UTRECHT.- This November, photographers from the Netherlands will play a prominent role in Paris, in the lead-up to and during the prestigious Paris Photo fair. Invited by the Dutch Embassy in France, FOTODOK will present a diverse group of artists at Atelier Néerlandais whose works reflect the complexity and layered nature of contemporary Europe.

The exhibition is a collaboration between FOTODOK and curator Damarice Amao and will feature ten emerging photographers and visual artists. Each will share new work developed around the theme Europe Today. The selected artists are Emilia Martin, Giya Makondo-Wills, Julia Gat, Maite Vanhellemont, Mark Rammers, Pablo Lerma, Rafael Roncato, Sanne van den Elzen, Sheng-Wen Lo and Thana Faroq. Through imaginative and exploratory approaches, their projects respond to the question: what does it mean to be European today?

Personal perspectives that resonate

At the invitation of the Dutch Embassy in France, the selected works will be presented from 6 to 15 November 2026 at Atelier Néerlandais. Together, they form a layered portrait that is at once fragmented, personal and collective. Visually engaging, the works also invite reflection, rendering abstract themes tangible in ways that move beyond data and statistics. The result offers a compelling view of Europe today; as it is lived, felt and discussed in everyday life.

Europe is currently marked by pressing debates around identity, migration, borders and solidarity. Rather than focusing on grand geopolitical narratives, FOTODOK has chosen to foreground lived experience and personal perspectives that bring these themes closer. The works explore how broader questions resonate across work, care, mobility, intimacy and identity. With Paris Photo as its platform, the exhibition connects artists from the Netherlands to a broader, international audience.

A varied public programme will run alongside the exhibition, offering further context and exchange. Events including BookTalks and TAFERELEN will create space for conversation around the themes explored. Further details will be announced as the fair approaches.

Curator Damarice Amao: “As always, the selection process was far from easy. We had to choose from a wide range of artistic approaches and diverse—yet constantly stimulating—interpretations of the theme. I was particularly struck by the personal, even intimate, nature of the submitted projects, which conveyed a sense of urgency to express, through photography and art in general, the anxieties and hopes of our times.”

Femke Rotteveel, director of FOTODOK: “I met Damarice in 2023 at a photography festival in Portugal, where we were both independently drawn to the same work. That shared perspective is essential to a project like Europe Today, where multiple views on contemporary Europe come together. By presenting them side by side, a rich and nuanced picture emerges of what this region can represent.”