Leana Boven

Meet the curator! Op 23 mei opent WAYWARD SANCTUARIES in De Garage, gecureerd door @leanaboven — curator, schrijver en onderzoeker met roots in Paramaribo. Haar werk richt zich op gemeenschap, solidariteit, diasporische identiteit en antikoloniale praktijken. Ze cureerde tentoonstellingen bij onder andere MAMA, Casco Art Institute en Gemaal op Zuid, is momenteel curator bij Stroom Den Haag en docent aan de Design Academy Eindhoven. Met WAYWARD SANCTUARIES brengt ze 15 deelnemers van POC POC samen, het mentoringprogramma van The Constant Now, rond de urgente vraag: hoe bouw je een thuis in een wereld die voortdurend verandert? De groepstentoonstelling is het resultaat van een tweejarig traject van ontmoeting, uitwisseling en ontwikkeling. ENG Meet the curator! On 23 May, WAYWARD SANCTUARIES opens at De Garage, curated by Leana Boven — a curator, writer and researcher with roots in Paramaribo. Her work focuses on community, solidarity, diasporic identity and anti-colonial practices. She has curated exhibitions at MAMA, Casco Art Institute and Gemaal op Zuid, and is currently a curator at Stroom Den Haag and a tutor at the Design Academy Eindhoven. With WAYWARD SANCTUARIES, she brings together 15 participants from POC POC — The Constant Now’s mentoring programme — around the urgent question: how do you build a home in a world that is constantly shifting? The group exhibition is the result of a two-year trajectory of encounter, exchange and development.

Hoe bouw je een thuis in een wereld die voortdurend verschuift? WAYWARD SANCTUARIES is een groepstentoonstelling van Kunsthal Mechelen, The Constant Now en de Brakke Grond, gecureerd door Leana Boven. Als afsluiting van POC POC, het mentoringprogramma van The Constant Now, brengt de tentoonstelling een nieuwe generatie kunstenaars samen rond ideeën over thuis, verbeelding en collectieve toekomstvorming. Met werk van: @elise_ely @way.charts @jonabelhuavas @feta_kuti @bumbasexual @joe.palfra @lunaluuuuz @chenhsiaohsi @charbelalkhoury @_jiyoch @_aichaouattara_ @mlywltr @__twie @respekmeteieren @kadia__doumbouya Opening: zaterdag 23 mei, 16:00 — De Garage, Mechelen. Na Mechelen reist de tentoonstelling door naar Amsterdam.  Ontwerp door KEEN ENG How do you build a home in a world that is constantly shifting? WAYWARD SANCTUARIES is a group exhibition by Kunsthal Mechelen, The Constant Now and De Brakke Grond, curated by Leana Boven. As the culmination of POC POC, The Constant Now’s mentoring programme, the exhibition brings together a new generation of artists engaging with questions of home, imagination, and collective future-making. Featuring work by: Elise El Yousfi, Collyns Charts, Jonabel Huavas, Aya Koné, Eveline Bumba, Joseph Thabang Palframan, Luz E.L. Bran, Hsiao Hsi Chen, Charbel Alkhoury, Jiyoung Chu, Aïcha Ouattara, Emily Walter, Thuy Lê Thi Thu, Kenny Mala Ngombe and Kadia Doumbouya. Opening: Saturday 23 May, 16:00 — De Garage, Mechelen. After Mechelen, the exhibition travels to Amsterdam. Design by KEEN

A sweet and tender homecoming. I am still looking for words to describe this return back home to my motherland Suriname. The place where I lived until I was 8 years old, and visited again only once when I was 15 years old. In those three weeks in Suriname I met my two youngest siblings and many nieces and nephews for the first time. I was reunited with my father and got to see him shine in his role as the Wayana granman/chief. I was welcomed back in Anapaike/Kawemhakan with so much love and warmth, and spent days swimming in the Marowijne river and walking through the forest. It has been a truly humbling experience being surrounded by the beauty of the Amazon and to be gifted the stories of the spirits and mythological creatures. To walk the same earth and to swim the same waters as my great-great-grandparents and the many generations before. And to just be present and enjoy the company of people who look just like me. Spending time in Paramaribo was also sweet, and I cannot wait to be back. I left feeling enriched in a way I have never felt before, and returned back home in Rotterdam with many reflections, ideas, and renewed energy. Much more to say but for now Gran Tangi en tot snel ❤️

<3 ༄ 🤭

❄️ 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐫𝐢𝐣𝐝𝐚𝐠 𝟏𝟔 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐢. ❄️ Kom 𝐯𝐫𝐢𝐣𝐝𝐚𝐠 𝟏𝟔 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟕:𝟎𝟎 𝐮𝐮𝐫 naar de finissage van de tentoonstelling 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖 – 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑟𝑖𝑗! 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑛 50 𝑗𝑎𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑓ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑗𝑘ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑑, waarin kunstenaar Sara Blokland samen met Sherlien Sanches en Leana Boven reflecteert op bekende en minder bekende verhalen uit de koloniale geschiedenis die in 1975 geleid hebben tot de onafhankelijkheid van Suriname. Ze duiken onder andere in de historische context van de protestmars in december 1976, toen vijftig 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑠 Surinaamse vrouwen en mannen in vier dagen 150 kilometer van Albina naar Paramaribo liepen om de rechten te eisen van het land waarop zij al eeuwenlang leefden. Voortbouwend op deze geschiedenis reflecteert het gesprek op protesten, niet als verre archiefmomenten, maar als geleefde geschiedenis met blijvende relevantie. Daarna volgt een performance van musicoloog mo w/rights. In samenwerking met The Black Archives dook hij in de geschiedenis van de Surinaamse socialistische organisatie LOSON en het album Stré Pokoe, dat veertien revolutionaire strijdliederen bevat die een progressieve wereldvisie en internationale solidariteit tegen kolonialisme, racisme en fascisme uitdragen. ▪️Meld je aan → 🔗 IN BIO ▬▬▬ De tentoonstelling 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖 – 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑟𝑖𝑗! 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑛 50 𝑗𝑎𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑓ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑗𝑘ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑑 presenteert werk van kunstenaars Sara Blokland & Jaya Pelupessy en Xavier Robles de Medina en is samengesteld door curator Vincent van Velsen. ▬▬▬ @mo.rights @the_blackarchives @sherliensanches @leanaboven @sarablokland @jayapelupessy @vanvelsenvincent 📸 Opening 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖 – 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑟𝑖𝑗! 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑛 50 𝑗𝑎𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑓ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑗𝑘ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑑 (2025). Photo: © Ben Yau / Framer Framed.

NEWS! In February 2026, we present Positions: Unearthing: a group exhibition within the Positions program, bringing together four artists who engage with social issues and invite us to see the world differently. Artists Priyageetha Dia, Ben Yau, Roger Anis, and Marie Civikov unite around a common vision: making visible marginalized and erased stories, and retelling histories and transmissions that shape our sense of community and connectedness. Although their backgrounds and working methods differ, the artists are united by a practice that is both investigative and poetic. They move through places, histories, and memories as if excavating a long-buried artefact, gently brushing away the soil around what is fragile, attentive to the faint impressions that remain, and alert to the empty spaces where new meanings can emerge. - What stories have been erased? - What traces linger beneath the surface? - And how do fragments of the past become starting points for new narratives? Positions: Unearthing reminds us that history is never fixed, it is continually rewritten in the present. Save the date: Opening 6 February 2026. Stay tuned via the link in bio for updates on the exhibition, events, and activities. With Positions, Stroom highlights artistic talent from The Hague through exhibitions, research, lectures, and performances. Positions: Unearthing is made possible thanks to the support of the City of The Hague. [NL] NIEUWS! In februari 2026 presenteren we Positions: Unearthing: een groepstentoonstelling die je uitnodigt om verborgen verhalen en vergeten geschiedenissen te ontdekken. De tentoonstelling brengt vier kunstenaars samen: Priyageetha Dia, Ben Yau, Roger Anis en Marie Civikov. Samen verkennen ze wat gemarginaliseerd of uitgewist is, en vertellen ze geschiedenis opnieuw, poëtisch, onderzoekend en verrassend. Design: @kylienbergh #StroomDenHaag #Positions #Unearthing #Exhibition #Opening #GemeenteDenHaag

The Throes/De Naweeën: evoking earth’s body Opening: 28 November 2025 Locatie: Gemaal op Zuid Language carries not only meaning, but also history—often burdened, sometimes suppressed. It holds traces of subjugation, religion, loss, but also of resistance, imagination, and healing. As the poet and artist Pelumi Adejumo rediscovers the language of her ancestors, unexplainable grief finds its home in the story of 𝘐𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘪 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 of Yoruba mythology. Their story promises us a (re)union of spirit and matter, and exposes the myth of Separation. In the upcoming exhibition at Gemaal op Zuid The Throes/De Naweeën Pelumi Adejumo explores how Yoruba mythology and cultural memory engage with grief, mortality, and desire. A new performance made by Adejumo and performed by Serah Doku Meijboom and Maïté Egeolu, will premiere during the opening on 28 November 2025. It retells the myth of the twins: one moving through hurdles on earth, while the other has passed into the realm of spirit. Although residing in different realms, they remain tethered to one another, leading to a haunting, evolving connection between these two realms. Adejumo asks us: 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴? In The Throes/De Naweeën Pelumi Adejumo views mythology as a balm to speak about the unbearable, a language beyond the scientific, rooted in rituals. Through public programs like writing workshops, the exhibition opens up Yoruba mythological history to wider conversation, especially for those in the diaspora seeking reconnection.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙮𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗭𝗼𝘂𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵.𝟬𝟬 The blueprints to build vessels of escape are everywhere. These blueprints for ships that carry us to an otherwise, to other shores where the boundaries between self and world, between me and you become fluid, have always already been among us. They animate our desire for something better, for a way of being that isn’t based on isolation, hierarchies, and destruction. They respond to our need to traverse the sea in a longing to connect with love, to become love. Join us at 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 to explore ideas and strategies on how to collectively struggle against modernity, against the separation imposed on us by the forces of subjugation. Rooted in Sufi spiritualities, Black Studies, decoloniality and feminist as well as Marxist thought and practice, Julia Wilhelm and Zouhair Hammana use the medium of blueprints to plot escape routes from the brutalities of modernity. As Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari say: ‘𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦.’ Mutual aid infrastructures make for sturdy vessels of care that allow us to experience our interdependence. From collective learning emerge flotillas of knowledge so we can recreate our worlds based on principles of collective responsibility and a profound understanding of the struggles of those who came before us. Plunging through the waters of uncertainty, the spherical qufa boat of spiritual practice gives itself over to the great will of the ocean to move us towards radical love for all beings, for being itself. At 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥, we are carried on a journey of setting sails for other shores where justice flourishes. Together, those of us who are driven by a longing to cross the ocean can study the blueprints that were passed on.

𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖

Let me introduce you to Periphery Center 🌀 A collective consisting of Pelumi Adejumo, Jeanine van Berkel, Yusser al Obaidi, Yessica Deira, and Leana Boven. Periphery Center is an emerging collective for artistic practice and shared study. Here, we center the margin as the main site for the production of a counter hegemonic discourse that is not just found in words but in habits of being and in the way one lives.* Here, we meet to inspire one another and co-create the reality we dream of through bookmaking, (graphic) design, publishing, curating, art and writing. *bell hooks, “Marginality as site of resistance” Pictured here after the workshop with @girlslikeusmagazine in @stichtingplaatsmaken organized by @lenncox Keep an eye out on future work! 💙

Join us for a panel discussion on the colonial heritage and gentrification of Rotterdam Zuid on Saturday, 28 June 2025, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM. The event will take place within the exhibition space on the third floor of Kunstinstituut Melly. As part of the closing weekend of Cihad Caner’s solo exhibition, we invite you to Afrikaanderwijk: gentrification and colonial heritage in Rotterdam Zuid — a conversation moderated by curator and cultural programmer @leanaboven Leana Boven, with artist @cihadcaner Cihad Caner, artistic researcher @hd.hndrsn Hannah Dawn Henderson, and curator and writer @tirdadzolghadr Tirdad Zolghadr. Together they’ll explore the colonial history of Afrikaanderwijk, its links to Afrikaans colonization in South Africa, and how gentrification today echoes these colonial dynamics. From urban development to displacement, they’ll discuss how art institutions can contribute to resilience rather than erasure. Book your ticket via the link in bio! Cihad Caner’s solo exhibition is on view at Kunstinstituut Melly until Sunday 29 June.

Our exhibition Beloved Waters is now open and on Friday 27 June, we’re diving deeper into its themes with the symposium Water Imaginaries 🌊. This day-long event brings together artists, designers, and researchers from institutions like Design Academy Eindhoven, the Royal Academy of Art The Hague, and the International Institute of Social Studies. Expect a rich programme of talks, performances, and screenings - all exploring the entanglements of storytelling, ecology, and cosmologies. Curious? Check the full programme and ticket info via our link in bio. Save the date: Friday 27 June. Don’t miss it! [NL] Onze tentoonstelling Beloved Waters is geopend en op vrijdag 27 juni gaan we dieper in op de thema’s met het symposium Water Imaginaries 🌊. Deze dag brengt kunstenaars, ontwerpers en onderzoekers samen van onder meer de Design Academy Eindhoven, de Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten en het International Institute of Social Studies. Het programma zit vol talks, performances en filmvertoningen over de verwevenheid van verhalen, ecologie en stedelijke ruimte. Het volledige programma en ticketinfo vind je via de link in bio. Save the date: vrijdag 27 juni. Mis het niet! #StroomDenHaag #Stroom #BelovedWaters #WaterImaginaries #ContemporaryArt #DesignAcademyEindhoven #KABK #ISS #Symposium