FOTODOK

FOTODOK FOTODOK | Space to see, think and learn Organisation
FOTODOK was founded in 2008 by Femke Lutgerink and Rob Hornstra. Public Programme of lectures and events.

It began as a nomadic organisation, initiating events and exhibitions in collaboration with various partners such as: The Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht; Het Utrechts Archief; and at various other public locations. In 2014, FOTODOK settled its office and exhibition space at Lange Nieuwstraat 7, opening for six months a year. Direction of work
FOTODOK’s programme is b

ased upon four pillars. Exhibitions address socially relevant matters. Every year we put together at least two self-initiated exhibitions, both indoors and outdoors. It contains projects such as: FOTODOK Book Club, Taferelen, Female Perspective symposium, exhibition tours, and a 360 degree tour Virtual Presence. FOTODOK has three Talent Development programmes with local, national and international reaches, for artists in their first years of practice after graduation: Lighthouse, mentoring about 10 artists after their graduation from Dutch academies; Blurring the Lines, supporting over thirty international graduates; and Take Off, a digital meet-up for graduates across Dutch academies. Through our Education initiatives we encourage children and teenagers from the province of Utrecht to experience photography. We produce educational projects that range from long-term collaborations with schools in the province to workshops at our own location.

Donja Nasseri (Donja Nasseri 🐊) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.In “Both ...
31/08/2026

Donja Nasseri (Donja Nasseri 🐊) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.

In “Both the Universe and the Nothing” (2026), Nasseri explores q***r-feminist strategies of gender diversity through collage, photography and sculpture. Drawing on ancient Egyptian history and mythology, the installation brings together three bodies of work that challenge fixed ideas of gender, power and representation.

“Noble Women” centres on the pharaohs Akhenaten and Hatshepsut, whose representations resisted conventional gender roles and were systematically destroyed after their deaths. Nasseri reassembles these fragments into hybrid figures that propose new forms of identity.

Created especially for this exhibition, “My Beard is She” draws on the Osiris statues of Hatshepsut, transforming fragments of limestone, architecture and sculpture into protective bodies. The installation also includes works from “Liberated Pregnancy (...tears of a crocodile)”, referencing the crocodile god Sobek and ideas of fertility, protection and regeneration.

Together, the works connect ancient histories of destruction and survival with contemporary questions of gender, memory and identity.

Working across photography, collage, sculpture and installation, Nasseri brings historical and personal narratives into dialogue while exploring identity, colonialism and the politics of memory.

Curated by Daria Tuminas (Daria Tuminas) and Nayara Leite.

FOTODOK at Clublokaal (Clublokaal Breda)
11 September to 25 October 2026
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00

Part of BredaPhoto Festival (BredaPhoto).

More information via the link in bio.

Julius Thissen (Julius Thissen) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.In “Bones...
19/08/2026

Julius Thissen (Julius Thissen) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.
In “Bones of Graphene, Skin of Kevlar” (2024–2026), Thissen explores transgender and q***r visibility within an increasingly hostile political climate. The work forms the second chapter of “Watch It Collapse”, their long-term research into recurring histories of oppression and resistance.

Responding to anti-trans rhetoric that portrays the community as monstrous, Thissen reclaims and transforms this image. Their speculative world is inhabited by figures that embrace the monstrous while carrying traces of ancestral community memory. These beings embody strategies of survival, adaptation and transformation.

At the centre of the installation is the Beast, a protective figure moving between hardness and softness, strength and vulnerability. Through the Beast, Thissen imagines resilience and new forms of existence.

Based in Arnhem, Thissen works across photography and performance. Rooted in their experience as a transmasculine person, their practice explores community, representation and gender in relation to dominant power structures.

The work was made possible with the support of MU Hybrid Art House and was first exhibited there in Eindhoven.

Curated by Daria Tuminas (Daria Tuminas) and Nayara Leite.

FOTODOK at Clublokaal (Clublokaal Breda)
11 September to 25 October 2026
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00

Part of BredaPhoto Festival (BredaPhoto).

More information via the link in bio.

Nayara Leite (Nayara Leite) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.In her instal...
11/08/2026

Nayara Leite (Nayara Leite) is one of the artists featured in “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.

In her installation “One Knot for the People, One for Yourself, One for Xica” (2026), Leite imagines q***r political futures through histories of resistance. Five textile works combine original poems with archival images from “Lampião da Esquina”, an LGBTQ+ newspaper published during Brazil’s military dictatorship.

The work honours Xica Manicongo, considered the first known tr****ti in Brazil, and Erika Hilton, a Black tr****ti and member of Brazil’s National Congress. Tr****ti is a Latin American gender identity that was once used pejoratively and has since been reclaimed by activists.

Visitors are invited to tie three knots in ribbons from the artist’s region in Brazil while making wishes: one for the people, one for themselves and one for Xica.

Based in Bergen, Norway, Leite works across text, film, photography, performance and installation. Her practice brings together personal narratives, political discourse and archival material to explore migration, identity, resistance and belonging.

The work was realised with support from the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, Bergen Municipality and the Visual Artists’ Remuneration Fund.

Curated by Daria Tuminas (Daria Tuminas) and Nayara Leite.
FOTODOK at Clublokaal (Clublokaal Breda)
11 September to 25 October 2026
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00
Part of BredaPhoto Festival (BredaPhoto).

More information via the link in bio.

Last week, our office became a place of new connections.After receiving more than 30 enthusiastic responses to our volun...
06/08/2026

Last week, our office became a place of new connections.

After receiving more than 30 enthusiastic responses to our volunteer call, we welcomed a group of people interested in becoming part of FOTODOK. We shared dinner, introduced our autumn programme and spoke about what volunteering with us involves.

The evening concluded with an inspiring talk by Floor van den Bergh (Floor van den Bergh ⛰), who is collaborating with FOTODOK on Photoboekweek and other projects.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and brought such energy, openness and curiosity. We look forward to what may grow from this evening.

A first glimpse into “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.The exhibition brings together Donja Nasseri (Donja Na...
04/08/2026

A first glimpse into “A Spell Bundle: Manifesting Q***r Futurity”.

The exhibition brings together Donja Nasseri (Donja Nasseri 🐊), Ebun Sodipo (Ebun Sodipo), Julius Thissen (Julius Thissen), Nayara Leite (Nayara Leite) and S*an D. Henry-Smith ().

Inspired by José Esteban Muñoz’s “Cruising Utopia”, the exhibition approaches q***r futurity as a practice of imagination, resistance and collective world building. Across the artists’ practices, personal narratives, political urgency and archival research open space for other ways of living, relating and remembering.
Together, they form a spell bundle of care, survival and transformation.

Curated by Daria Tuminas (Daria Tuminas) and Nayara Leite
Design by Sara Cristina Moser (Studio Sara Cristina Moser)

FOTODOK at Clublokaal (Clublokaal Breda)
11 September to 25 October 2026
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00

Part of BredaPhoto Festival (BredaPhoto).

More information via the link in bio.

Anton Shebetko (Anton Shebetko) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES (Futures Photography) 2026. A Ukrainian artist,...
30/07/2026

Anton Shebetko (Anton Shebetko) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES (Futures Photography) 2026. A Ukrainian artist, photographer, curator, and writer from Kyiv, now based in Amsterdam, Shebetko explores LGBTQIA+ experiences in Ukraine through themes of memory, loss of identity, contested histories, and the possibilities of photography and archival material.

His ongoing project “Simeiz” traces the q***r history of a small village on Crimea’s southern coast. During the Soviet period, a secluded nudist beach became a rare space of freedom and encounter. Following Ukrainian independence, the bar and nightclub Hedgehogs helped establish Simeiz as an important gathering place for LGBTQIA+ communities from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia—until Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Combining oral histories with reworked archival photographs and amateur video, Shebetko preserves traces of a community whose history is being erased. Part of his long-term research “A Very Brief and Subjective Q***r History of Ukraine,” the project brings forgotten q***r narratives outside official archives into view while examining how colonial legacies, Soviet rule, and post-Soviet capitalism have shaped q***r life in Ukraine.

Maite Vanhellemont (Maite Vanhellemont) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES (Futures Photography) 2026. An Amsterda...
28/07/2026

Maite Vanhellemont (Maite Vanhellemont) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES (Futures Photography) 2026. An Amsterdam-based artist, Vanhellemont works at the intersection of family stories and collective history, exploring her Dutch-Indonesian heritage through photography, archival material, video, drawing, and text.

Her ongoing project “A Little Memory of The Beginning” began with a photograph of her grandmother, taken for a Dutch citizenship application in Indonesia in 1947. Its title comes from a handwritten note on the back of the image. From this fragment, Vanhellemont traces a complex family history shaped by Japanese occupation, Dutch colonial rule, the Indonesian struggle for independence, and her grandparents’ migration to the Netherlands in 1951.

Moving between Indonesia and the Netherlands, the project examines how historical violence and family silence continue across generations. Through artistic research and embodied practices, Vanhellemont brings fragmented histories into dialogue and searches for new rituals through which to engage with inherited memories and stories that remain unspoken.

Sharing a few moments from the FUTURES (futuresphotography) meeting at Les Rencontres d’Arles (Les Rencontres d'Arles)! ...
23/07/2026

Sharing a few moments from the FUTURES (futuresphotography) meeting at Les Rencontres d’Arles (Les Rencontres d'Arles)! It was so special to reconnect with everyone, already looking forward to seeing you all again next year. ❤️

Rafael Roncato (.roncato) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES () 2026. A Brazilian interdisciplinary visual artist,...
21/07/2026

Rafael Roncato (.roncato) is one of FOTODOK’s nominees for FUTURES () 2026. A Brazilian interdisciplinary visual artist, editor, and educator based in the Netherlands, Roncato examines colonial memory, media myths, and the politics of representation through photography, archival research, video, and publishing.

His ongoing project “A Knife All Blade / The Façade” revisits the colonial legacy of Dutch Brazil by placing historical paintings, maps, and documents within the contemporary urban landscapes of The Hague and Amsterdam. Through collage and analogue and digital photography, Roncato fractures colonial narratives and reveals how their traces continue to surface in everyday façades.

Inspired by João Cabral de Melo Neto’s poem “Uma faca só lâmina,” the project approaches each image as a cut—sharp, unresolved, and capable of disrupting fixed ideas. Its publication, “The Façade,” created with researcher Carolina Monteiro and designer Alex Gyurkovicz, brings archival material, contemporary photography, and critical essays into confrontation, exposing how colonial narratives are constructed, maintained, and circulated.

On 11 July, Srebrenica Commemoration Day was observed across the Netherlands. On this occasion, we would like to look ba...
16/07/2026

On 11 July, Srebrenica Commemoration Day was observed across the Netherlands. On this occasion, we would like to look back at last year’s exhibition, “11 Stemmen van Srebrenica (The Eleven Voices of Srebrenica)”.

Thirty years after the genocide in Srebrenica, “The Eleven Voices of Srebrenica” aimed to create space for Bosnian-Dutch voices to share experiences of memory, loss, resilience, and belonging. The project included a podcast by OVT/VPRO (), exhibitions at FOTODOK and Camp Vught National Memorial (), and a public programme centred on remembrance, resilience, and representation.

Featuring work by Alma Mustafić (), Marjolein Koster (), Robin de Puy (), and artists Nicole Segers () and Anita Karabašić, the project amplified voices that for too long remained unheard.

We invite you to revisit the project through our virtual exhibition and listen to the podcast on OVT/VPRO, continuing the conversation around memory, identity, and the lasting impact of Srebrenica.

More info through the link in bio.

Image by Robin de Puy.

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Lange Nieuwstraat 7
Utrecht
3512PA

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