From September 11 to October 25, 2026, the twelfth edition of BredaPhoto Festival will take place, the largest photo exhibition in the Benelux. Spread throughout the city of Breda, the festival showcases photography and audiovisual art in surprising locations: from parks and vacant buildings to a former police station and the old women’s prison. The theme is Our Songs Came Through .
The twelfth edition of BredaPhoto Festival is about solace and resilience. What do you need to pick yourself up again after a difficult event? How do you turn worries about the world we live in into hope? Sometimes you find strength in rituals, spirituality, and art, by caring for one another with friends, family, or allies. Or you recharge your batteries alone in the silence of nature. Under the title Our Songs Came Through , BredaPhoto brings together impressive photographs, video art, and immersive installations, from leading makers to young talents. Sometimes the visitor even becomes part of the work. BredaPhoto tells stories that touch you, of people in different parts of the world who may be closer to you than you expect. The festival brings together work by more than thirty photographers and artists, often being shown in the Netherlands for the first time, and sometimes created especially for the festival.
For example, Palestinian artist Noor Abed is creating the video installation we walk in our sleep especially for this edition. Together with family, friends, and neighbors, she connects old traditions with contemporary life in Palestine. Through movement and choreography, she poetically portrays a spatial and political vision of her homeland. The project is commissioned by BredaPhoto and the Matter of Art Biennial with support from the Mondriaan Fund and the Han Nefkens Foundation.
Awoiska van der Molen ‘s monochrome landscape photographs arise from the desire to penetrate deep into the essence of the isolated natural world.
For The Living Mountain, she collaborated with composer Thomas Larcher to convey the experience of Larcher’s native soil—the mountains in Tyrol (Austria)—in a composition of music and imagery.
Huda Abdulmughni documents the celebration of Nowruz Sayadeen, the Iranian New Year, on the island of Qeshm. She shows how the residents of this fishing community find togetherness, comfort, and resilience in tradition, community, and nature.
An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance by Kali Spitzer is an ongoing project that began in 2014. Through the timeless lens of tintype photography, she portrays her community of Indigenous and mixed-race people in Canada, aiming to create more visibility for their stories.
In Uprooted, Puck Verkade takes the audience into a dreamlike installation in which human destruction ultimately gives way to new life and caring coexistence with plants and animals.
The program is further enriched by FOTODOK, Stichting Forhanna, and new partner Institut Pour la Photographie in Lille, who are bringing additional exhibitions to the festival in close collaboration with the BredaPhoto team.
More than exhibitions
In addition to the exhibitions, the BredaPhoto Festival offers much more to see and do. There is an extensive in-depth program consisting of guided tours, performances, artist talks, Zen meditations, film screenings, workshops, and various activities for children. Furthermore, a city-wide program is being developed in collaboration with Breda partners such as the Stedelijk Museum Breda, the City Archives, the Chassé Theater, and the Nieuwe Veste. BredaPhoto also thinks of those who cannot attend the festival: with a suitcase full of beautiful images, staff and volunteers visit care homes in the region and the hospital in Breda to engage in conversation about comfort and resilience, based on the universal stories of this edition.
Tickets for the festival will be available from June 1, 2026. Keep an eye on the website BredaPhoto.nl for this and for news.
The BredaPhoto Festival can only take place thanks to the support of many funds, sponsors, friends, and volunteers. We thank in particular the Municipality of Breda, the Province of North Brabant, Brabant C, the Mondriaan Fund, and the private individuals who support us financially and as volunteers.