Sonsbeek 2026 x Focus: Excavating darkness: a sensorial (dis)orientation in four parts hosted by ArtEZ (rooftop cinema)
Sonsbeek 2026
Focus Filmtheater, Arnhem
9 September 2026,
21.00hr –
23.00hr
Inleiding
Working from the premise of “storytelling that originates in a different dark”, second- and third-year students from Base for Experiment Art and Research (BEAR) at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem, have revisited the landmark Heart of Darkness exhibition curated by Marianne Brouwer at the Kröller Müller Museum (1994-95) – a touchstone reference for Sonsbeek 2026 and the film programme at Focus.
On Wednesday 9 September, the students take you on a sensory journey through the artistic outcomes of their research. Through a dramaturgy of film screenings, talks and culinary tastings, the evening will move through historical and geographical contexts and draw parallels between experiences of war, exile and the building of solidarity across differences.
Image: Evan Jullian Restu Respat, Whispers of Connection, film still, archival material from the Gelders Archief, 2026.
STUDENTS
Mortis Boedhoe, Chenxin Feng, Canan Cosgun, Kandido Filgueiras, Yazhi Fu, Emma Geerlings, Gray Guabyte, Vineeta Havik, Hagen HOssLE, Kyungha Kil, Ziyuan Liu, Cesare Luczka, Nicole Otero Pouerie, Evan Jullian Restu Respat, Ava Tkaczuk, Lotus Parel van Zoggel.
About Darkness Reframed
Throughout August and September, Focus Film Theater and Sonsbeek 2026 present Darkness Reframed - eight screening programs featuring cinema classics and artist shorts at the roof top cinema and in the cinema room. With introductions and Q&As afterwards, the film program opens up the space to reflect on how Western imperialisation and its inherited forms of representation have impacted memory. Departure point for the film program is the Heart of Darkness exhibition curated by Marianne Brouwer at the Kröller-Muller museum in 1994-95, which has been a touchstone for Sonsbeek 2026. Part of the exhibition was Citizen X, a video programme curated by Corinne Diserens, which will be revisited in Darkness Reframed.