Exhibition Between Here and Now
ZAM Magazine x OpenArtExchange
ZAM x OAE: Between Here and Now
11 – 19 October 2025 | OpenArtExchange, Hoogstraat 85, Schiedam, The Netherlands
ZAM Magazine and OpenArtExchange present the group exhibition Between Here and Now. This multidisciplinary exhibition explores the idea of the diaspora and the complex interplay between past, present, and future.
We warmly invite you to the festive opening on Saturday 11 October at 14:00 at OpenArtExchange, Hoogstraat 85, Schiedam. The opening runs alongside the Glitching the Future festival held in Johannesburg and will include a virtual DJ performance by the Pussy Party. For the full program and event details, visit our Opening event page.
If you cannot be present that day, do not miss the closing event on Sunday 19 October at 15:00!
About ZAM Magazine
ZAM is a creative platform centred in Europe for African artists, writers, journalists, academics and free thinkers who grapple with the issues of our time.
Their network of African thinkers and creatives are crafting the future. They’re breaking down boundaries and imagining a world beyond ‘us’ and ‘them’. ZAM brings their work to a wider audience in the Netherlands, Europe, Africa and the world. They invite people to listen to and experience these perspectives so that the urgent discussions of the day can be more sharply focused through a new lens.
ZAM creates synergy between creatives from Africa, Europe and the diaspora by setting up partnerships across the continental divide. They publish the work of our creative community through the ZAM Magazine website and special print editions. They bring creatives together with their audiences through events like the ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture and the Between Here and Now exhibition.
Visit the ZAM Magazine website to learn more!
Between Here and Now
Between Here and Now features works by African contemporary artists from within and beyond the African diaspora. The “Now” refers to the current experiences of migration and connection, while also exploring how pasts and futures resonate in the present. Through a multidisciplinary visual journey, the exhibition investigates such as identity, migration, community, and imaginations of the future. Written for this occasion, poetry by Julia-Beth Harris will act as a connecting thread between the works, guiding visitors through the rich diversity of the stories presented.
The exhibition features the works of artists: Anton Corbijn/Berend Strik, Casca, Clifford Charles, Patricia Kaersenhout, Patrick Musombwa, Rafiy Okefolahan, Jonathan Vatunga, and Ruan Hoffmann. As well as the work of Heidi Thembeka Sincuba, titled Quantum Afterlife, exploring Afro-quantum thinking, created especially for this exhibition. Farren van Wyk will present Mixedness is My Mythology, a photographic series dealing with personal and collective identities within the diaspora.
In addition to celebrating artistic expression, this exhibition also serves as a fundraising event for ZAM Magazine. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to discover the ZAM art collection, with works on sale alongside posters, books, and Glitching the Future merchandise. Proceeds from the ZAM shop will directly support ZAM’s ongoing work - enabling the platform to continue amplifying African creative voices, fostering dialogue across continents, and keeping vital, independent storytelling alive.
Cover image credits: Heidi Thembeka Sincuba
Participating Artists:
Anton Corbijn (1955) & Berend Strik (1960)
are two prominent Dutch visual artists. Corbijn is a world-renowned photographer and filmmaker, best known for his striking black and white portraits of actors, musicians and artists. Strik is a multidisciplinary artist particularly recognised for his textile pieces, reworking photographs with fabric and thread. In 2003, the two artists collaborated on Mandela Landscap, a double-sided artwork: the front presenting a complex portrait of Nelson Mandela, while the back reveals a labyrinth of wires and stitches. Both sides were photographed and reproduced as a double-sided art print, presented in this exhibition.
Casca (1976)
is a self-taught artist born in Lisbon into a family with Angolan roots. Spending his formative years in northern and southern Angola, he draws on indigenous cultures to create works that blend traditional motifs with contemporary forms. Working in sculpture, painting, and collage, Casca’s vibrant, layered compositions often feature abstracted faces and symbolic patterns. His art reflects everyday life while exploring social issues and human realities. Since 2016, Casca has exhibited in Angola, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Clifford Charles (1964)
is a South African visual artist working primarily in ink and watercolour on paper. His works often capture the delicate moment when water meets ink, evoking layered, ephemeral experiences of memory, place, and identity. Charles’ drawings act as metaphors for the slippage and forgetfulness in postcolonial South Africa, where contours of history are both vivid and elusive. As a pioneer artist-activist, Charles has been actively involved with unions, hospitals, and social institutions in his country. Charles exhibited in the 2003 Venice Biennale and is regularly included in major exhibitions; his works are also part of several public and private collections.
Farren Van Wyk (1993)
is a South African and Dutch Photographer and Educator. Her research-based work focuses on decolonial approaches to historical and cultural misrepresentations of people of colour. In her series Mixedness is my Mythology, van Wyk examines the historical ties between South Africa and the Netherlands, exploring the connections and contradictions arising from migration, ethnicity, colonialism and apartheid. Rooted in her personal family history of apartheid and migration, this series challenges dominant narratives and investigates the (re)construction of identities. She is a member of several photography associations and has received recognition through scholarships and awards.
Heidi Thembeka Sincuba (1987)
is a multidisciplinary artist from South-Africa who explores the ephemere, queer theory and African ancestral knowledge systems. Working across a wide range of media, including painting, photography, video, and performance, works, Sincuba aims to challenge colonial and patriarchal ways of existing and knowing. For Between Here and Now, Sincuba created the series Quantum Afterlife, exploring Afroquantum thinking - an approach that investigates the interactions between quantum physics theory and the Afro-futuristic imaginaries. In addition to their artistic practice, Sincuba is an art and culture writer and editor for vairous publications.
Julia-Beth Harris
is a South-African poet and creative writer who explores experiences of migration and the search for belonging. Having moved to the Netherlands at the age of 24, Harris draws on her cultural heritage and experiences in both countries to reflect on the colonial history connecting them. Rooted in her personal observations and curiosity about the world, she crafts emotionally driven texts that translate universal experiences. For Between Here and Now, Harris created a unique text forming a sound installation in the exhibition space, guiding visitors from work to work and acting as a connecting thread between the artworks.
Patrick Musombwa (1988)
is a painter from the Democratic Republic of Congo currently residing and working in France. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa, he began his career in nonfigurative art, placing colour at the centre of his practice, viewing it as an unique and strong vessel of emotion. Musombwa's paintings and collages, built through layers of vibrant hues and textures, represent faceless beings that embody the universal themes of human life. Through this approach, he creates an introspective journey into the emotions that punctuate existence, celebrating joy, togetherness, love and the fleeting moments that define our shared humanity. Musombwa has widely exhibited across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, the Netherlands and France
Patricia Kaersenhout (1966)
is a Dutch visual artist and cultural activist of Surinamese descent. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses digital printmaking, installation, performance, film, bookmaking, and textiles. Drawing from her Surinamese heritage and experiences within western European cultures, she seeks to reveal forgotten or hidden histories. Kaersenhout's work delves into the legacies of colonialism and the experiences of the African Diaspora, aiming to empower people of colour and support marginalised groups. Kaersenhout has gained wide recognition and has been exhibited internationally, including in the Netherlands, Denmark, Senegal, and the United States.
Rafiy Okefolahan (1979)
is a multidisciplinary artist from Benin, best known for his colourful neo-expressionist paintings. After studying at the National School of Arts in Dakar, where he explored glass painting and photography, he developed a distinctive voice in painting. Drawing on daily urban life, Okefolahan places the human figure at the center of his works, depicting moments of resilience and struggle. Faces and bodies emerge through layered, textured surfaces, producing paintings at the intersection of abstraction and figuration. Bold colours, expressive brushwork, and mixed media create a dynamic visual language reflecting repression, spirituality, and the search for freedom. Okefolahan has exhibited in Benin, Nigeria, France, Spain, Belgium, and the United States, and his works are included in private and public collections.
Ruan Hoffmann (1971)
is a South African ceramist currently living and working in the Netherlands. He transforms plates, tiles, and other domestic objects into irregular, imperfect forms that resist functionality and expectation. Often inscribed with visual motifs and politically charged, witty texts, his works oscillate between humour and confrontation, challenging both the viewer and the conventions of the domestic sphere. Hoffmann's work has been widely exhibited internationally, including in South Africa, Belgium, and the Dominican Republic, and is represented in several prominent private and public collections.