ABN Amro Art Award: Ivna Esajas
Wayward Lines. Consent not to be a single being
Exhibition — Mar 7 until Jun 7, 2026
Ivna Esajas is the winner of the ABN AMRO Art Award 2025 and will present a solo exhibition at the Stedelijk. From March 7, 2026, Esajas presents the exhibition Wayward Lines. Consent Not To Be a Single Being.
Ivna Esajas’s work operates at the intersection of drawing and painting. Her figures merge into one another, forming temporary connections that are both fragile and resilient. Her practice is characterized by a continuous shifting of perspectives. In a poetic and playful manner, she raises questions about our interconnectedness and our relationship to history. In this spirit, the exhibition is conceived as a call-and-response, in which different makers each let their voices be heard from their own positions. The exhibition is curated by Amal Alhaag.
Wayward Lines. Consent Not To Be a Single Being.
The exhibition brings together works that draw on family histories, personal experiences, and cultural traditions. The presentation is structured like the A and B sides of an LP, with Consent Not To Be a Single Being and Wayward Lines as two complementary parts. Joint authorship and ownership are questioned in this context. This creates space for diverse perspectives on how Blackness is experienced — rooted in everyday life and intergenerational knowledge, and constantly reshaped by the context in which it is lived. The exhibition was curated by Amal Alhaag.
FROM THE JURY RAPPORT
"The jury sees Esajas as a passionate artist who conscientiously follows her own path and creates her own intriguing world on the border between drawing and painting. Esajas' sources of inspiration are myths and personal stories, black feminism, science fiction, literature, and everyday life. From this mixture of influences, she builds a poetic universe that is constantly in motion, but always in balance."
Credits
1. Ivna Esajas, Makuba, 2025, mixed media op canvas, 88 x 88 cm
2. Ivna Esajas, The chorus, 2023, mixed media op canvas, 170 x 160 cm
3. Ivna Esajas, Waterdancer, 2021, mixed media op canvas, 115 x 120 cm
The ABN AMRO Art Award: Ivna Esajas – Wayward Lines is organized and initiated by ABN AMRO.
