Bonnefanten’s exciting Pop-up pavilion at Cultura Nova, featuring the work of the versatile artist Mounira Al Solh
Practical information
The Bonnefanten Pop-up museum is open every day
and admission is free for everyone!
Opening hours Bonnefanten Pop-up museum | |
|---|---|
Opening: Friday 29 August | 9:00 p.m.—12:00 a.m. |
Saturday 30 August Sunday 31 August Wednesday 3 September Saturday 6 September | 2:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m. |
Monday 1 September Tuesday 2 September Thursday 4 September Friday 5 september | 5:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m. |
Sunday 7 September | 12:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. |
Mounira Al Solh
The Lebanese-Dutch artist Mounira Al Solh (1978, Beirut) grew up during the war that broke out in Lebanon in 1975. This painful history is always reflected in her art. Yet her works are not bleak. They revolve around resilience, hope and perseverance.
Celebrated artist
Al Solh is one of the most prominent artists in the Netherlands. She creates various types of art work: paintings and sculptures, as well as embroidered textiles and videos. Her work also attracts a great deal of attention internationally. The installations Al Solh made for the Lebanese pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2024) and for the Artes Mundi prize in Cardiff (2023) are now on display in Maastricht. For the exhibition in Bonnefanten, Mounira Al Solh: A land as big as her skin, the artist also created many new works.
Portrait Mounira Al Solh, 2025 . Photo Gert Jan van Rooij
In the Pop-up museum: looking at art
In the Bonnefanten Pop-up museum at Cultura Nova in Heerlen, we are celebrating the first big retrospective by Al Solh in the Netherlands.
Step into the magical world of embroidered canvases and soft cushions. Settle down on a sofa under a tent embroidered by Al Solh. While the tent keeps out all the angry and scary things, it lets through dreams and hopes. This links up with the film that is shown. The Sea is a Stereo: Paris without a Sea (2007-2008) is about men from Beirut. Although war and violence loom, they swim in the sea and relax every day. Keeping up your daily routines in such a situation can be regarded as an act of resistance. For Ammodo Docs, director Bibi Fadlalla made a short documentary about and with Mounira Al Solh, Dancing on the Ruins (2025). Look at, listen to and get to know Al Solh’s realm of ideas.
In the Pop-up museum:
creating art
Take inspiration from the theme of remembering and shape your ideas or stories in words on textile, just as Mounira Al Solh does. You can work on your own, uninterrupted. Anyone can join in – free of charge and without registering.
However: places are limited.
In the weekend, you are very welcome to take part in a supervised embroidery workshop for all ages:
Sat. 30 Aug. + Sun. 31 Aug. + Sat. 6 Sept.: 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sun. 7 Sept.: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Header: Exhibition overview Mounira Al Solh: A land as big as her skin, video The Sea is a Stereo: Paris without a Sea (2007-2008), Bonnefanten, 2025. Photo Gert Jan van Rooij