Exhibition: Shapeshifters

Exhibition: 'Shapeshifters'. Graphic Design by Chen Jhen.

15 Oct –
11 Jan 2026

Exhibition: Shapeshifters

Framer Framed is proud to present Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation, on view from 15 October 2025 to 11 January 2026. This group exhibition brings together works by al-yené, Antonio Jose Guzman & Iva Jankovic, Georges Senga, Kader Attia, Kosisochukwu Nnebe, Leah Zhang, Pei-Hsuan Wang, Sammy Baloji & Cécile Fromont, Mirelle van Tulder and Anna Safiatou Touré. Together, their practices examine how colonialism has shaped the ways museums, archives and other institutions of knowledge are perceived and understood, revealing the (im)material scars imposed by systemic violence.

Shapeshifters invites visitors to refigure one’s own relationship to these power structures by stepping into relations built on curiosity and empathy. The exhibition title draws from science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler, for whom ‘shapeshifting’ refers not only to the ability to transform at will but to a survival strategy, an imaginative technology and a means of resisting domination. In the same vein, the artists in Shapeshifters use their work as a device to unsettle fixed narratives, confront entrenched systems of power and open space for alternative ways of knowing, relating and being in the world.

Working across various research-driven practices including film, sonic installation, sculpture, painting and other media, the participating artists trace how stories, identities and objects have been categorised, controlled or erased across different sociopolitical contexts. Just as importantly, their works reclaim and reimagine these subjects, allowing them to shift, resist and take on new forms. Commissioned by Framer Framed, number of new works by Sammy Baloji, Pei-Hsuan Wang and Georges Senga will be presented for the first time.

At its core, Shapeshifters explores the (im)possibilities for knowledge institutions to evolve and move forward based on care and reciprocity. Questions of ownership, value, loss and repair run through the exhibition. The artworks encourage continuous becoming and challenge what is remembered, who is represented and how institutions might embrace a shape-shifting process: to reorganise space and time for connection, where spirituality and wisdom can grow.

The scenography of the exhibition by Bureau LADA creates an extended platform within the space for reflection, dialogue and exchange – this includes an opening symposium on 17 October contextualising core topics of the exhibition, as well as guided tours, film screenings, participatory workshops and performances.

Symposium: Shapeshifters

As part of the exhibition Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation, Framer Framed is hosting a symposium on 17 October 2025. The day-long programme brings together participating artists, alongside researchers, museum directors, and cultural workers, to reflect on themes raised by the exhibition. Discussions will address the ethical and cultural implications of collections built through colonial looting and exploitation, and how these legacies continue to shape histories of dispossession and cultural erasure today. Click here for more info.

Participating Artists
al-yené
Antonio Jose Guzman & Iva Jankovic
Georges Senga
Kader Attia
Kosisochukwu Nnebe
Leah Zhang
Pei-Hsuan Wang
Sammy Baloji & Cécile Fromont
Mirelle van Tulder
Anna Safiatou Touré

Spatial Design
Bureau LADA

Graphic Design
Chen Jhen

Location
Framer Framed
Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71
1093 KS, Amsterdam

Opening
Wednesday 15 October 2025, 18:00.
Please register here.

Opening Times
16 October 2025 – 11 January 2026
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00-18:00

Free entry, pay what you can.

Credits

Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation is produced by Framer Framed in partnership with Wereldmuseum Amsterdam. The exhibition is developed from the framework of the NWO research project Pressing Matter: Ownership, Value and the Question of Colonial Heritage in Museums, in which Framer Framed is a societal partner. Additional support is generously provided by the Mondrian Initiative, the Mondriaan Fund, the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), Creative Industries Fund NL, TextielLab, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, and Jan van Eyck Academie.

Framer Framed is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; Municipality of Amsterdam; and VriendenLoterij Fonds.

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