PhotoSalon: dive into the archive & summer drinks
Groninger Archieven, Koos Breukel & Musoke Nalwoga
Are you a photographer or lens-based artist in the northern Netherlands and do you want to be part of a growing network that stands together stronger? Join us for the next PhotoSalon on Friday, July 3, at Noorderlicht (Akerkhof 12).
This edition will include an exploration of photography, archives, heritage, and collective narratives. How do images enter an archive? Who decides what gets kept, and what gets left behind? How do photographers build their own archives? And how can we, as northern lens-based makers, make our work findable — and find each other's?
During this session, you'll meet fellow photographers and explore the world of archival practice. Groninger Archieven, represented by Roomyla Choenni, will take us behind the scenes of how the Groningen archives are built: what enters the collection, what doesn't, and why. Koos Breukel, renowned portrait photographer and one of the artists behind Noorderlicht's What Knots Knot Knots project, will discuss his recent residency, his engagement with overlooked and forgotten histories, and his approach to photography, archiving and artistic practice.
The language of this programme is English.
Please note: the language of this programme is English.
Programme:
4:00 PM – Welcome + brief introduction
4:10 PM – Groninger Archieven, Roomyla Choenni + Q&A
4:30 PM – Koos Breukel + Q&A
4:50 PM - questions/break
5:00 PM – Breakout rooms:
Connect with Groninger Archieven - Photography and archives: how do images become part of our collective memory?
Portfolio sessions with Noorderlicht Co-curator, Musoke Nalwoga
Share your work horror stories - with photographer Hobbe Hollands
5:30 PM – Summer borrel— celebrate the end of the season!
Groninger Archieven
The Groninger Archieven preserve and manage the rich history of the city and province of Groningen. As custodians of public and private archives, they collect both historical and contemporary materials and make them accessible to researchers, media professionals, museums, and anyone interested in Groningen's past.
Koos Breukel
Koos Breukel is one of the Netherlands' most renowned portrait photographers. His work explores the relationship between photographer and subject, placing intimacy and proximity at the centre of his artistic practice. During this session, Breukel will discuss his contribution to Noorderlicht's What Knots Knot Knots project, in which he uses portrait photography to explore the history of the former residential camp Schattenberg in Drenthe.
Musoke Nalwoga
Musoke Nalwoga is co-curator of Noorderlicht's 2026–2027 programme. She is a curator, writer and researcher whose work focuses on photography and other lens-based media, operating at the intersection of embodied knowledge, making, archiving, and the political dimensions of image production. Nalwoga is the founder and artistic director of MOTORMOND in Amsterdam and has collaborated with organisations including Kunstverein Braunschweig, Sonsbeek 20–24, Framer Framed and the Cobra Museum. Her long-term research projects explore alternative forms of knowledge production and transmission beyond dominant institutional frameworks.
Admission is free. Let us know you're coming! Send an email to: yvonne@noorderlicht.com
The PhotoSalon is co-organised by Noorderlicht and photographers from the North.