House of the Future I - Shaping Grounds
Group Exhibition
OpenArtExchange presents the group exhibition, "House of the Future I - Shaping Grounds" featuring works by seven contemporary artists. We warmly invite you to the opening on Saturday, June 28 at 3 PM at OpenArtExchange, Hoogstraat 85 Schiedam. The exhibition will be on view until Saturday August 16th, 2025.
House of the Future I - Shaping Grounds
This exhibition marks the first chapter of House of the Future, OpenArtExchange's summer program celebrating Schiedam's 750th anniversary. For the occasion, the gallery transforms its ground floor into a dynamic meeting space for art, music, debates, workshops, and performances and invites audiences to reflect on the foundations of the city of the future—its connection to nature, cultural diversity, spiritual connections, and the tensions between heritage and modernity.
In Shaping Grounds, OpenArtExchange brings together seven contemporary artists: Jeffrey Burger (Netherlands), Demba Camara (Ivory Coast), Benjamin Deguenon (Benin), Serge Diama (DRC), Thiemoko Diarra (Mali-Belgium), Frigg Toss (Benin), and Mounou Desiré Koffi (Ivory Coast) — to reflect on the theme of space and the future. The exhibition explores visions of the urban world of tomorrow. Shaping Grounds invites us to consider the shaping of our future cities: how do we house 10 billion poeple on this earth in a sustainable way, how do we use technology to help solve our wicked problems in densely populated areas: reduce waste and pollution, deal with biodiversity, manage mobility, stay connected with nature, protecting life at large. Each artist offers unique perspective, rooted in their personal universe and expressed through a wide diversity of media.
The exhibition runs until 2 Augustus 2025. Works will also be on view online via our website and on Artsy, with a dedicated viewing room.
Participating artists
Jeffrey Burger (1971)
Netherlands
A visual artist based in Schiedam, Burger explores themes of singularity, transhumanism, and human evolution within a tech-dominated world. For this show, he has created a mural imagining the city of the future.
Benjamin Deguenon (1982)
Benin
A multidisciplinary artist whose mythological urban worlds are populated with hybrid creatures—beaked, clawed, or winged. His work explores the interplay between humans, nature, and spirituality.
Demba Camara (1970)
Ivory Coast
A sculptor known for wooden robots and spacecrafts that blend African tradition with retro-futurism. Using recycled materials and symbolic motifs, Camara crafts hybrid forms that question the relationship between technology and heritage.
Serge Diama (1988)
DRC
Based in Kinshasa, Diama works with painting, collage, installation, and performance. His new series visualizes the connection between body and nature, using symbolic forms and everyday materials to create layered compositions.
Thiemoko Diarra (1974)
Mali / Belgium
Diarra’s work reflects his bicultural heritage and fuses science with tradition. His tapestries —made with earth pigments and hybrid organic forms—examine identity, metamorphosis, and cultural exchange.
Mounou Désiré Koffi (1994)
Ivory Coast
Koffi uses discarded components from mobile telephones, such as keyboards, to craft intricate urban landscapes and portraits. His work raises questions about technological waste, consumerism, and environmental impact.
Frigg Toss (1997)
Benin
Toss is a multidisciplinary artist blending painting and digital tools. His vibrant, graphic visuals probe the intersection of technology and tradition, engaging with societal issues in a playful yet thought-provoking way