masks & mirrors: carnival rituals

Treehouse NDSM is thrilled to announce the Open Call for our next exhibition, which will take place during March/April 2025. The theme will be “Carnival”. Carnival evokes strong and mixed feelings. Whether you love it or hate it, its complex history and symbolism cannot be ignored. With its origins in ancient European rituals celebrating the coming season of Lent, all the way to its transformation into an iconic Brazilian summer celebration; Carnival is a time for indulgence, transformation, connection, and reflection which manifests in different cultures with their own unique traditions.

For this exhibition, we invite artists to share their perspectives on Carnival: the moments of excess, the themes of renewal and role-reversal, the blur of boundaries and shift in identities, and its cultural or historical significance in a particular place. This Open Call is for artists of all disciplines and using any media who explore Carnival’s significance, both personal and universal, with a focus on works that highlight the rich contradictions within Carnival itself.

“Carnival” as a festivity has always been about more than just revelry. It was also the freedom of the anonymity that masks provide and a time of expressive indulgence before a period of restraint (such as fasting). How does Carnival represent the tensions between indulgence and reflection, order and chaos, winter and spring, identity and anonymity? Artists are encouraged to engage with these and other perspectives, offering their own artistic interpretation of the rich and layered Carnival traditions.