An Eye Dreads the Sun

Curator: Cynthia Jordens

Materials are not silent witnesses. They carry stories and traces of origin and loss, and transmit knowledge. In An Eye Dreads the Sun, earth, plant-based pigments, textiles, sound and the human voice become carriers of memory. By bringing these material histories into view, the artists create space for other ways of perceiving.

The title, which is drawn from a poem by Etel Adnan, evokes an ambiguous image: the sun as a life-giving force as well as a witnessing eye for violence, strife, and displacement. Sometimes it illuminates the world; at other times, it mercilessly lays it bare. In A Thousand Sunsets (2026), a monumental installation by Atousa Bandeh, this tension takes on a tangible form. The installation brings together the ever-changing colours of sunsets, seemingly suspending these fleeting moments in time.

The exhibition brings together new and existing works by AYO, Taqwa Ali, Atousa Bandeh, Nolan Oswald Dennis and Jennifer Tee and concludes a trilogy exploring transformation from both poetic and political perspectives.

Witness an intimate rendition of AYO’s A Score for Atat’s Homestead at Garage Rotterdam, performed by composer and improviser Phantom Wizard under AYO’s artistic direction. In her work, AYO explores how sound can make hidden histories and a lost homeland audible. During the performance, sculptures, field recordings, instruments and live improvisation come together, giving personal and collective memories form through sound. The Abu, AYO’s glass interpretation of a traditional Luo wind instrument, also takes on a new sonic dimension within the performance. In this way, the installation becomes a living, shared memory.

AYO is a Kampala-raised, Rotterdam-based multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, sound, performance, and film. Through time-based and collaborative works, she researches how intangible cultural heritage – language, memory, oral transmission, Indigenous knowledge systems – presses against and enters material forms, opening rooms where histories are enlivened, shared, and at times, misunderstood.

Phantom Wizard (b. 1998, Amsterdam) is a composer and improviser whose work dissolves boundaries and reimagines traditions. Phantom Wizard blends natural soundscapes, the sonorities of Afro-diasporic music, experimental electronics and the many ancient traditions sourced from the Surinamese melting pot.

Garage Cafe #16 will open its doors again on the 8th of October 2026.

Garage Cafe is a test-site-with-an-audience for experimenting, sharing research, developing new collaborations, performing, and presenting all kinds of artistic work.

Garage Café #16 will open its doors again on Thursday 8th of October 2026, for 5 presentations and performances of 10 minutes, food, drinks, and time to discuss. 

Thursday 8 October 2026

Doors open & soup: 18.00
Start presentations: 18.30
Entrance €2, or pay what you can
Soup: €5

Language: English

Artists:
anna andrejew
Yang Yu
Minh Thu Nguyen
Emily Hsiang-Yun Huang
Romana Klementis

Organised & Hosted by Nicole Sciarone
Soup by Samyuktha Rajagopal

Visuals for Garage Cafe #16 by Jenny Konrad.

Kindly supported by Elise Mathilde Fonds, Cultuurfonds Zuid-Holland, and Volkskracht.