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In his films, publications and installations, Jonathan Hielkema (1994) explores social tensions surrounding themes such as privilege, polarization and the status quo. His work emerges from collaborative research and encounters in which humour and candour create space for dialogue. In his most recent project, he turns his attention to Europe as something that is both close at hand and elusive.
The installation Around Europe forms part of a broader research project entitled Europe, Who Are You? (2025–ongoing). The work consists of four monumental bar gates and four framed photographic works. Once used as border markers between the Netherlands and Germany, the barriers are now arranged in a semi-circle – a form that evokes the meeting rooms and the monumental character of the European Union. Their imposing presence renders Europe both tangible and inaccessible, like a bureaucratic body that resists easy embrace.
Within the large oak frames, Hielkema brings together two types of imagery. Small historical photographs from American archives, taken in Europe between 1938 and 1963, are paired with larger photographs taken by the artist himself. The archival images – complete with stamps and annotations on the reverse – bear the traces of a continent repeatedly forced to reinvent itself. The new photographs establish connections with this history and introduce a personal layer. Together, they open chapters on identity, war, integration and colonialism – not as a single narrative, but as fragments that collide, overlap and generate new meanings. Around Europe invites movement not only in thought but in space: around Europe itself, along its borders and stories, and around the question of what it means to be part of it.
Written by Sarah van Binsbergen