Amsterdam unveils new art honoring diverse cultural identities

New cultural landmarks have been unveiled in Amsterdam to honor diverse identities and historical contributions to the arts.

In Amsterdam-West, artist Narges Mohammadi unveiled a marble sculpture titled ‘(Zoals) Ze is’ on the Bos en Lommerweg. Created as part of the ‘Vrouwen van West’ art route, the piece was developed over eighteen months in collaboration with four local women of Islamic background. The sculpture depicts a Muslim woman carving herself free from a block of marble, symbolizing a liberation from social stigmas rather than religious or gender-based constraints.

In a separate tribute to theatrical history, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) unveiled a joint portrait of Moroccan-Dutch theater pioneers Hassan Gnaoui and Mnine Houcine. The artwork, created by M’barek Bouhchichi, grants the two makers a permanent place in the ITA portrait gallery. Gnaoui and Houcine were part of the first generation of Moroccan creators on Dutch stages, using mime and performance to explore themes of migration, language, and cultural identity during the 1980s.