OPEN CALL #1

With the support of Amarte, Amsterdam Light Festival invites creators to develop a new light art installation for the 16th edition of the festival, taking place in the winter of 2027–2028. This open call is open to artists based in the Netherlands. Whether you’re taking your first steps as an artist or looking to expand your practice, this call is intended for creators who are new to the medium of light art.

OPEN CALL #2

Amarte is pleased to collaborate again with Rotterdam Photo to present the Dutch Talent Project Grant. This initiative gives emerging photographers the opportunity to create new work exploring the festival’s theme: Vibrance - The Pulse of a Living World. Selected artists will receive financial support, artistic mentorship, and a platform to showcase their projects during Rotterdam Photo 2027.

They received a grant

The Sexpol Trials

Katerina Sidorova
Katerina Sidorova received a grant for the development of new work. The Sexpol Trials is a theoretical and visual investigation of the state control over desire and sexuality. Authoritarian and right-wing regimes rarely begin with overt violence; they begin by regulating bodies. Across contemporary societies of surveillance, political control is first exercised through the policing of gender variance, the restriction of reproductive autonomy, and the tightening of borders that define who may move, reproduce, or appear in public space. Trans and queer bodies, women’s bodies, and migrant bodies become early testing grounds for repression, framed as “uncivil,” excessive, or threatening to social order. Through installation, performed space, and text this research project explores how control, obedience, and exclusion are produced at the level of the body before political violence becomes overt.Katerina’s work is characterised by a focus on minimalistic spatial form, material tension, and the transformation of architectural and landscape elements into sculptural compositions. Working across installation, performance and text, she investigates the intersections of power, space, and memory, tracing how human actions — whether through policing, extraction or violence — leave lasting imprints on landscapes and bodies. Through immersive installations and artist publicarions she examines how environments, from battlefields public squares to closed off interiors, become repositories of trauma, resistance, and control, revealing the invisible forces that shape collective and individual experience.
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The Amarte Foundation was founded by a number of individuals and their families who share a deep love for the arts. They wish to support the development of creatives and talent in arts and culture by providing financial means and where possible coaching, knowledge and experience. Artists who are active in the cultural sectors of the Netherlands or the ABC and SSS islands (the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) can apply to Amarte for the support of projects in the field of theatre, film, music, visual arts and literature, as well as interdisciplinary projects.