Embrace your inner Brussels sprout
Embrace Your Inner Brussels Sprout grew from a dialogue between me and artist Rika Maja Duevel about food and mental wellbeing. Together, we explored how food shapes identity, memory and connection — but also reveals vulnerability and exclusion. The Brussels sprout became our metaphor: often rejected, sometimes bitter, yet full of character and potential when approached with care. At Treehouse NDSM, the exhibition brings together ten artists who reflect on food as a social, emotional and cultural language. I also participate as an artist with Wounds, a work about vulnerability, healing and making what is fragile visible. An invitation to sit at the table — and to embrace what we usually push away.
EVENTS!
2/12/2026
Embrace Your Inner Brussels Sprout
19 February – 15 March 2026 | Treehouse NDSM
Embrace Your Inner Brussels Sprout is a project conceived and curated by Gabriele Bonomi and Rika Maja Duevel, with the support of Treehouse NDSM artistic coordinator Mulan Go.
The exhibition originates from a shared reflection on the relationship between food and mental wellbeing. Food can represent home, identity, ritual and connection; yet it can also reveal dynamics of exclusion, loneliness and distance. The title invites us to embrace what is often rejected — like the Brussels sprout — recognising its complexity, strength and transformative potential.
Within the exhibition, Gabriele Bonomi also participates as an artist with the work Wound. The piece addresses vulnerability and healing through materiality, transforming the wound into a visible and shared surface. Wound reflects on how personal experiences — including those connected to the body and health — can become spaces of collective connection when made visible and acknowledged.
The exhibition brings together ten artists who explore food as an emotional, cultural and social language.
Participating artists: Hans De Backer, Emin Batman, Gabriele Bonomi, Jasmijn Doukje Plantinga, Rika Maja Duevel, Maria Escarpenter, Logan Hon Mua, Rucha Kulkarni, Minyoung Kim, Yuk Lin Man & Philip Ling.
This exhibition partners with Voedselcirkel Amsterdam, an organization that fights loneliness and strengthens community through the power of shared food.
Visitors can contribute via QR code during the exhibition period. All donations collected will be fully transferred to the organization at the end of the show, supporting their mission to create warmth, connection, and belonging around the table.
Opening – 19 February, 18:00
The opening reflects the curatorial concept through a tasting created by The Vegan Bear Chef. The Brussels sprout is presented in three preparations that embody the core of the exhibition:
First, on its own: intense, sometimes bitter, with a strong character that can feel divisive.
Second, in relation to other ingredients: it does not lose its identity, but enhances and is enhanced by other flavours, becoming a shared experience.
Third, transformed into something unexpected: inviting us to rediscover it as pleasure and possibility.
The opening also includes speeches by the curators, the presentation of Emin Batman’s Baklouce, a performance by Maria Escarpenter, and a guided tour with the artists.
Side Events
Cooking in Dialogue – 28 February
A three-course dinner where art and food influence one another. The starter is created in response to an existing artwork; for the main course, the process is reversed, and an artwork emerges from the dish.
The evening is curated by artist Rika Maja Duevel and prepared by Gabriele Bonomi, The Vegan Bear Chef. Between courses, guests contribute to a collective artwork through drawing and collage.
Photos from Rika Maja Duevel.
At the Table: Stories, Recipes & Memories – 5, 11, 14 March
Three communal dinners inviting participants to bring a small tasting connected to their own personal story. Each evening begins with a guided tour of the exhibition and continues around a shared table.
Recipes and stories will be collected with the aim of creating a collective booklet. Gabriele Bonomi will prepare and serve a main dish and dessert inspired by his personal journey.
A project that invites us to slow down, meet one another, and recognise food not only as nourishment, but as a space for identity, vulnerability and collective care.
