GROUP EXHIBITION: EMBRACE YOUR INNER BRUSSELS SPROUT
Line up: Hans De Backer, Emin Batman, Gabriele Bonomi, Jasmijn Doukje Plantinga, Rika Maja Duevel, Maria Escarpenter, Logan Hon Mua, Rucha Kulkarni, Minyoung Kim, Yuk Lin Man & Philip Ling

In the exhibition Embrace Your Inner Brussels Sprout, ten artists at treehouse ndsm explore the power of food in relation to mental wellbeing.
Food is presented as a collective connector and a celebration of identity through family recipes and rituals, as well as an effective cure
for loneliness. At the same time, the opposite is a reality many people face on a daily basis: being unable to participate in the social
rituals surrounding food.

The exhibition runs from 19 February to 15 March 2026.

HYBRID DESERT
Food and (mixed cultural) identity are central to the exhibition, as seen in Emin Batman’s Baklouce, a hybrid dessert created by combining the similar
pastry layers of both baklava and tompouce. In addition, Next to this Batman presents his Çeyiz: white lace tablecloths that he has reinterpreted.
These textiles are enlarged and installed as an architectural intervention within the space and passed down intergenerationally in this case from
mother to son.
For the video work Taste of Time by Logan Hon Mua, a dinner with nine strangers was filmed. In the video, small talk at the table alternates
with personal confessions and memories related to food, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of the participants.

ETEN EN MENTAAL WELZIJN
Mental wellbeing also plays a significant role in how food is experienced, and vice versa. In the cheerful-looking painting A World Full of Mango by
Jasmijn Doukje Plantinga, her grandfather is depicted en profil, gazing at a background filled with mangoes. Here, food symbolizes a distancing
experience rather than a collective one: as a side effect of Parkinson’s medication, his perception of taste was reduced to mango alone.
In the surrealist painting series Plums by Minyoung Kim, vegetables and fruit are depicted on the verge of being consumed: skittish pears marked with
bite impressions and a plum breaking into a sweat of anxiety as it watches a colony of ants approach. Kim translates her subconscious fears onto the
canvas in the form of anthropomorphic fruit.

SIDE ACTIVITIES

28 FEBRUARY | 18H | COOKING IN DIALOGUE 
€10 p.p (Free for inhabitants of
Amsterdam-Noord).
Cooking in Dialogue is a three-course dinner
combining art and food, with a guided tour, a
curated menu, and collective art-making. A
shared evening of connection and exchange.
Max. 30 guests; drinks included, bar available.

5,11,14 MAR | 18H-21H | AT THE TABLE:  STORIES, RECIPES & MEMORIES 
€20 p.p (Free for inhabitants of
Amsterdam-Noord).
Three communal dinners alongside Embrace Your Inner Brussels Sprout, combining food, memory and storytelling. Each evening includes a guided tour, a shared table, and dishes by Gabriele Bonomi (The Vegan Bear Chef). Guests bring a small recipe-related tasting; stories and recipes are collected for a booklet. Drinks included; bar available.