamparambil suddenly passed away, leaving us all - his family and my partner Manoj - with broken hearts. When I first met Achan 3 years ago, he appeared out of the garden with several species of plants. He explained that he was gathering these for the funeral of a fellow villager: small sticks cut from the banyan tree, the bark of areca palm and coconut leaf to make a basket for the ashes; several other plants such as banana tree and holy basil to symbolically reconstitute that person's body at a memorial place near the home. Now it has been Achan's turn to receive these special last rites, surrounded by his family and all the people to whom he made a difference, every day. As the mighty mantra Om Tryambakam Yajamahe says: may he be liberated from earthly bondages, just as a ripe cucumber is released from the creeper that holds it. May his rising light show us the way 💫 @manoj_kuttanson ❤️‍🩹

Agripuncture is back! Esther Mugambi and I operate under this name for a series of projects that looks at sharp memories that become etched into the landscape. Together with residents, we identify the pain points of an area or region: small or big shocks that leave lasting traces. Last Saturday, for Kunst & Zwalm, we mapped out some 'pijnpunten’ of the Zwalmstreek (between Ghent and Brussels) with local residents. Inspired by a string of local chapels dedicated to Our Lady of 7 Sorrows (Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Zeven Weeën), this time the focus is on how this environment is experienced differently depending on your gender. To highlight the importance of oral transmission in communities, these experiences and stories are transformed into a song - a Sore Spot Song - which will be heard in an installation on the route of @kunstenzwalm open on 3 weekends at the end of summer: August 30th-31st, September 6th-7th and 13th-14th. Kunst&Zwalm '25 is curated by @kunstenplatformplanb , thanks to Ewoud Vermote @_e_w_y_ and Vincent Focquet @vivi_focquet for including us in this beautiful manifestation. Cartography / Graphic Design Myrna D'Ambrosio @myrna__d

𝗞𝘂𝗻𝘀𝘁 & 𝗭𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘁 𝗼𝗽: 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘂𝘂𝗿 ⟟ Zaterdag 21 juni van 14u tot 17u in Het Groene Lilare, Zwalm Kunstenaars Sarah van Lamsweerde en Esther Mugambi werken voor Kunst & Zwalm ‘25 aan een project getiteld “Sore Spot Songs”. In de workshop benoemen we samen plekken in onze omgeving waar iets pijnlijks is gebeurd. Dat kan iets groots zijn, zoals een auto-ongeluk, maar ook iets kleins dat toch blijvende sporen achterlaat. Samen gaan we aan de slag met deze verhalen. Verwacht tijdens deze workshop iets te ontdekken over de Zwalmstreek, over elkaar en over de helende kracht van planten en liederen. Adres Het Groene Lilare: Latemdreef 77, 9630 Zwalm Gratis toegang Reservaties: https://forms.gle/SgkTS4FS7QDfpGwJA

☄️ On the final day of the presentation, Museum De Lakenhal announced that 'Majalla's Mantel - Frayed edges of the Leiden Cloth' will become part of their collection. We are so excited and grateful! The museum has acquired both material and immaterial parts of the installation consisting of sculpture, textile, song, lyrics and video. Curator Nicole Roepers: "We are proud that 'Majalla's Mantel' brought to life voices and stories from Leiden's entanglements with slavery. Giving these a permanent place in our collection is of great value." Majalla's Mantel is a project by Alicia Hoost, Sarah van Lamsweerde, Esther Mugambi, Eugenie Boon and Claire Zandvliet. We are hugely indebted to all wonderful people who shared stories with us, in particular Jacintha Groen, Percy Kruythoff, Palmyra Lieuw, Evita Marchena, Annemarie Nodelijk and Joshua Snijders. The project was made possible by @fondsvoorcultuurparticipatie , @mondriaanfonds , @leidsedeken and @museumdelakenhal . Read more about our project via link in bio. 📷: Wilke Geurds @evitamarchena @__annies.store__ @de_joshua_snijders @percykruythoff @groenwart

Inspired by stories of resistance to slavery, Alicia Hoost, Claire Zandvliet, Esther Mugambi, Eugenie Boon and I decided to posthumously create a 'freedom cloak' for the enslaved boy Majalla and his peers. This resulted in the project “Majalla's Mantel,” consisting of songs, an exhibition and a performance. In this final performance on March 29, various components of the project come together to form Majalla's cloak. The songs that accompany the assemblage of the cloak were written in response to conversations with Leiden descendants of enslaved people and conversations during the unraveling sessions held this summer. Join us! 🤩 Check link in bio for more info, the exhibition is open till April 16th. Costume design: Janneke Raaphorst @janicka_ravenhirst Sound design: LamLai @lamlai_lee @lambswoolf @simphictallicious @k.tuiri @eugenieboon.atelier @naaiclubnoord @leidsedeken @mondriaanfonds @fondsvoorcultuurparticipatie