Photo: Sanne Peper
On Saturday, January 30, and Sunday, January 31, 2027, Marres opens its doors for a new edition of Rooms.
The first names for the Rooms Performance Festival have been announced! The festival will feature performances by Judith Engelen, Yoko Haveman, Karel van Laere & Martin Toloku, and Cain Wittenhaus.
Rooms Performance Festival gives artists the space to experiment and push boundaries. Discover unexpected perspectives from artists who continually challenge their own medium.
The festival is an initiative of Marres, Flemish cultural center de Brakke Grond, Via Zuid, Dansateliers, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, and MU Hybrid Art House. Together, they bring emerging artists and established talents together each year in a setting where experimentation and curiosity take center stage.
The program at Marres in Maastricht is the same on both days. A day pass gives you full access to all performances throughout the day.
Judith Engelen – I met you once, I loved you twice
Long ago, humans had four legs, four arms, two heads, and two sets of genitals. Their bodies were round. They resembled their ancestors: the sun, the earth, and the moon. Until one day, they were split in two. Ever since, they have spent the rest of their lives searching for their lost other half.
I Met You Once, I Loved You Twice takes its starting point from Plato’s myth of the lost halves. This visual performance explores the desire to love and the distrust that makes love impossible. In an age of disinformation, where truth seems irrelevant, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what is real and whom we can still trust. Through sculptures and new technologies, Judith Engelen constructs a world in which the boundaries between reality and imagination begin to blur.
Bio
Judith Engelen creates visual, associative performances in which she combines fast technology with slow literature. She graduated from the Toneelacademie in Maastricht in 2023, after completing a master’s degree in clinical psychology at KULeuven. Her work maintains a strong connection with psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Through writing, immersive digital environments, and the use of tactile materials such as textiles, beeswax, and silicone, she constructs visual worlds that blur the boundaries between dream and perception.
Yoko Haveman – A Tribute to Everything That Breaks
A Tribute to Everything That Breaks unfolds as a psycho-dystopian cinematic landscape. An isolated body moves between a fragmented identity and underlying defiance. The performance explores the tension between control and resistance, drawing on the aesthetics and emotional intensity of neo-noir anime. The work examines the eroticization of violence and exposes power structures reflected in anime and Japanese concepts such as ‘Lolicon’ and ‘Hikikomori’.
At the intersection of performance, visual art, and dance, Haveman develops a hyper-stylized visual language in which control and rupture alternate. At its core is the body as a living archive of memories and transformation. While anime often relies on two opposing archetypes – obedience and monstrosity – A Tribute brings these opposites together, revealing a complex, self-determined character who cannot be confined to existing archetypes.
Sound design: Mara Lalihatu (Animistic Beliefs)
Lighting design: Chieljan van der Hoek
Bio
Yoko Haveman is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is characterised by a distinct visual and physical language that brings together performance art, dance, film and visual art. Haveman is fascinated by human behaviour and she is a keen observer of the macabre. Pushing the boundaries between the stage and the screen, she develops her work that is both rich in sensory depth and conceptually layered. Departing from philosophy, physical theatre and cinematographic techniques she constructs immersive worlds where the body becomes the primary carrier of meaning. Her work is intimate as well as confrontational, on the cutting edge between rough imagery and non-linear structure, yet always inviting her audience to allow for vulnerability and heightened sensory awareness.
She has worked with established makers and companies including Rauwkost Film, Dansateliers, De Dansers and Ann van den Broek. In 2022 she was nominated for the prestigious Jonge Zwaan award (VSCD) in the category Most Impressive Dance Performance.
yokohaveman.com
Karel van Laere & Martin Toloku – Blueprint Where Bodies Lifo
A tree stump encloses Karel van Laere’s body as he holds it in a tight embrace. During the performance, Martin Toloku uses a hammer and chisel to chip away at the wood, working close to Van Laere’s arms. At times, he carves figurative shapes, creating sculptures that gradually disappear again. The aim is to end with nothing. An imprint of the body remains in the wood, a trace of presence, endurance, trust, and transformation.
The work explores the boundaries between sculpture and performance, body and material, raising questions about trust, vulnerability, power, and responsibility. Van Laere places his body at risk, while Toloku takes responsibility for his actions. Both depend on each other’s trust and restraint.
The artists met at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Their collaboration brings together different cultural perspectives: Toloku’s practice is rooted in Ghanaian culture and spirituality, while Van Laere developed his within the Dutch art scene. In 2026 and 2027, they will work on the performance during research periods in Ghana and the Netherlands. Starting in 2027, the work will be presented at festivals, museums, and performing arts venues in Europe and beyond.
Bio Martin Toloku
Martin Toloku’s practice spans carving, installation, video, live performance and collaborations with humans and animals, particularly termites. He explores decay, death, life, time, space and nature, approaching decay as both a material process and a metaphor. His performances challenge audiences emotionally and spiritually, inviting them to confront their own mortality.
Toloku has participated in exhibitions, festivals, international residencies and biennials. His work has been presented in Ghana, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and France.
Bio Karel van Laere
Karel van Laere is a visual artist and performer. His work moves between performance, visual art, and film. A central theme in his practice is the tension between the human body and technological systems. He explores the limits of surrender and control by exposing his body to various physical processes and external influences. In doing so, he raises questions about vulnerability, corporeality, and the relationship between humans and their surroundings. Collaborations with surgeons, dancers, actors, and other specialists bring new perspectives to his work. His work has received several awards and distinctions.
karelvanlaere.com
Cain Wittenhaus – The Messenger of Bad News
The Messenger of Bad News is a performance about subjects that often remain unspoken. As a messenger, Wittenhaus delivers harsh, confrontational, and painful messages that others would rather avoid. From his perspective as a trans man, he reflects on the growing threats to the rights of trans people.
The performance began as an interlude at queer events, where the messenger contrasted with the festive, sensual atmosphere. Over time, the character developed into a standalone performance, increasingly incorporating movements from go-go dancing, striptease, and porn culture.
Wittenhaus explores the tension between the sexual appeal of trans bodies and the social exclusion and political threats faced by trans people. He draws on his own experiences: using sexuality and sensuality can provide access to certain spaces, but also raises questions about desire, power, and visibility.
Bio
Cain Isan Wittenhaus creates performances and visual art centered on the body and movement. His practice is shaped by the intense and physically demanding experiences he has gained in theater, queer nightlife performances, and as a go-go dancer. He moves between established art institutions and underground queer spaces.
His work has been presented at venues including the Rijksakademie, MU Eindhoven, and No Limits! Art Castle. He is currently working on a video installation for the Stedelijk Museum and touring Dutch theaters with Asset, Liability and Equity, a production by ARK/Connor Schumacher. In his work, Wittenhaus explores how bodies are perceived, desired, and constrained, with a particular focus on queer and trans experiences.
cainwittenhaus.com
Partners / Thanks to:
Partners Rooms 2027:
Marres, House for Contemporary Culture
Via Zuid
Dansateliers
Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond
Spring Performing Arts Festival
MU, Hybrid Art House
Thanks to the teams of MU, Via Zuid, de Brakke Grond, Dansateliers, Spring & Marres for all help and cooperation.
Marres receives structural funding from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Province of Limburg, and the Municipality of Maastricht.
