Artists ALLUMINOUS 2025

We are excited to introduce the first artists of ALLUMINOUS 2025, who have been working on their artworks since spring.

We are happpy to present the full line up of artists represented at ALLUMINOUS Light Art Festival 2025:

LEONARD VAN MUNSTER

Visual artist Leonard van Munster (Zwolle, 1972) creates installations and sculptures, primarily in public spaces. His urban interventions have been exhibited in numerous cities, particularly Amsterdam. For example, he created a tree with a treehouse on the roof of the Stedelijk Museum-Post CS building (Amsterdam, 2015), his dancing self-portrait was on display at the Frans Hals Museum (Haarlem, 2017), built a glass water feature during the IJssel Biennale (Deventer, 2022), and placed an overturned ship in front of the ABN-AMRO bank in the financial heart of the Netherlands during the financial crisis. He also recently had a meteorite crash into the Frisian village of Hempens-Teerns [Leeuwarden 2024]. From 1996 to 2001, Leonard was also part of the artist and designer collective Dept and taught at the Rietveld Academy and the Academy of Architecture, among others. On the border between an industrial and a nature reserve, nestled between immense oil storage tanks and a rugged landscape where Scottish Highland cattle graze, Leonard created "Biotope 2.0." He placed a seven-meter-high glass dome over a small piece of nature. Inside, the plants and flowers continue to grow, and the space serves as a studio, experimental, and exhibition space. Biotope 2.0 also houses Amsterdam's smallest official incubator.

Leonard van Munster creates an artwork in collaboration with ALLUMINOUS program partner Suburbia.
 

SAJOSCHA TALIRZ & JETTE VOGEL (on behalf of Vis à Vis)

Artist Sajoscha Talirz (Amsterdam, 1979) has been creating sculptures since his studies at the Royal Academy of Art, often emphasizing tactile quality and organic forms, primarily in public spaces. His sculpture "Rise" can be found in Eendrachtspark in Amsterdam.

Scenographer Jette Vogel (Veldhoven, 1995) studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy and has since worked on film and theater sets, sculptures, and paintings. She experiments with playful, theatrical, and surrealist forms to shape her perspective on life, curious about a visual language that stimulates the inner world more than the outer world. This resulted, among other things, in the set for the concert series "Calefax Rariteiten Cabinet" (2024), the set for the performance "I'd Rather Die" by Theater Rotterdam (2023), and the exhibition Open Studios Borgerstraat for Art Rotterdam (2021, in collaboration with Johan Kleinjan).

The collaboration between Sajoscha Talirz and Jette Vogel was created in collaboration with ALLUMINOUS program partner Vis à Vis.

AMANDA PARER

Artist Amanda Parer (Sydney, 1971) creates large-scale installations that explore humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world, encouraging reflection on our impact on the environment. Drawing inspiration from Tasmania’s dramatic landscapes, her work combines scale, light, darkness, humour, and melancholy to convey these themes. Amanda’s larger-than-life installations are approachable and often playful, inviting viewers to engage with the serious message of human mismanagement of nature. Through her striking and imaginative creations, she balances spectacle with reflection, making environmental issues accessible to a wide audience. 

Beginning with the VIVID Festival in 2014, her work has been showcased at over 190 art events worldwide. Amanda is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Blake Art Prize in Sydney(2014), the Tattersalls Art Prize in Brisbane (2014), and the Glover Art Prize (2014).

 

JAAP VAN DEN ELZEN & ANTHONY FIUMARA (on behalf of ensemble Black Pencil)

Light artist Jaap van den Elzen (Boxtel, 1977) uses light as a medium to transform space and time and to see things differently. He creates site-specific installations that are always immersive and become multi-sensory experiences. In collaboration with composer Anthony Fiumara, Jaap created "Waxing, Waning," a sound-lightscape at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, where light becomes an instrument in a symphony. For GLOW Eindhoven, he created "Evolution of Light" with electroacoustic composer Augusto Meijer. This interactive installation transformed a barren concrete expanse beneath a parking lot into a magical world of light, shadow, and everything in between. For the Municipality of Diever, Jaap transformed the outdoor space into a light theater with various permanent light installations, featuring Shakespeare in the title role: "To see... or not to see."

Anthony Fiumara (Tilburg, 1968) received his musical education at Utrecht University. He works full-time as a composer, but he also enjoyed a successful career as a music journalist, radio program maker, and conservatory teacher. Anthony was artistic director of Orkest De Volharding and Compagnie Bischoff. He co-founded the Amsterdam Electric festival, the indie-classical ensemble Lunapark, and the independent record label Alaska Records. In 2022, he completed the Master's program Creator Performer at Fontys School of the Arts. Fiumara’s work is characterized by a dynamic style. Keywords include speed, energy, layers, and clear contrasts.

Jaap van den Elzen and Anthony Fiumara are working together on the ALLUMINOUS light art project in collaboration with ALLUMINOUS program partner Black Pencil Ensemble.

Since its founding in 2010, Black Pencil has been a welcome guest in classical concert halls, stages and festivals both in the Netherlands and abroad. This game-changing ensemble initiates the creation of new works and inspires leading Dutch composers such as Roderik de Man, Martijn Padding, Klas Torstensson, Calliope Tsoupaki, Yannis Kyriakides, Aart Strootman, Klaas de Vries, and Kate Moore. Internationally, they perform works by composers such as Wim Henderickx and Moritz Eggert, as well as rising talents from diverse cultural backgrounds. Over 450 new compositions have been written for the ensemble, and they also award multiple composition prizes.

FROUKE TEN VELDEN (on behalf of Jij bent M.)

Visual artist Frouke ten Velden (Amsterdam, 1986) works with light, video, and sculpture in the form of installations and AV performances after graduating from the Amsterdam University of the Arts and the University of Amsterdam. She also works on scenography and art direction for music, theater, and dance. In her work, she pushes the boundaries of disciplines, always emphasizing artworks with an experiential character. She previously created the light art installation "Spiegelingen" (Mirrors) for De Harmonie Leeuwarden (2024), the interactive light artwork "For Your Eyes Only" for Schemerlicht (2023), and developed scenography and art direction commissioned by the SenCity Festival, on display at TivoliVredenburg (2024). In addition to her artistic practice, she teaches Interactive Performance Design at the HKU.

Frouke ten Velden developed an artwork for ALLUMINOUS, commissioned by program partner Jij bent M.

 

RUBEN RAVEN

Visual artist Ruben Raven (Almere, 1995) creates paintings, sculptures, and installations. After graduating from the Rietveld Academy, his work, often inspired by impressions of public space, has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including those at Swab Barcelona, ​​Art Brussels, Art Antwerp, DMW Gallery, and the 2020 Best of Graduates exhibition at Ron Mandos, where he won the Audience Award.

 

MANNIE KRAK (on behalf of BonteHond)

Artist Mannie Krak (Amsterdam, 1980) has been working as an artist in Almere since her studies at ArtEZ and the Sandberg Institute, creating installations in which nature, technology, the reuse of materials, and light are recurring elements in playful and curious works. She has exhibited her work at venues including the Nature Art Park in Lelystad (2019-2024), Zilver op het Water in Lelystad and Almere (2018-2024), Oerol (2002), 'Veste Verlicht' in Goes (2019), and the exhibition 'Magical Mystery Tour' at KAF, Almere (2017).

Mannie Krak is developing the artwork as an educational project for ALLUMINOUS on behalf of program partner BonteHond. 

 

ATELIER SISU (on behalf of Carte Blanche)

Atelier Sisu is an award-winning design studio based in Sydney, led by Peruvian sculptor and designer Renzo B. Larriviere and architectural designer and artist Zara Pasfield. The duo collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to create experimental environments, installations, and unique sculptures. Their work sits between art and architecture (art-chitecture), with a particular focus on public art. Each public artwork strives to offer visitors a unique spatial experience while contributing to the visual identity of a place and fostering community interaction.

The artwork by Atelier Sisu is presented at ALLUMINOUS on behalf of program partner Carte Blanche. 

 

MAX DE WAARD

Artist Max de Waard (Lelystad, 1992) primarily creates digital art, in which digital characters, materiality, fiction, and digital folklore are recurring themes; always combined with the influence of technology on the world. He also works on commission for clients as diverse as fashion brand Balenciaga and Jij bent M. during their opening exhibition at Floriade.

 

ROBIN BEEKMAN

Artist Robin Beekman (Rheden, 1994) studied Image & Media Technology and has since created artworks in which light and technology play a key role. He plays with human perception, visual phenomena, and experiments with various media and technologies. His work has previously been exhibited at the Inota Art Festival (2025), Miami Art Basel (2024), Dutch Design Week (2024), and Rotterdam Art (2024). In addition to presenting a new light artwork, which Robin is developing for ALLUMINOUS, he will be responsible for the lighting design for the entire festival, together with Luxonos, starting in 2025.

 

BERT SCHOEREN

Light artist Bert Schoeren creates kinetic artworks and technological experiments. His work has been exhibited at the Nieuwe Instituut (2022), the Groninger Museum (2021), Museum Valkhof (2018), and Rijksmuseum Twenthe (2017). In his work, the artist strives for new forms to create meditative moments using unpredictable movements and elements. Combining technology with nature, the elements, is a recurring artistic principle and source of inspiration.

 

SUZE VAN MILTENBURG & STIENEK OEVERBEEK

For the festival edition of 2024, Flevoland artists Suze van Miltenburg and Stieneke Oeverbeek, commissioned by ALLUMINOUS, created a new version of their artwork Tussenland, which was featured at the Zilver op 't Water light festival. The artists, who previously collaborated through the talent development initiative Flevolab, presented an artwork about the origins of the Flevoland landscape, as a poetic narrative about the fundamental principles of the new soil that remained after the land reclamation. Suze van Miltenburg is a theater and programming maker and has worked on productions for and with VEEM House for Performance, Ulrike Quade Company, Likeminds, Theater na de Dam, and the Over het IJ Festival, among others. Stieneke Oeverbeek creates artworks that often start with research into classical crafts. Her work has previously been exhibited at StrandLab, Urk Town Hall, Museum Schokland, and Museum Nagele, among others. The artwork by Suze van Miltenburg and Stieneke Oeverbeek was purchased by the Municipality of Almere after ALLUMINOUS 2024 and can be seen from ALLUMINOUS 2025 onwards at its new permanent location, in the water at the Esplanade, next to the Kunstlinie building.

 

CREDITS PHOTOGRAPHY:
Portrait Sajoscha Talirz: Mercé Wouthhuysen / portrait Ruben Raven: Elizar Veerman / Portrait Amanda Parer: Nao Hosogi