Anna Nunes van den Hoven
Bio
Anna Nunes van den Hoven (1993, PT) is a Dutch-Portuguese artist, living and working from the Netherlands. Her work develops through long-term, site-responsive projects that take shape across different locations, in close relation to the people and contexts involved.
Since 2024, she has been developing À Volta do Barro (Around the Clay), an ongoing project centred on a ceramic tradition historically led by women. Through residencies and collaborations in Europe, Cape Verde, and São Tomé, the project traces the trajectories of this practice across the Atlantic, bringing together local materials, historical lines and collective processes into evolving material archives.
Her recent work builds on earlier projects such as The Imaginary Realm (2023–2024) and The Coloniality of Gender (2023–2025), an artistic research examining the lasting impact of plantation histories on contemporary gender structures.
Her background in ecology (Wageningen University) informs a sustained interest in the relationship between ecological systems and cultural practices, first explored in her research project Sacred Forests (Guinea-Bissau, 2016–2018).
Her work has been presented internationally, including at the Biennial of São Tomé and Príncipe, and is supported by institutions such as the fund Cultuurparticipatie and the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries of Cape Verde.
Education
2016-2018 — MSc Biology, Wageningen University (NL)
2012-2016 — BSc Forest & Nature Conservation, Wageningen University (NL)
Professional Development
2024 –Present — Sculpture course with artist Ingrid Rekers, The Hague (NL)
2023–Present — Member, The Hague Artists, STROOM The Hague (NL)
2022 — Member of This Work Club, This Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL)
2021–2023 — Writing coaching by Yoeke Nagel, supported by Foundation Voordekunst (NL)
2022 — Masterclass Writing About Art by Marijan Cousijn, Museum Schiedam (NL)
Awards and Grants
2025 — Project Grant, Ministerio da Cultura e das Indústrias Criativas (Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries of Cape Verde)
2024 — Project Grant, Fund Culturalparticipation (NL)
2023 — Project Grant, Fund Culturalparticipation (NL)
2018 — Willem Barentsz Award, Wageningen University (NL)
Selected Exhibitions
2025 — House of the Future III – Fertile Grounds, Gallery OpenArtExchange (NL)
2025 — Aflorar | Terra e Memória, Instituto Camões (PT)
2024 — ART The Hague, Gallery OpenArtExchange (NL)
2024 — X Biennial of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP)
2024 — Limburg Biennale, Marres (NL)
2023 — ART The Hague, Gallery OpenArtExchange (NL)
2023 — TIES, Gallery OpenArtExchange (NL)
2023 — Art in the Park, INNOCOM (BE)
2022 — In Memory, Dutch Portrait Prize, Loods 6 (NL)
2022 — Museum Night The Hague, Amare (NL)
2021 — Taking you there…, Gallery Warnars & Warnars (NL)
2021 — ART The Hague, Foundation Uit Het Gareel (NL)
Lectures/ Presentations / Workshops
2025 — Workshop EcoBody Gatherings, Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism, West Den Haag (NL)
2025 — Workshop Bamo faze un Poti, Verhalenhuis Belvedère (NL)
2025 — Workshop Bamo Brincar, Verhalenhuis Belvedère (NL)
2022 — Talk Alternative Realities, Museum Night, Amare (NL)
Collections
Works held in private and public collections in the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and the United States. Including CBK Zuidoost (NL) and CIMART BV (BE)
Ongoing Project – À Volta do Barro (Around the Clay)
2025 – À Volta do Barro, the Netherlands
Residency and workshops with ceramicist Alcides Morais (Rabil), facilitated by Verhalenhuis Belvédère and community centre Post West, with support from Cultuurparticipatie, Stichting MIJ, Gerstaecker BV, the Municipality of Boa Vista and the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries of Cape Verde.
2025 – À Volta do Barro, Rabil, Cape Verde
Residency with the ceramic community of Rabil (Boa Vista), supported by the Municipality of Boa Vista and Centro de Artes e Cultura of Sal Rei (Art and Culture Centre).
2024 – À Volta do Barro, Lisbon, Portugal
Residency and workshops with ceramicist Isabel Sanches Tavares (Trás-de-Monti), with support from the Municipality of Lisbon and Ricardo Barbosa Vicente, director of Centro Cultural de Cabo Verde in Lisbon (Cape Verdean Cultural Centre).
Other Projects and Residencies
2023–2024 — O Mundo Imaginário, São Tomé
Installation developed within the residency programme of the X Biennale of São Tomé and Príncipe (Re)Discovering Ourselves.
2023–Current — The Coloniality of Gender, São Tomé
Artistic research in collaboration with communities from Santana, Ribeira Afonso, Malanza and Porto Alegre, examining the lasting impact of Atlantic plantation histories on contemporary gender relations.
2020–2022 — MeeMakers
Co-founder of the collective MeeMakers, focusing on participatory and community-based artistic practices. Supported by Stichting Voordekunst, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Platform ACCT and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW).
2016–2018 — Sacred Forests, Guinea-Bissau
Ecological research on forests protected and managed through spiritual beliefs and practices, developed in collaboration with the inhabitants of the villages Belí, Capebonde and Uncire (Boé region), Wageningen University and the Chimbo Foundation. Awarded by Wageningen University in 2018 for its collaborative research approach.
2015 — Human-Wildlife Conflict, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa (residency, research project)
Partners: Wageningen University & Research
2011 — Trees in the Lamont Forest, New Jersey & New York (residency, research project)
Partners: Columbia University, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
Press
2025 — Expresso das Ilhas, Cape Verde — Newspaper article on À Volta do Barro – Rotterdam
2025 — RTC Cabo Verde — Television report on À Volta do Barro – Boa Vista
2025 — InforPress Cabo Verde — Newspaper article on À Volta do Barro – Boa Vista