The series The Studio in the Bonnefanten provides a stage for small scale solo presentations on which artists may present recent developments in their work.

Sara Bachour (1988, Bologna - Maastricht) makes art about the place we spend a great deal of our life: the internet. In this studio presentation, she exhibits new and existing work. The videos, sculptures and installations show how humans interact with social media and new technologies like artificial intelligence. We are continually bombarded with images and texts. Governments, businesses, bots, influencers and celebrities want to convince us of their ideas and products. How can we still know what is real? Bachour blends the real world with a world of fantasy.

Bachour likes to imagine how other people live. She comes across all sorts of people online, but never contacts them. She does, however, click on through usernames or hyperlinks. Bachour’s imagination is fired by comments under Instagram photos, signs in YouTube videos or conversations with AI. In her artworks, she combines these striking moments with things that they evoke in her mind. For instance, you see inspiring quotes from someone going through a midlife crisis on white arches that Bachour saw in the building of the spiritual community EnlightenNext. In another work, you see a lizard searching for warmth on a modem. It reminds the artist of the way in which people search for companionship on the internet. This search for meaningfulness is a recurring theme in Bachour’s works.

Bachour is the fifth recipient of the Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium, a grant set up by the Province of Limburg in 2018, which aims to stimulate the work of artists from Limburg and bring it to the attention of a wider public. The grant comprises a scholarship, a solo presentation in The Studio at Bonnefanten and a six-month working period at the Jan van Eyck Academy, culminating in participation in the Open Studios.

Header: Sara Bachour, Christophe, 2021, stitched, painted and quilted fabric, 256 x 175,5 cm. Sara Bachour. Photo: courtesy Sara Bachour.