Minne Ponsen, Christine Saalfeld and Amber Rahantoknam have been selected as City Sketchers of 2025! Every year, artists – the City Sketchers – are commissioned by the Rotterdam City Archives and CBK Rotterdam to capture current events in the city in drawings. The jury has selected three makers who complement and challenge each other, and who will each explore this year's theme, freedom, from a distinct vision and style.
The year in which we commemorate 80 years of liberation and celebrate Women's Year calls for reflection: what does freedom mean today? It is a word with many meanings and is experienced in different ways. Freedom is something that people worldwide fight for every day, in all kinds of ways and from different perspectives. The challenge for the City Artists is to capture their personal vision and experience of freedom in Rotterdam.
Minne Punches – Freedom as a reclaimed space
Minne investigates the relationship between the body and public space. She draws places in Rotterdam where she felt unsafe and combines them with body fragments – abstract and recognizable at the same time. In this way, she makes the tension between the body and the city palpable. “Freedom is always a reflection of what is malnourished in our society,” Minne writes in her motivation. Freedom is not only a space without fear, but also a place where caring is seen as a strength. Her proposal to ultimately physically sew the drawings together – so that they stand as a body facing the viewer – adds an extra layer to her research.
Christine Salfeld – Freedom as a shared responsibility
Christine approaches freedom as something collective. She investigates how democratic participation and joint decision-making in Rotterdam contribute to an inclusive city. Her work focuses on places where people exert influence on their environment: from neighborhood councils to collective studio buildings. She bases her work partly on the analysis of historian Annelien de Dijn: “Freedom was originally seen as the ability of citizens to determine the course of their society together.” At a time when trust in institutions is under pressure, Christine offers a sharp and necessary perspective.
Amber Rahantoknam – Freedom as expression and identity
Where Minne focuses on the physical space and Christine on the administrative space, Amber explores freedom as an inner experience. In her work, she celebrates the diversity of Rotterdam and the multiformity of identity. Her comic-like, poetic drawings show how Rotterdammers find their freedom in big and small moments. “Freedom to me means the space to be yourself, without fear or limitation,” writes Amber. She wants to portray different communities, from skaters to night workers, and does so with a distinct, powerful style.
The work of the City Sketchers 2025 will be on display at Kunsthal Rotterdam from this autumn. It will then be included in the collection of the Rotterdam City Archives.
Click here the full jury report.
Image: The dining table (1) – Minne Ponsen, 2023