-
![Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of]( "Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of")
infoCatalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of, Mirelle van Tulder. 64 p.; 129 b/w illustrations, text: English. Roots to Fruits, 2025. (cover)
-
![Emptying the Shelves]( "Emptying the Shelves")
infoEmptying the Shelves. 528 p.; 250 bw, 7 fc illustrations, text: English. Roots to Fruits, 2025. (cover)
-
![COUPLE]( "COUPLE")
infoExhibition Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation, on view from 15 October 2025 to 11 January 2026. The works in the group exhibition examine how colonialism has shaped the ways museums, archives and other institutions of knowledge are perceived and understood, revealing the (im)material scars imposed by systemic violence.
-
![TIKI FOR HAIR ORNAMENT]( "TIKI FOR HAIR ORNAMENT")
infoExhibition Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation, on view from 15 October 2025 to 11 January 2026. The works in the group exhibition examine how colonialism has shaped the ways museums, archives and other institutions of knowledge are perceived and understood, revealing the (im)material scars imposed by systemic violence.
-
![Shapeshifters]( "Shapeshifters")
infoExhibition Shapeshifters: On Wounds, Wonders and Transformation, on view from 15 October 2025 to 11 January 2026. The works in the group exhibition examine how colonialism has shaped the ways museums, archives and other institutions of knowledge are perceived and understood, revealing the (im)material scars imposed by systemic violence.
-
info
During the colonial period, the Netherlands was involved in the settlement, occupation, and control of territories worldwide, exerting dominance over people and resources. This colonial inheritance is reflected in the 470.734 ancestral objects now held by the Wereldmuseum, with only 3% on public display. The remaining 97% are stored in a 4.000 m² depot at a secluded location in 's-Gravenzande. This depot is one of many similar storage facilities for ethnographic collections throughout Europe. The objects in the museum's depot are more than mere material. They represent an invaluable legacy transcending property and ownership, holding ancestral histories and embodying knowledge that precedes our contemporary realities. Fragmented by displacement, these objects continue to whisper their stories, moving beyond their condition as catalogued items, building new forms of relationality and plurality to which they once belonged.
-
![Manifestation #50 KETI KOTI X ROOTS TO FRUITS]( "Manifestation #50 KETI KOTI X ROOTS TO FRUITS")
infowindow collage, Buro Stedelijk
-
![Manifestation #50 KETI KOTI X ROOTS TO FRUITS]( "Manifestation #50 KETI KOTI X ROOTS TO FRUITS")
infowindow collage, Buro Stedelijk
-
![Dutch Premiere at Page Not Found]( "Dutch Premiere at Page Not Found")
infoDutch Premiere at Page Not Found: Being Part European. What remains unseen? The Netherlands holds 470.734 ancestral objects in the Wereldmuseum depot—97% hidden from public view. These objects carry histories, knowledge, and displaced narratives that challenge ideas of ownership and belonging.
-
info
A PLEA FOR THE RESTITUTION OF AN IRREPLACEABL CULTURAL HERITAGE TO THOSE WHO CREATED IT
-
![Being Part European (series 1/20)]( "Being Part European (series 1/20)")
infoIn the compositions of Being Part European, I've replaced the categorizing captions of photos and objects with sentences from the poem 'Being Part European'. By giving a voice to the objects and people depicted in the photographs, I question the traditional use of captions. What stories do these objects whisper to each other, across the gutters of the compositions and through the walls of the shelves?
-
![Being Part European]( "Being Part European")
infoPoetic evening by Mirelle van Tulder Being Part European Artist Mirelle van Tulder presents a poetic evening at Foam Editions. Being Part European explores the concept of divided origins and the displacement of cultural objects in a European context. During the evening, the audience is invited to actively participate. Prior to the performance, Mirelle van Tulder will engage in conversation with Wonu Veys, curator of Oceania at the National Museum of World Cultures.
-
![Roots to Fruits Magazine]( "Roots to Fruits Magazine")
infoRoots to Fruits magazine dedicates itself to exploring the role that a single form of music or sonic practice plays in migration, culture and resistance. 2022-ongoing
-
![Fig. 3, Bedu masqueraders and masks, Nafana, Degawiile village]( "Fig. 3, Bedu masqueraders and masks, Nafana, Degawiile village")
infoseries 2/8
Websites
Fine art & publishing
rootstofruits.info/Social media
Platform
Roots to Fruits
Member of a professional association/artists’ association
De Kunstenbond
Curriculum vitae
Education
-
2021 - 2023Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design, Typography, Werkplaats Typografie Arnhem, ARTEZ, Academie Beeldende Kunst en Vormgeving diploma
-
2015 - 2019Bachelor of Design, Graphic Design HKU diploma
exhibitions
-
2025Shapeshifters Framer Framed Amsterdam, Netherlands Shapeshifters brings together a range of works that explore how colonialism has shaped our perceptions and understanding of museums, archives, and other institutions of knowledge. It invites us to reimagine alternative ways of engaging with these structures through imagination and empathetic knowledge. Inspired by the work of Octavia E. Butler, the term ‘shapeshifter’ refers not only to the literal ability to transform at will, but also to a technology or imaginative force that resists colonial oppression and reconfigures dominant narratives. The artists in this group exhibition operate in a similar way: they confront how subjects have been made to conform to systems of power across different historical contexts, and how the subjects’ stories and identities are reclaimed, liberated, and transformed through artistic practices. The exhibition seeks to challenge dominant paradigms and explore how art mobilizes emotion, curiosity, and proposes new visions of ownership, value, healing and repair—shapeshifting towards a transformed world. framerframed.nl/exposities/expositie-shapeshifters/ Group
-
2025Being Part European, Dutch premiere Page Not Found Den Haag, Netherlands Across Europe, there are numerous hidden depots, closed to the public, that hold hundreds of thousands of objects, stolen from former colonised lands and peoples. Being Part European is the first film to reveal one of these depots. Situated in a location that remained classified until nov 22, 2024, this depot holds over 450.000 ancestral objects, most of them looted by Dutch colonizers. Guided by the words of the Fijian poet Sam Simpson, written in 1974, this film attempts to give a voice to the objects kept on Dutch soil. Unable to be honoured, ritualised, and commemorated by the descendants to which these objects once belonged. page-not-found.nl/ Solo
-
2023Best Dutch Book Design Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands Using the Riso technique, I explore the potential of the book as an artistic medium. Through my intensive experience with the Riso duplicator during Werkplaats Typografie, I have developed a distinctive method for printing collages, photo books, and zines with one to three color layers. For example, the experimental book Le Soleil (2023) was selected as Best Dutch Book Design. www.stedelijk.nl/nl/tentoonstellingen/de-best-verzorgde-boeken-2023 Group
Projects
-
2026
Huis van het boek Den Haag, Netherlands www.huisvanhetboek.nl/ Research residency. My project at the Huis van het boek explores how I can reuse the herbarium collection. I am interested in the colonial histories behind the rich illustrations of these plants (and botanical gardens) and want to investigate their role in migration, culture, and resistance. What has been preserved and what has not, and from what historical context? Why are certain histories overrepresented, while others are invisible?
-
2025
Atelier KITL/Framer Framed residency Framer Framed/ KITLV Amsterdam/Leiden, Netherlands framerframed.nl/dossier/aankondiging-atelier-kitlv-framer-framed-artist-in-residence/ During the Atelier KITLV-Framer Framed Artist in Residence program, Mirelle wants to investigate how graphic design has determined the classification of cultures and objects. By recontextualizing archived material such as catalogs and photo albums, she wants to reclaim the authority of the material and its associated history. The aim of her research is to help us understand how power is organized through the publication of doctrines, and to reveal the colonizing principles that structure them.
-
2025
Roots to Fruits Roots to Fruits Amsterdam/ Den Haag, Netherlands rootstofruits.info/ Roots to Fruits is an independent publisher of artists’ books and artists’ writings. Since 2019, it facilitates intergenerational and decolonial dialogue by publishing overlooked archival material, making unknown works available to new and expanded audiences.
-
2024
Being Part European Arnhem/Amsterdam/Utrecht/'s-Gravenzande, Netherlands rootstofruits.info/beingparteuropean During the colonial period, the Netherlands was involved in the settlement, occupation, and control of territories worldwide, exerting dominance over people and resources. This colonial inheritance is reflected in the 470.734 ancestral objects now held by the Wereldmuseum, with only 3% on public display. The remaining 97% are stored in a 4.000 m² depot at a secluded location in 's-Gravenzande. This depot is one of many similar storage facilities for ethnographic collections throughout Europe. The objects in the museum's depot are more than mere material. They represent an invaluable legacy transcending property and ownership, holding ancestral histories and embodying knowledge that precedes our contemporary realities. Fragmented by displacement, these objects continue to whisper their stories, moving beyond their condition as catalogued items, building new forms of relationality and plurality to which they once belonged.
International exchanges/Residencies
-
2018Disarming Design From Palestine Birzeit, Occupied Palestinian Territory Tommaso and Mirelle proposed a structured program of 4 workshops during November/December taking place at Hosh Jalsa in Birzeit, that aimed to involve the local community (with a focus on design students from BirZeit University) in a process of collective thinking and design. During the program “COLLECTIVE THINKING” the designers were invited to participate in workshops taking place in and outside of the Old City of BirZeit, in order to stimulate an assertive mentality to initiate, trust and collaborate, based on shared values and talents. disarmingdesign.com/projects/design-program-collective-thinking/
Commissions
-
2024Manifestation #50 KETI KOTI X ROOTS TO FRUITS Buro Stedelijk Amsterdam, Netherlands In response to the invitation, Mirelle van Tulder, founder of ROOTS TO FRUITS, decided to focus on archival material of (unacknowledged) feminist groups in The Netherlands. The collages on the windows show images of feminist publishers, women in resistance, and documentary photographs of Keti Koti celebrations and commemorations throughout the decades. On July 1, Buro Stedelijk will be closed, as we take the day off to celebrate freedom and commemorate slavery. Mirelle’s work will also be placed at the restricted entrance of Buro Stedelijk’s Central Space on the 1st of July. burostedelijk.nl/manifestations/50/ finished
Sales/Works in collections
-
2023Being Part European Foam Editions Amsterdam, Nederland When the library of the KIT (Royal Tropical Institute) in Amsterdam closed in 2013, Mirelle acquired many catalogs and magazines. These became source documents for her work. In one magazine, she found a poem entitled Being Part European, written in 1974 by the Fijian poet Sam Simpson. The poem has been translated into a series of panels in which Mirelle replaces the categorizing captions of photos and objects with sentences from the poem. By giving a voice to the objects and people depicted in the photos, she questions the traditional use of captions. What stories do these objects whisper to each other, across the gutters of the compositions and through the walls of the shelves?
Publications
-
2025Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of Book Mirelle van Tulder Amsterdam/ Den Haag, Netherlands rootstofruits.info/ “In van Tulder’s work, by refusing the object, she objects to the gaze, and the categorisation and reductionism practices implied in its cataloguing. The empty spaces hint at a possible alternative, a negation of colonial attitudes of epistemological, institutionalised authority. Presenting the non-material instead, the artist both refuses and highlights the fetishistic container in which these images came into being. This gesture forces the viewer to confront their position—do we search for the missing object, or recognise the violence depicted in its absence? The work thus unfolds as an investigation into the act of looking at these photographed artefacts, in their found condition, dissected as they are from any context. The act of removal highlights the missing condition of these artefacts, and reminds us how this legacy is constructed from exclusion. The final work, an empty catalogue, calls for a dismantling of systems of representation that are aligned with colonial attitudes. 'Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of’' makes visible the invisible (and buried) practices of erasure, displacement and subjugation that inform our worldview.”
-
2025Emptying The Shelves Book Mirelle van Tulder, Tamarah Kerr de Haan, Mirjam Shatanawi, Clémentine Deliss Amsterdam/ Den Haag, Netherlands rootstofruits.info/ Emptying the Shelves traces how Dutch ethnographic museums – among them the Dutch National Museum of World Cultures and its predecessors – have shaped and reshaped their displays over the past century. Drawing on a trove of archival exhibition photographs and contemporary essays, it charts the transition from crowded cabinets to austere white cube displays, with most objects now in storage facilities. With texts by Tamarah Kerr de Haan, Clémentine Deliss and Mirjam Shatanawi, this publication examines what it means to engage with these objects today and how their silence is intimately connected to colonial legacies, restitution, and repair.
Awards and grants
-
2025Printed Matter Volume Grant Printed Matter New York/ Los Angeles, United States Printed Matter Volume Grant – Roots to Fruits, LA Art Book Fair, 2025
-
2023Being Part European mondriaan fonds Amsterdam, Netherlands During the colonial period, the Netherlands was involved in the settlement, occupation, and control of territories worldwide, exerting dominance over people and resources. This colonial inheritance is reflected in the 470.734 ancestral objects now held by the Wereldmuseum, with only 3% on public display. The remaining 97% are stored in a 4.000 m² depot at a secluded location in 's-Gravenzande. This depot is one of many similar storage facilities for ethnographic collections throughout Europe. The objects in the museum's depot are more than mere material. They represent an invaluable legacy transcending property and ownership, holding ancestral histories and embodying knowledge that precedes our contemporary realities. Fragmented by displacement, these objects continue to whisper their stories, moving beyond their condition as catalogued items, building new forms of relationality and plurality to which they once belonged.
-
2023Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of Stimuleringsfonds Creative Industrie Arnhem/Amsterdam, Netherlands Funding voor publicaties Catalogue of Stolen Objects, Courtesy of en Emptying the Shelves
Secondary art-related activities
-
2025 - 2025Rietveld Academy, Graduation review Graphic Design, external jury member, July 2025
-
2025 - 2025HKU, Graduation review Graphic Design, external jury member, June 2025
-
2025 - 2025Jury member, The Best Dutch Book Designs, Feb 2025
-
2024 - 2025Guest tutor, KABK, third year Graphic Design, Oct 2024, May 2025