Raquel van Haver was born in 1989 in Bogotá, Colombia. In 2012 she received her degree of Fine Arts at HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht). Van Haver is interested in cultural and ethnic backgrounds, identity, and values and standards. Her work is raw and overwhelming. Van Haver's loud visual language confronts the contemporary public and makes sure that the spectator finds a new emphatic way of looking. All kinds of impressions merge into paintings and spatial works full of stories, images, reality and fantasy. The exhibition 'Spirits of the Soil' is accompanied by an attractive publication, designed by Vinger.nl, a creative studio in the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam. The publication contains seven new works and nine collages, all made in 2018. Furthermore it holds a preface written by curator Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen and an essay by Azu Nwagbogu, founder of the African Artists' Foundation and director/chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Kaapstad. Exhibition: Stedelijk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (25.11.208-07.04.2019)