Kyra Sacks
artist-anthropologist

Amsterdam, 1989
 
Art and Education
Utrecht School of the Arts (Ba, 2010)
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
(Ma, 2019, cum laude)

Collections

Stadsarchief Amsterdam
AkzoNobel Art Foundation
Sanquine Amsterdam
Internationaal Danstheater
Private collections

Publications

Sacks, K. (2020). ‘Drawn in the field’, entanglements, 3(1):7-30. Entanglements Journal
Drawings bear witness to the evermore precarious situation and dynamics on Lesvos during unrest and protest mid-February 2020. I explore drawing as an ethnographic practice deserving of more systematic attention in social research.

2026
• Dutch Relief Alliance – Resilience on the Edge, Support for Afghan communities by the Dutch Relief Alliance – Interactive storytelling piece (to be published in May 2026)
• Utrecht University – Abortion at Home: Arts-Based Methods for exploring the emotional entanglements of reproductive and domestic hierarchies – In collaboration with Elisa Fiore (ongoing)
• Leiden University & Art Partner & Maze de Boer – [s]Tattoo – supporting artist for artistic intervention on social security for staff and students
• Art Partner & Erasmus MC - Grensverkenningen – illustrations

2025
• The 100 years school – opening journey – artistic director, Austria
• Treehouse Gallery– Into The Water – group show
• Vouch Art Fair – group show
• Stichting DOEN – Landschap van Frictie en Falen - een artistiek antropologisch publieksonderzoek naar de uitdagingen van participatieve kunstpraktijken
• Design Academy Eindhoven – co-tutor Design Anthropology with Tina Lenz – Contextual Research course
• Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi in collaboration with SYPartners, UAE – visual harvest
• COC nederland: Queer Asylum in Europe – Visual Harvest
• Wageningen University: Polyphonic Rivers – Visual Harvest
• Inholland & Art Partner & Maze de Boer – [s]Tattoo – supporting artist for research on social security

2024
• The 100 years school – visual harvest, Austria
• Gallery Fleur & Wouter – Traverse, a collection of 25 drawings, project space solo presentation, Amsterdam
• Arte.tv & Kessels Kramer – Nice to meet you – collecting voices and stories from across Europe
• Royal Anthropology Institute – paper presentation during the Fieldwork Sketches: Blurring the Lines between Art and Anthropology study day
• PHRC – Witness: Genocide through children’s eyes – curation of an exhibition with drawings from Gaza in collaboration with the Palestinian Humanitarian Response Center.

2023
• Brainwash Festival & FreedomLab – Voorbij het humanisme – animations
• Hogeschool Inholland en Art Partner – Artistic research Mentale gezondheid en veiligheid
• AkzoNobel Art Foundation – group exhibition eARTh
• The Netherlands Red Cross – The Backway, People on the Move in The Gambia – interactive case study, The Gambia
• The 100 years school – opening journey – visual harvest, Austria
• Commissie voor de Tekeningen, het Stadsarchief Amsterdam – thematische tekenopdracht ‘Een Levensvatbare stad’
• Savory Institute – visual harvest Network reunion, Portugal
• Atölye and SYPartners – visual harvest B for Good Leadership Summit, Amsterdam
• University of Utrecht – visual harvest Urban Geography research day, Utrecht

2022
• Valley of the Possible – residency BLACK EARTH, Chile
• Inholland & Art Partner – artistic research ‘Studeren met een functiebeperking’
• Red Cross Netherlands – artistic design for ‘Anticipatory Action’ reports
• Galerie Fleur & Wouter – solo-exhibition ‘Solastalgia’, Amsterdam
• Autoriteit Consument en Markt & Art Partner – artistic research ‘Vonsten van Verbinding’
• Visual harvest for Savory Institute, THNK, Ludens & De Nederlandse Bank, Artis & UvA Planetary Health Congress e.o.

2021
• Ashoka Netherlands – visual harvest Weaving for a Thriving Planet
• Savory Institute – visual harvest Design Lab
• DELA uitvaarten & Art Partner – artistic research Rituals of loss/Loss of rituals
• Universiteit van Amsterdam – collaborative research Erasmus+ ‘Anatomy of an Encounter’

2020
• Coup Cura – Clear Connections – drawings and animations for documentary
• In my Backyard & Laguna Collective – independent consultant, evaluation Common Ground Works with Ylva van den Berg
• Dutch Institute in Athens, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Universiteit van Amsterdam & Panteion University – collaborative ethnographic research the Vulnerability Paradox, Athens, Greece
• THNK school of creative leadership; Kruisbestuivers & Art Partner for the Municipality of Rotterdam, VolkerWessels Infra ICT, KWS, Project Idols, Naturalis Provincie Zuid-Holland; Municipality of Amsterdam & Sara Huang – visual harvest
• Refocus Medialabs – Multi-media teacher and mentor, citizen journalism, Lesbos, Greece

2019
• Dutch Institute in Athens (NIA) and ETHNOFEST, Leiden University and University of Amsterdam – visual ethnography Safar (Journey), Greece, Athens
• VU Amsterdam – Master’s thesis Coinciding contradictions: Refugees’ daily life in displacement (cum laude)
• Galerie Fleur & Wouter – group show De grote Fleur en Wouter Show, Amsterdam

2010-2018 [selection]
• De Beeldvormers – co-founder, visual harvest on location
• AZC Atelier – Co-founder and teacher
• Galerie Fleur & Wouter, VoxPop – duo exhibition Revolt, Amsterdam
• Galerie Fleur & Wouter – group show Fata Morgana, Amsterdam
• Sachaqa Centro del Arte – residency, San Roque De Cumbaza, Lamas, Peru
• de Grunerie – Overzichtstentoonstelling, Oegstgeest
• Galerie Fleur & Wouter – Art Trade, Sociëteit Sexyland, Amsterdam
• Academie Galerie – groupshow Multiversum, Utrecht
• Galerie Joghem, Sanquin – group show Jubileum expositie, Amsterdam
• Gemeente Almere & Art Partner – artistic research
• Internationaal Danstheater – residency and solo-exhibition Just wait a touch longer, Amsterdam
• Bartimeus & Art Partner – artistic research Luisterrijk en Opzienbarend
• No Mans Art Gallery pop-up – residency and duo-show Kyra Sacks & Merijn Kavelaars, Shanghai
• Het Veem theater – group show Playtime!Festival, Amsterdam
• Galerie Joghem, Sanguin – solo-exhibition Heb ik mij vandaag bewogen? Amsterdam
• Radboud University – solo-exhibition Heb ik mij vandaag bewogen? II, Nijmegen
• De Grunerie – duo-show Kyra Sacks en Benita Mylius, Oegstgeest
• Galerie De Artillerie – group show Live build, Utrecht
• galerie STAA – group show Geslaagde kunst, , Alphen aan de Rijn
• Galerie Joghem, Sanquin – group show Afstudeerders expositie, , Amsterdam
• HKU graduates – group show Exposure, Utrecht