In The Studio #11, Bonnefanten is presenting Malina Suliman, a visual artist in exile, who sees her work as an instrument of social and political criticism.

Impressive

The artworks of Malina Suliman (1990, Kandahar) are topical and important, and take various forms. The tremendous visual appeal of her art is further reinforced by the performances she links to it.

International focus

Early on in her life, Suliman was confronted with war and oppression in Afghanistan. This background and her flight from the regime in her home country have had a lasting influence on her work and career. The young Afghan-Dutch artist fights in her own individual way against inequality and social exclusion, and draws attention to women’s rights.

Put on the map

The Studio #11 includes two large maps of the world, through which she addresses themes like forced migration, violence and the idea of borders versus borderlessness. Another exhibit is 34 pages of interviews: an extremely personal work that shows the report of Suliman’s screening by the Dutch Immigration Service.

Walking in the Sea

The eye-catchers in the presentation is Walking in the Sea: a huge map of the world made of earth and pigments, which Suliman developed in 2023. The work is based on her personal experiences. In it, she explores the complex gap between the way borders are depicted and the way she experiences them as an Afghan-Dutch artist.

The Artist is Around

In the run-up to The Studio #11, Suliman will be working on Walking in the Sea in the museum. The creative process is very time-consuming, intensive and precise. Visitors to Bonnefanten are welcome to follow this process, step by step. From 20 May up to the opening of the exhibition, the creative process can be followed live in the museum every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, from 13.00 to 17.00.

Finissage performance

At the end of the exhibition, on Sunday 6 September 2026, a performance will take place in Bonnefanten. Led by the artist, visitors will walk over Walking in the Sea. Afterwards, the artwork will be cleared away. In this performance, Suliman will address the concept of borders as political constructions: temporary, imposed and maintained by control systems.

About Malina

In 2009, Malina Suliman gained her Bachelor in Fine Arts at the art institute of Karachi, Pakistan. She then returned to Afghanistan, where she made paintings, installations and public wall paintings on political and social themes. As Suliman publicly opposed the regime, she was forced to flee the country in 2013 and came to the Netherlands, where she underwent the tough process of naturalisation.

Meanwhile, she made great strides in her career. In 2016, she gained her Master’s degree at the ArtEZ Dutch Art Institute. After that, she won the prestigious Artist Protection Fund Fellowship in 2017 and collaborated with the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. In 2025, she gained her Master’s degree in choreography at Stockholm University of the Arts. 

Suliman has exhibited and given performances in the Netherlands and abroad. She has held presentations at the Institut Français (Kabul), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Wilde Weten (Rotterdam), United Nations (Brussels) and National Gallery (Islamabad), among others. In 2022, she gave a solo exhibition in Museo Casa Rusca (Locarno).

In 2023 and 2024, Malina Suliman did a residency at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. Since then, Bonnefanten has been following the artist carefully. This contact resulted in the creation of The Studio #11: Malina Suliman.

Made possible by: Provincie Limburg, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, VriendenLoterij en GAVE fonds.

Header: Malina Suliman, Walking in the Sea (close-up photo site-specific installation Jan van Eyck Academie, 2024).Photo Romy Finke