Exhibitions in Cultural Heritage
We are EX: EXbunker, EXboot & EXtern. We were once a World War II bunker and a former Zandpad prostitution boat. Now we fill our spaces monthly with groundbreaking new art. Come take a look!
We are EX. Groundbreaking, accessible, and dedicated to emerging artists.
It began in 2014 with EXbunker in a former World War II bunker in Wilhelminapark. In 2019, EXboot was added, an exhibition space housed in a former prostitution boat at 't Zandpad.
We present art to everyone who encounters us in the unique public spaces where we are located. Admission is free, and our doors are open—especially to those who don't often encounter art.
The artists presenting their work are often recent graduates. For artists in this phase, EX offers a venue to exhibit, as well as support in the form of coaching and a budget for the realization of their work. The artists are often present at their work as mentors or speakers during the exhibition reception.
EX brings accessible, groundbreaking art to a diverse audience of enthusiasts and passers-by.
Meet some of the artists who recently had an exhibition at one of EX's locations.
Sire Mane’s work stems from a desire to understand, share, and connect. As an artist with roots in Senegal, she draws on her personal experiences as a starting point to explore themes such as mental health, identity, and cultural belonging.Mane is fascinated by the intersection of the physical and digital worlds. She experiments with materials, sound, and scent to encourage people not only to look, but also to truly feel.
Adriënne Verburg (Hengelo, 2000) lives and works in Utrecht. She graduated from the Bachelor of Photography at the HKU (Utrecht University of the Arts) in 2025. She works with various materials, objects, and forms. Due to the fact that she struggled with speaking and reading until the age of nine, communication has become a major source of inspiration for her. She creates work based on her intuition and her perspective on the written, verbal, and visual communication surrounding her. Through her work, she aims to soften the rigid gaze directed at language, focusing on the tension between understanding and confusion.
Lenny van Hout:My name is Lenny van Hout. I am a 22-year-old self-taught artist. I began painting at the age of eighteen during a stay in a mental health clinic, where I was admitted due to suicidal thoughts. There, I received an hour of creative therapy every day. For the first time, I discovered how healing it can be to translate difficult emotions and thoughts into visual form. I had always written poetry, but from that moment on I began to take myself more seriously as an artist. Today, my practice is multidisciplinary: I create visual art, graphic work, installations, performances, music, and spoken word. In addition to my artistic practice, I organize events focused on mental health under the name Moedt . I live with the rare metabolic disorder CDG type 1a and struggled with depression between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two. Through my process of recovery, I came to understand how essential empathy and understanding are especially in a time marked by increasing polarization. With my work, I aim to open up space for these conversations and foster a deeper sense of understanding between people.
HKU Theatre will once again settle at the Nijverterrein this June for the second time, including at EXboot. Graduating students from the Theatre Design, Interactive Performance Design, and Master Scenography programs are working on their final projects, which will be on view during EXPOSURE from Thursday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29. Come and see!
Indira de Boer (Amsterdam, 2000) lives and works in Groningen. She graduated from Academie Minerva in Groningen in 2024. Her work consists of installations and sculptures in which industrial and organic materials come together. She investigates how meaning emerges in the interaction between human and material, inspired by new materialist theories. She has exhibited at Afslag BLV (Heerenveen) and Campis (Assen), among others.
Isabela Verhagen is a textile artist and anthropologist whose work explores lived experiences of climate change and our often absent relationship with the natural world. Through large-scale textile installations, she weaves together images from recent news events, personal and collective stories, and research driven material choices. Her practice sits at the intersection of craft, ecology, and social imagination, using the language of textiles to ask how people notice, ignore, or adapt to environmental change.
The work of Babs Groote Schaarsberg is not literally clothing, but it is fashion-inspired. She enjoys exploring what fashion can be: it may be sculptural, conceptual, sometimes wearable, and sometimes more of an installation. A variety of materials are important to Groote Schaarsberg. She works not only with textiles, but also with other unexpected materials such as paper and plastic. This allows her to manipulate form and texture in ways that textiles alone sometimes limit.
Sasja Houba (2002) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who expresses herself through graphic design, artistic research, and ceramics. In her work, she explores the relationship between humans, culture, and nature while incorporating practical and recognizable elements to make these themes more accessible to the public. Through this approach, she aims to raise awareness of the small, often overlooked or underappreciated aspects of our immediate surroundings.
Judith Spil, a kinetic and visual artist based in Utrecht, creates moving sculptures and installations that tell a story. With titles like "Nothing Lasts Forever", she creates short statements that encourage reflection on the work's underlying themes, such as the perception of time. In her work, Judith uses existing objects and mechanical parts. These objects are given new functions and now play a starring role in the narrative. Through the movement of the work and the use of recognizable objects, Judith aims to draw viewers into her philosophical narratives, encouraging the viewers to reflect on the application of the work and its themes in their own lives.
Het Kleinste was formed (c.2019) by four individuals with a strong interest in analogue photography and darkroom printing. Come mid 2020, and Het Kleinste Kamertje found their base at De Nijverheid, in Utrecht. Their idea was to create a cozy space for people to develop their films and enlarge their negatives to prints. In addition to the craft of analogue photography, they were also idealizing the creation of a social environment. A community, where likeminded individuals can come and share their experiences, knowledge, and learn from each other. Essentially, find an analogue photography "gezelligheid".
You can help us by volunteering or making a donation.
Because we do not charge an entrance fee or rent for the exhibition spaces, our income consists mainly of donations and subsidies.
Donations help us keep our spaces open. Send me an email, and I'll be happy to respond. Every donation is tax-deductible because the EX Foundation has Cultural ANBI status.
Would you welcome my visitors and volunteer to look after my art? The artists exhibiting with me are often present during opening hours. Unfortunately, they're not always available, and I'd like to keep the exhibition open an extra day, namely on Fridays from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Would you like to help me for a fee of €20 per afternoon in the EXbunker?
EXutrecht is subsidized by the municipality of Utrecht
