18 July – 15 August 2026

Happy Birthday

About the exhibition

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINKEBELL.

A 30 year journey from taking over the world - to saving it.

Thirty years ago, in 1996, TINKEBELL. had her very first exhibition at the age of 17 in a bed linen shop in Goes. Since then she has grown into one of the most fearless and widely discussed artists in the Netherlands, one who never shied away from confrontation. Not even when it came at a cost to her own wellbeing.

From 18 July to 15 August 2026, TORCH Gallery presents the exhibition "Happy Birthday TINKEBELL." An anniversary show that looks back and forward.

From cat purse to Tata dust

Those who followed her in the late 90s may still remember the words: 'Hello, I am TINKEBELL., I am planning to take over the world and paint it pink. Would you help me?' Now, 30 years later, that ambition for world domination has transformed into wanting to save it.

TINKEBELL. graduated from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam in 2005, but had already established her name as a provocateur by then. In 2004 she made national headlines with a handbag made from the skin of her own cat, a work that triggered a storm of hate mail and death threats. She unmasked the senders in the book Dearest TINKEBELL. (2009). Around the same time, Save the Pets, featuring 95 hamsters in hamster balls, led to a lawsuit for alleged animal abuse. She was acquitted in 2011.

Where her early work primarily rubbed up against animal ethics, her practice has shifted in recent years towards broader social and ecological research. She had herself sterilised for her film SAVE OUR CHILDREN (2013) about phosphate shortages and the future of our food supply, travelled to Afghanistan in search of a deported refugee who had gone missing (2015), conducted research in Fukushima into the effects of radiation and the measures taken after a nuclear disaster (2017), and developed Flora Tata Metallica, paintings made from fine dust particles (2021) collected around the Tata Steel plant in Wijk aan Zee. Work that literally made her ill.

She is continuing that research with an ongoing project into heavy industry, including Solvay and Shell, worldwide.

Behind the scenes and in political and social circles she has also made her voice heard: she was closely involved in the campaign that led to the child pardon for hundreds of rooted children in the Netherlands, and travelled with the group 'We gaan ze halen' to the refugee camp on Lesbos, where she was later arrested for giving drinking water to refugees arriving by boat. She has also spoken out for years about the position of artists and the arts sector.

She was a core member of the Sociaal Creatieve Raad from its founding, and since 2025 TINKEBELL. has been a member of the Akademie van Kunsten, part of the KNAW.

About the exhibition

"Happy Birthday TINKEBELL." brings together thirty years of artistic practice and life: provocation, research and personal history in one overview. Expect an exhibition full of stories, anecdotes and artefacts from 30 years ago to today, and an answer to the question: what's next?

The opening on 18 July is explicitly a celebration: visitors are asked to dress in pink and bring gifts.

On Saturday 8 August, from 16:00, a talk will take place about thirty years of artistic practice and ambitions for the future, with TINKEBELL. and guests from her network.

Please note: the gallery is closed on 6 and 7 August.

Practical information

• Exhibition: Happy Birthday TINKEBELL. - 30 years of artistic practice
• Location: TORCH Gallery, Amsterdam
• Period: 18 July - 15 August 2026
• Opening: Saturday 18 July, 16:00-19:00 (dress code: pink)
• Talk: Saturday 8 August, from 16:00
• Closed: 6 and 7 August

Artist

TINKEBELL.

Art / Images in ‘Happy Birthday’

TINKEBELL.

Pretty Memory From Fukushima #12, 2021

varnished phototransfer on wood from fukushima

15 x 12 x 4 cm