Announcing the artists of the 2026 year program FIRE: FUEL FOR CHANGE

Hotel Maria Kapel (HMK) proudly presents to you the selected artist for 2026: Ipeh Nur, Dagmar Bosma, Katja Mater, Melissa Cijntje and Francisca Khamis.

The theme of 2026 is fire: a burning desire for justice & equity, renewal and getting together. Fire, the first technology that enabled cooking, creates warmth, enables materials to be used in new ways, and provides safety. Fire bears a creating force, which is essential in times of change.

Ipeh Nur traces how the VOC used fire to destroy the clove trees during their ‘Hongitochten’ that would jeopardize their monopoly on the trade and how this still affects both Hoorn and the Banda islands. Dagmar Bosma works with the vulnerability of metal when it starts to rust and leaves traces on textile. Dagmar dives into the material history of the Mariakapel since it was used both for centuries as artillery and its garden was used as a bleachfield. During their residency Katja Mater will return to their birthplace Hoorn, while looking at what versions of home could mean since the loss of both their parents. They will prepare meals from their father’s unfinished recipe book during a Dinner at Homesick Restaurant. Fransicsa Khamis Giacoman grew up as a third-generation Palestinian in Chile. In Chile, Club Deportivo Palestino, founded in 1920, carries the motto “more than a club; a whole people”, a phrase that resonates far beyond the football pitch. Through film installation and archival material, Francisca Khamis Giacoman and her brother Andrés explore how football and textile production embody the complexities of the Palestinian diaspora in Chile. And Melissa Cijntje searches for what remains as an effect of colonialism, slavery, and the generational shame and trauma experienced in the Caribbean. During their fellowship residency in Hoorn she delves into the Southeast Asian regions affected by the same colonizers and searches for similar histories of violence and resistance.