For centuries, Amsterdam’s civic guard portraits functioned as status symbols for the city’s elite. In her series 'The Collateral Kin', Raquel van Haver reclaims this monumental tradition, shifting its focus toward the artists, thinkers, and makers who shape Amsterdam today. Following its debut at the Amsterdam Museum as part of the city’s 750th anniversary, the exhibition arrives at raam art space Amsterdam, where three large-scale installations are set against a panoramic view of the city they reflect.

Van Haver’s practice operates as a form of social journalism. Drawing on more than 150 interviews with residents aged 18 to 80+, she translates lived experience into dense, tactile works composed of charcoal and gypsum. The portraits are framed in unique wood veneer, a material choice that references the domesticity of the home while offering a sharp critique of the colonial timber trade and the VOC. Developed in collaboration with the Amsterdam City Archives, the voices behind these works are preserved as part of an enduring civic record.

Alongside these towering installations, Van Haver presents twenty intimate, small-scale portraits of the individuals featured in the series. Winner of the Dutch Royal Prize for Painting and represented in major institutional collections, Van Haver positions this exhibition not only as a visual experience, but as a call to engage. She issues an invitation to listen, to witness, and to act. Join us for this profound tribute to the heroes of modern Amsterdam. At raam art space Amsterdam, Raquel van Haver reimagines Amsterdam’s historic civic portraits through the voices of the city’s contemporary changemakers. Through monumental installations and intimate works, Van Haver translates over 150 stories into powerful, tactile portraits, presenting a compelling tribute to the city’s present-day heroes and inviting us to listen, witness, and act. The solo exhibition at raam art space is an extension of the exhibitions at Amsterdam Museum and Kers Gallery last year.