Sonsbeek 2026 Spiraling Out
Sonsbeek 2026
City Hall, Arnhem
11 October 2026,
14.00hr –
18.00hr
Performance
Inleiding
On Sunday 11 October, Sonsbeek 2026 wraps up at Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven’s Mystic Hexagram. After hundred days of volunteers and gardeners taking care of the 32.940 flowers and herbs in Van Kerckhoven’s galactic design, the Milky Way spirals out. Everyone is invited to take the plants home, carrying memories of Sonsbeek 2026 within them.
Arnhem alderman for culture Mounia Arkhouch will be present to open this celebratory moment. Before her speech, the experimental sound duo buulbuul (from Kazakh 'nightingale') will offer a final song to the garden. Afterwards, the alderwoman will be the first to receive the flowers. The Sonsbeek 2026 team invites all residents and visitors to take the plants home. The handing out will follow a specific choreography set to a cosmic playlist of songs that Van Kerckhoven listened to whilst making Mystic Hexagram.
Mystic Hexagram by Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven was commissioned by Sonsbeek 2026 and the Hartwig Art Foundation, and made possible in part by Flanders State of the Art and the BNG Culture Fund.
Performance by buulbuul
'Nargis-e mastana/The catalogue of stars/What was a single seed a garden now' by buulbuul
14.00hr - 14.20hr
buulbuul (from Kazakh 'nightingale') is an experimental sound duo consisting of Kassym Kushkimbayev and Haider Timur. Following their joint residency at the JaJaJaNeeNeeNee Radio in Amsterdam in 2024, Kas and Haider performed their piece ‘Nargis-e mastana’ at Perdu (Amsterdam) which drew on Persianate poetry and music.
On Sunday 11 October buulbuul responds to Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven’s Mystic Hexagram with a rendition of ‘Nargis-e mastana’, taking cues from the flowers in the cosmological garden and poetic, musical and visual references from Central Asian artistic and scientific histories. Inspired by the 15th century Catalogue of Stars compiled by astronomer and Timurid sultan Ulugh Beg and other scientists, the music follows specific constellation coordinates. For this performance, buulbuul will wear floral cosmological embroidery patterns and use an instrument called doira, which has mystic connotations originating in Zoroastrian rituals.
About the artists
Haider Timur (he/him) is a graphic designer and artist based in Amsterdam. He began Studio Haider Timur to develop sound, performance, and installation practice and create narrative-driven performances. Haider is currently pursuing an MA in Design at the Sandberg Institute. In his personal artistic projects, he is concerned with externalised depictions of bodily autonomy within poetic imaginaries and natural landscapes.
Kassym K (the/them), also known as yourfriendkas, is a Kazakhstani artist based in Amsterdam. Their work usually consists of auditory and visual experiences, writing, performance, publications, community building, and various reproductive/supportive involvements.
Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven (b. 1951, Antwerp) is an Antwerp-based artist. In her drawings, works on paper and textile, videos, murals, and installations, the erotic meets machine-fetishism with a straightforward feminist tone, intersecting science, philosophy, mysticism, technology, and social issues. In the early 1980s, neuroscientist Luc Steels invited her to the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Brussels to create visual languages with scientific imagery. Since 1981, with her partner Danny Devos, she is part of key experimental band Club Moral. In 2023, she was the second artist featured in the FAÇADE series, KANAL–Centre Pompidou, Brussels. Her solo exhibitions have been held at venues including Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, 2022 (a.o., since 1982); Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, 2025 (a.o., since 2000); M HKA, Antwerp, 2018 (and 1999); Kunstverein Hannover, 2017; Kunstverein München, 2014; Mu.ZEE, Ostend, 2012; The Renaissance Society, Chicago, 2011; and WIELS, Brussels, 2008. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at venues such as S.M.A.K., Ghent, 2019 (a.o., since 2003); ICA, Philadelphia, 2013; and The Artist’s Institute, New York, 2011. Her work is in collections including Kunsthalle, Bern; Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels; M HKA; S.M.A.K.; Mu.ZEE; and the University of Chicago.