Report by Peter Soudant
Today, for Manifestations 2026, I am on the hunt for young talent in Maastricht. Because the academy’s main building is being renovated, the majority of the exhibition is taking place this year for the first time in the former ENCI (old cement factory) on the outskirts of Maastricht, bordering the Belgian border.
But I start with Fine Arts (autonomous) in the monumental Steursgebouw (former patronage building next to the main building) in the center of Maastricht. I immediately noticed a mixed feeling among the graduates: on the one hand, joy that they are finished; on the other, sadness over the final farewell to a striking building, a home, where each of them had their own characteristic studio for the past year. It has, in fact, been sold to the Oostwegel Collection, owner of the Kruisherenhotel across the street: a luxury hotel in a former monumental church where I received my diploma back in 1984(!). The building will become part of that hotel and serve as a residence for visitors to André Rieu and the TEFAF art fair. As a protest, a banner was hung last year, clearly visible to the hotel guests across the street, with the text: “The future artists of TEFAF study here”.
Anyway, the first graduate I bumped into was also the winner of the Henriette Hustinx Award 2026: the driven Emma Penders. She had an installation with video, sound and moving objects. Winner Henriette Hustinx Award 2026 and Gilbert de Bontridder Award
Via a room by Thijs Stienen with impressively large oil-painted cotton canvases (“100 Zebras”), I then walked across a kind of zebra crossing to Lorenzo Meloni’s room: a kind of temple for homoerotic drawings with lots of penises.
Moving on to the largest space in the building, where SOEP art collective (Jeen Ventje, Fien van der Vleugel, Tucho Schrijen, and Tessa Guichelaar) had created Postark Moblique, an enormous tent-like structure with a strong Do It Yourself squat atmosphere where all sorts of things are happening in and around it. Winners of the Mique Eggermont Award 2026
On the first floor, pretty much the other extreme: a high-tech interactive audiovisual installation (albeit with second-hand equipment) by Thu Vân Nguyen, where you could, among other things, see yourself through various filters. “Somewhere inbetween digital interfaces and returning to breath.”
And then one of my absolute favorites in Maastricht: Ruthvienca ‘Ruvi’ Pietersz. I was immediately sold by the crushingly expressive paintings that reminded me of the good old Neue Wilden. But not made by a white Westerner, it was made by a woman of color from Curaçao. Recommended!
On to the AINSI location (by shuttle bus) for the exhibition The Beginnings: Communication and Multimedia Design, Design/Architecture and Interior Design, Visual Arts and Design Teacher, Interdisciplinary Arts, Autonomous Visual Arts, and Master Scientific Illustration, in a huge hall of the former ENCI (Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie) cement factory. It is now called AINSI (Art-Industry-Nature-Society-Innovation): a multidisciplinary building on the Maas River serving as a hub for the creative industry in Maastricht and the region. Quite a mouthful, so here is a brief selection, with a particular focus on design.
First Jody Peeters. In Rebirth she explores how clothing expresses meaning and identity. Her graduation project connects personal and professional experiences through a collection for men in Limburg’s cultural and sports sectors, bringing together her business, studies, and local environment.
Next, interior designer Mees Cappers. He explores the balance between human intervention and the autonomy of the object. Using steel, wood, and travertine, he creates sculptural furniture that unites craftsmanship, material expertise, intuition, and exceptional attention to detail. Nominated Henriëtte Hustinx Award 2026
Report by Peter Soudant (Heerlen, 1961) Alumnus Academy of Visual Arts Maastricht 1984. Founder of the Vormaat agency, lecturer in New Media Training and various guest lectures/lectures on typography and graphic design throughout the country. Owner JekerGalerie Maastricht and 1A Galerie Heerlen. Involved with Manifestations since 2025 as a tour guide and information desk.
Photography: Peter Soudant
