Marres is open later every Friday evening until 8PM, with a special program and free admission. Bring your friends, family, or date along for a cultural start to your night out.
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Wander through the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes or join one of the multilingual guided tours, film screenings in collaboration with Lumière, storytelling evenings, workshops on West African traditions, and music sessions together with DAR Cultural Agency. Central themes include heritage, cultural identity, migration, and sensory experience.
Below you’ll find the full program!
Open Call: Marres Friday Night Program
Marres invites makers to program our Friday evenings! We’re offering you a space in which to create your own event, such as a workshop, performance, lecture, presentation, film screening, or anything else you can think of.
For the current exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes, the program has already been fully scheduled. In the summer, we plan to create a public program around the Limburg Biënnale, alongside the Marres Garden Program. In the fall, textiles, handicraft, and collaboration will take center stage in the exhibition by Celina Eceiza.
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Winter Program Calendar
January 2026
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes multilingual guided tours
9 January, 2026
Join a guided tour of the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes in French, English, or the Maastricht dialect.
Free entrance!
Datum:
Friday, 9 January, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM.
5:30 Guided tour in Maastricht dialect by Guus van Engelshoven
6:00 Guided tour in English by Raeesah Nawaz
6:15 Guided tour in French by Soraya Ben-Essalah
Marres closes at 8PM
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Film Screening
by Elinice Adeyemi
16 January, 2026
On Friday evening, January 16, you can watch two short films, including Diaspora Babes by Nigerian filmmaker Elinice Adeyemi.
Elinice Adeyemi has lived in Maastricht for the past few years and has done Anti-Racist community organizing work in the city. She will screen some of her films and discuss how they intersect with her experiences in Maastricht and with filmmaking and community building.
She directed Diaspora Babes, a film exploring the identities of Black and Brown young women with immigration backgrounds. She co-founded Black Lives Matter Maastricht, now the Maastricht Anti-Racist Society. She is committed to amplifying marginalized voices and believes whole-heartedly in the transformative power of art and community.
Free entrance!
Volunteers Meet & Greet!
Open evening for our current as well as potential new volunteers
23 January, 2026
To thank our volunteers for their incredible dedication over the past year, Marres is organizing a special evening just for them. People who are curious about volunteering and would like to become part of the Marres family are also warmly invited to sign up.
Free entrance!
Date:
Friday, 23 January, 2026
Tijd:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM
Marres closes at 8PM
Locatie:
Marres, Maastricht
Please reserve your spot via reserveringen@marres.org due to limited capacity.
Workshop Codes of Connection by Pascale Adekpui from CreavidArte
30 January, 2026 * fully booked!
The workshop Codes of Connection introduces participants to Adinkra symbolism from Ghana: a visual language that carries stories about identity, community, and heritage. Participants choose a symbol that resonates with them and translate it into a personal artwork using mixed media such as textiles, beads, and paint.
During the making process, the historical and cultural context of the symbols is explained and connected to their contemporary meaning within the African diaspora. The workshop offers a hands-on experience in which participants reflect on themes such as identity, connection, and cultural transmission.
Pascale Adekpui is a creative entrepeneur from the African diaspora and founder of CreavidArte.
Free entrance!
Date:
Friday, 30 January, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM
Marres closes at 8PM
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Workshop is in both English & Dutch.
Would you like to be added to the waiting list? We will notify you if a spot becomes available. Please send an email to reserveringen@marres.org
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Winter Program Calendar
February 2026
Workshop Fairytale Visitors by Kekkyr
6 February, 2026 * fully booked!
Fairytale Visitors is a family friendly hands-on workshop in which participants use air-dry clay to sculpt characters from their own cultural folklore, creating a shared space where storytelling, material play, and cross-cultural exchange reveal the enduring connections between diverse fairy-tale traditions. Suitable for ages 6+.
Kekkyr is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based in Maastricht. Through storytelling, sensory experiences and play they create spaces for wonder and discoveries.
Free entrance!
Film: Hyenas
Lumière Maastricht
10 February, 2026
A timeless parable by Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty (Touki Bouki) about human greed and corruption. An African modern classic, based on a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
Djibril Diop Mambéty (1945-1998), who passed away at a young age, made only two feature films, but both are considered African classics. In the vicious satire Hyenas, Mambéty takes us to the poor village of Colobane. Rumour has it that Linguère Ramatou, who left the village years ago and is now ‘richer than the World Bank,’ will visit Colobane. The villagers call a meeting to discuss how they can persuade Linguère to share some of her wealth with them. Upon arrival, Linguère appears willing to donate a large sum of money to the village, but her offer has sinister strings attached.
In Hyenas, Mambéty criticizes the influence of foreign money on Africa, the continent that has so often fallen victim to foreign creditors. ‘My task was to identify the enemy of humanity,’ said the director: ‘Money, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.’
Hyenas is part of the Exploring Cinema series, a collaboration between Lumière and United World College Maastricht. This series offers the opportunity to rediscover remarkable film classics while inviting a deeper analysis of the medium. The film is also part of the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes.
Date:
Tuesday, 10 February, 2026
Time:
7PM
Location:
Lumière
Bassin 88, Maastricht
Workshop Body, Mind and Space
by Awa Gaye & Kadia Doumbouya
20 February, 2026
This workshop explores the body as a site of presence, performance and resistance. Starting from the idea that our presence is never neutral, we examine how bodies, with a focus on racialised bodies, are perceived when moving through Western, white-centered spaces.
Through a series of interactions with the space and the body, participants are invited to become aware of how they occupy space, how they are seen and how this affects the way they feel. The workshop invites different approaches to reclaim space, recenter the body and consciously shift the narrative, from being observed to being present/seen.
Awa Gaye grew up in Belgium and is currently based in Ghent. She studied photography at KASK, Ghent. Her work draws inspiration from family relationships, cultural identity, origin, and race.
Kadia Doumbouya is a multidisciplinary artist from Guinea based in Brussels. Her work brings together painting, performance, and cooking. She explores themes such as memory, body, diaspora, and collective care. Influenced by both Guinean and Belgian cultures, She is interested in how the female body is perceived, remembered, and transmitted across time and space.
Both artists participated in Currents 11: The Turn of Many Suns. Currents is a recurring group exhibition that showcases work by recent graduates from different art academies, brought together by a team of emerging curators.
Free entrance!
Textile and embroidery workshop
Sei Pênelópê? by Chiron Floris
27 February, 2026
A sensory, participatory workshop in which participants are invited to reflect on their own relationship to heritage, memory, and collectivity through textile practices and simple embroidery actions. The workshop is inspired by Chiron’s artistic research Sei Pênelópê?, in which she explored her family history, migration trajectories, and a lost sense of belonging through Sardinian textile crafts.
Chiron Floris (Maastricht, 1994) explores the relationship between humans and textiles, and the connections that emerge during the process of making. Her work engages with themes such as ancestral knowledge, migration, and belonging. Through textiles, illustration, diary fragments, photography, and film, she weaves personal stories into broader cultural narratives.
Free entrance!
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Winter Program Calendar
March 2026
Storytelling Night together with Limestone
6 March, 2026
Join us around the campfire in the intimate city garden of Marres to listen to summer-themed stories. Fact or fiction, each story aims to bring people together through the power of oral history.
Free entrance!
Date:
Friday, 6 March, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM
Location:
Marres City Garden, Maastricht
Do you also have a story about diaspora, migration, or cultural identity that you would like to share? Email educatie@marres.org
Listening Session by Maguette Dieng Lynnée Denise
13 March, 2026
Maguette Dieng, an artist and DJ whose work is featured in the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes, is returning to Marres – during TEFAF week – with writer and artist Lynnée Denise to host an intimate listening session and conversation about music, sound, and spirituality.
The listening session starts at 5:30 p.m. sharp and lasts exactly one hour. Afterwards, participants are invited to a collective dinner hosted by Zaytoun, a local collective specializing in Palestinian cuisine that organizes fundraising dinners for Palestine.
This project is organized in collaboration with DAR, a cultural agency and platform that represents emerging talents in art, design, and architecture.
Maguette Dieng is a DJ, music producer, educator, and music programmer. She is also a dedicated explorer of music and sound. She co-founded the Jokkoo Collective and is part of FOC, a self-managed cultural space where she creates artistic and sonic experiences rooted in community, purpose, and healing. Through her personal work, Maguette attempts to translate the emotions and experiences of everyday life into sound in poetic, sensitive, and critical ways.
Lynnée Denise is an interdisciplinary writer and global practitioner of sound, language, and Black Atlantic thought. She is a doctoral student in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research explores how sound system culture creates a living archive for the Black queer diaspora. Her work traces the migrations of music and the role of Black electronic traditions in the African diaspora.
Tickets are free and include both the listening session and the dinner!
Date:
Friday, 13 March, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM sharp
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Care Day: An Evening for People with Dementia and Their Caregivers
20 March, 2026
An Evening About Art, the Brain, and Connections
During Brain Awareness Week, Marres, the Brain+Nerve Center at Maastricht University Medical Center+, and the Alzheimer Center of Limburg are organizing a special evening at Marres.
Join us for an accessible, enjoyable, and inspiring gathering that focuses on art and brain health, especially for people with dementia and their caregivers.
The evening will begin with a brief introduction to dementia prevention and the role art can play in it. Experience how the brain reacts when looking at art and explore how art can contribute to well-being and cognitive stimulation.
Afterwards, we will explore the exhibition together in small groups with guided tours in Dutch and the Maastricht dialect.
Artistic and cultural environments often spark unexpected conversations and experiences. This gathering aims to provide a space for meeting and sharing stories.
Refreshments will be provided.
Free entrance!
Date:
Friday, 20 March, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM sharp
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
The first floor is only accessible via stairs; unfortunately, there is no elevator. We will all be mindful of every step.
We have a maximum capacity of 50 visitors.
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes multilingual guided tours
27 March, 2026
Join a guided tour of the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes in Dutch, English, or the Maastricht dialect.
Free entrance!
Datum:
Friday, 27 March, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Spring Program Calendar
April 2026
Museumnacht
10 April, 2026
Save the date for the 10th edition of Museumnacht Maastricht, when various venues across the city will keep their doors open late into the night.
As every year, Marres will take part in Museumnacht with a diverse program. Enjoy our exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes with Senegalese bites, beats and bar, and a workshop by our youth collective Extended.
Henna Night Workshop
17 April, 2026
This sensory, hands-on Henna Night Workshop introduces you to the history and practice of henna. Over the course of two hours, you will learn how to mix and apply henna using the provided materials, guided by an experienced instructor. You will receive practical tips on sourcing materials, insight into the science behind effective use, and explanations of the meaning and cultural context of different designs. There will be plenty of space for reflection, collaboration, and learning through practice. In addition to building skills and historical knowledge, this workshop also offers a place for connection, community-building, and contemplation.
The henna plant (mehndi) is native to Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and has been used for thousands of years as an artistic medium for ritual and celebratory body adornment. For many communities in the Global South, henna holds deep cultural significance, yet within the diaspora, knowledge of its preparation and use is often less widely familiar.
Pansee Atta is an Egyptian-Canadian visual artist, curator, and researcher. Through both new and traditional media, her practice decolonizes archival representations of the “Middle East” and Egypt. She is an artist-researcher within the NWA-funded research project Pressing Matter, which investigates and reimagines the colonial histories of Dutch museum collections. She was also a research fellow at Inherit, a Käte Hamburger Kolleg at Humboldt University in Berlin, where transformations of heritage are studied. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Egypt, and her research unpacks the ways in which the cultural heritage of ancient Egypt has been collected, valued, and interpreted.
Free entrance!
Date:
Friday, 17 April, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM.
End 7:30, Marres closes at 8PM.
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes
Spring Program Calendar
May 2026
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes multilingual guided tours
8 May, 2026
Join a guided tour of the exhibition Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes in Dutch, English, or the Maastricht dialect.
Free entrance!
Datum:
Friday, 8 May, 2026
Time:
Doors open from 5PM, program starts at 5:30PM
Location:
Marres, Maastricht
Partners / thanks to:
Partners: RAW Material Company and DAR Cultural Agency
Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes is generously supported by: Het Cultuurfonds, with special thanks to Margarethe Petronella Fonds, VSB Fonds, Elisabeth Strouven Fonds, Stichting Kanunnik Salden/Nieuwenhof, Stichting DOEN andCultuurmakers Maastricht.
Marres receives structural support from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Province of Limburg, and the Municipality of Maastricht.
