Transnatural (st. Beyond Expression) was founded by Arjen Bangma in 2001 and focused on experimentation with image and sound in installations, (AV) performances and electronic music until 2008. Until then, the Versch festival served as a platform for young, emerging talent.
In 2009, the focus shifted to hybrid forms in which the symbiosis between humans, nature and technology is central. Since then, Transnatural has been connecting makers, thinkers, research institutions, cultural organizations and a diverse audience. In addition to art, diverse creative industry practices are featured, including speculative design, product design, social design, architecture, new media, science and life sciences.
Current, urgent themes are explored and presented to diverse audiences. Frequently, Transnatural joins forces with partners who take activities to another level in unusual locations. We create programs in collaboration with institutions such as the Eye film museum, Tolhuistuin, Zone2Source, Mediamatic, Dutch Design Week, Oerol, Into the Great Wide Open and Fiber festival. Internationally, we collaborated with, among others, the Centre d'innovation et de Design in Belgium (CID Grand-Hornu) and the NRW Forum in Düsseldorf. The collection works are part of the permanent museum collections of, for instance, the Shanghai museum of Glass, the MoMA and Cooper-Hewitt museum in New York.
After 10 years of being located on the Lijnbaansgracht, Transnatural moved to a larger space on the Jan van Galenstraat in Amsterdam-West in 2020. This location features a beautiful exhibition space in the heart of the Baarsjes district.
In the coming years, we will focus more on developing art and design in public space. The works will temporarily or (semi) permanently become part of the urban environment and, in addition to their visual and aesthetic aspects, serve an ecologically supportive purpose.