“In the Alzou Valley once flowed a unique queer community devoted to the river deity. They were fluid beings; the valley and the river breathed with them - a world where queerness, nature, and faith intertwined. But the harmony broke, the waters darkened, and the people of Alzou drifted into exile, leaving only whispers in the river’s song.”
Join us for Ugo Woatzi’s Open Studio, our newest residents at the FUTURES Hub, and celebrate the end of the year together!
Ugo Woatzi will present their project l’eau brille aussi la nuit as part of the FUTURES & MPB Residency.
Ugo Woatzi’s practice emerges as an intimate and poetic gesture, weaving the political with the imaginary. Moving through constellations of mediums, speculative fragments, queer theories, collective and personal memories, their work imagines new possibilities for belonging and transformation—both for our bodies and for the worlds we inhabit.
For the artist talk, Ugo Woarzi will be in conversation with Samira Damato, filmmaker, curator and artistic director for the Pride Photo Award.
Event Details:
👉 Please RSVP by 9 December 2025 to confirm your attendance.
About the portfolio sessions
As part of the Open Studio, Ugo Woatzi, guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, will organize four sessions of portfolio discussion, where the participants will have the opportunity to discuss a variety of topics, such as the development of their practice, what it means to take part in a residency program, how to structure a portfolio. Each session is an open conversation on the different aspects of the creative process, without being focused exclusively on the review of the portfolio.
The sessions will take place between 16:00 and 17:30 at the FUTURES Hub and it will be possible to sign up through the form below. There are four spots available, assigned on a first-come, first-served signup basis.
⚡️ Sign up here for the Portfolio Sessions
About Ugo Woatzi
Ugo Woatzi’s practice emerges as an intimate and poetic gesture, weaving the political with the imaginary. Moving through constellations of mediums, speculative fragments, queer theories, collective and personal memories, their work imagines new possibilities for belonging and transformation—both for our bodies and for the worlds we inhabit.
In 2024, Woatzi was a participant at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, followed by a residency at WIELS, Centre for Contemporary Art in Brussels, in 2025. Woatzi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and completed studies at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg, as well as an MA in Visual Arts at LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. Since 2023, they have also been a guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.
The opening is part of FUTURES X MPB residency, supported by MPB, the largest global platform to buy, sell and trade used photo and video gear.
Supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (AFK).
Photo Credits: Johan Poezevara
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