Sanne Kabalt

Sanne Kabalt (Amsterdam, 1989) is a Dutch artist who works with the medium of photography, often accompanied by writing. After her studies in photography at the Utrecht School of the Arts (2011) she obtained her MA degree from the Dutch Art Institute (2018) in Arnhem. Recent exhibitions include Beautiful Distress House (Amsterdam), Württembergischer Kunstverein (Stuttgart) and Lítost (Prague). Alongside her artistic practice, Kabalt teaches at different institutions such as Merz Akademie Stuttgart (DE) & Buitenkunst (NL). Her first book, ‘Zolang je niet zo over problemen praat zie je er toch niks van’, which roughly translates to ‘As long as you don’t talk about problems so much you won’t see them anyways’, was published in 2018 by Het Vijfde Seizoen.

In her work, Sanne uses a wide range of media. Photography is often at the core, accompanied by poetry, drawing, installation, projection, song or performance. The content of the project determines its form. Thematically, she is engaged in the realms of illness, death, madness and loss and human-non human relations. In a sensitive way, Sanne explores the implications of pain, the the relation between pain and the words we give to it, and deploys the camera to explore what it can do that one’s own perception cannot. Her work unfolds as a process in which she resists a static end result and the presentation takes on an open form that still has the potential to evolve, in which not all questions have already been answered.

Watch Sanne Kabalt's 20 minute presentation Take care in beholding the self for CONSTANT CRAVING ~ PERFORMING UNDER CONDITIONS - DAI's 3 day performance-lecture marathon at State of Concept in Athens, June 2018. 

Learn more about Sanne Kabalt’s written MA thesis (DAI, 2018): Capture: Wording, Haunting, Dissolving

Sanne returned to DAI at multipe occasions and locations, in order to assist us with logistics and care.

Follow Sanne's "Life after DAI" through her website and Instagram