06 march 2026, Martine Bontjes
International Women's Day: six galleries with works by female artists
This Sunday, 8 March, marks International Women's Day. At these six galleries a wide range of works by female artists is on view. Themes such as identity, ecofeminism, sustainability and the power of decoration unfold as central threads.
Working Title: The Importance of Soil
At Working Title, the duo exhibition The Importance of Soil brings together two artists who reflect on the parallels between the position of women and our approach to nature. Müge Yılmaz approaches nature as a living, acting entity, a perspective that takes shape in her colourful sculptures. Drawing on the myth of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, who descends into the underworld and becomes entangled in a cycle of death and rebirth, Yılmaz reactivates an ancient narrative of transformation. Through this story, she proposes a way of thinking that centres not on power and endless growth but on resilience and renewal. It offers an alternative to the dominant capitalist notion of vertical expansion.
Sophie Steengracht presents magical paintings of plants, created with homegrown pigments from her own garden. She investigates the intricate networks of fungi and plant roots and demonstrates that sustainability is not merely a theme but a practice. These artists demonstrate that the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature stem from the same patriarchal structure. The exhibition runs until 28 March.
Sophie Steengracht, Swarm Around Ancient Pollen, 2026, Working Title
At Fred&Ferry in Antwerp, the solo exhibition luchtvlak landschap zon, maan by Jana Coorevits is on view. The central theme is the shifting relationship between human presence and the surrounding natural world. By observing celestial bodies, landscapes and her own body, Coorevits explores how the universal and the personal intertwine. Her analogue colour and black-and-white photographs invite a more attentive, slower gaze. In parallel with the exhibition, her film Matter on its dance through time (2025), centred on the landscape of Death Valley, is screened this evening, 6 March, at De Cinema. This project focuses on the vulnerability that can emerge in the aftermath of sexual violence. In the film, Coorevits develops a visual language that seeks to capture the fragile relationship between the body and the vast, desolate desert landscape. The exhibition is on view until 25 April.
Jana Coorevits, Corteconcepción, 7.08.2023, 2026, Fred&Ferry
At Rademakers Gallery, Simone Post reveals how discarded materials can be given new life. She works primarily with textile remnants from industrial leftovers. By cutting, layering and weaving existing materials, she creates monumental tapestries and spatial installations. Her work is currently on view in the window display of Hermès in Amsterdam at P.C. Hooftstraat, where leftover materials have been transformed into textile landscapes in exuberant colours, taking the form of trees, animals and flowers. In April she will take part in the group exhibition The Garden Remembers at Rademakers Gallery, where layers of textile reveal the rhythms, forms and organic patterns of plants and unfolding landscapes. This exhibition opens on 11 April at Rademakers Gallery. From 10 May, Post transforms the entrance hall of the Centraal Museum in Utrecht with a colorful installation of trees, ships, and seating areas.
Simone Post, wall tapestry - krulvaren, Rademakers Gallery
Art Gallery O-68: Tony Dočekal
Art Gallery O-68 presents a major solo exhibition by Tony Dočekal titled Paper Stars. For this series, she followed a young girl named Lyric over several years in a remote border region of the United States. The exhibition begins as a portrait of a nine-year-old living in a school bus and slowly unfolds into a layered narrative about identity and adolescence in a changing America. The exhibition brings together seventy works in photography and film and remains on view until 22 March. Afterwards, Dočekal's work will be presented during Art Rotterdam in a duo presentation alongside works by Maaike Kramer.
Tony Dočekal, Twelve, 2026, Art Gallery O-68
Ysebaert Gallery: Danielle van Zadelhoff
In Belgium, Ysebaert Gallery presents the first exhibition of Danielle van Zadelhoff. In Melody of the Elusive we encounter compelling portraits, often of women and children. Her costumed figures appear vulnerable and turned inward. Through a subtle interplay of light and shadow, Van Zadelhoff directs attention to faces, hands and gestures, allowing every glance and movement to resonate. Van Zadelhoff invites the viewer to drift into the image: "I like to embed something intangible in my work, something that makes you start to dream." The exhibition continues until 22 March.
Danielle van Zadelhoff, Le temps qui passe 11, 2024, Ysebaert Gallery
Galerie van Gelder: Lily van der Stokker
Finally, Galerie van Gelder presents Lily van der Stokker's Nothing Wall. In a stretch of forty meters, an apparently light and curling mural unfolds across the gallery. Van der Stokker elevates the everyday and the decorative into monumental art and shows that even nothing can be something. The exhibition runs until 26 April.
Lily van der Stokker, Nothing Wall, Galerie van Gelder
