Foam 3h: Finn Maätita and Jerrold Saija

Tones of The Ecotone

Foam 3h presents Tones of the Ecotone, a collaborative exhibition by Finn Maätita (NL, 1998) and Jerrold Saija (NL, 1996). The exhibition honors the ‘ecotone’ – the transition zone between two ecosystems, such as between land and water – and connects this with the artists' Moluccan roots and the diaspora. The central focus is on the sago palm, the basis of the staple diet on the Moluccas, as a symbol of Moluccan ecological and physical omnipresence.

Maätita and Saija give thought to the experience of the Moluccan body as an extension of the Moluccan landscape, emphasizing the intersection of ecology, ancestral knowledge, and physicality. In this way, they create a new ‘shelter’: a warm, harmonious space that offers new possibilities for the future.

The exhibition Tones of the Ecotone offers an immersive, playful and pluriform audiovisual landscape. Combining ancient wisdom, photography, assemblage, and media technologies, they express the relationship and overlap between humans, nature and ancestral knowledge. In the exhibition, images and sounds merge: the heartbeat of the artists, the rhythmic beats of the Moluccan tifa, the pounding of sago palm into sago flour, the preparation of papeda, the sound guidance of gaba-gaba sticks and the melodies of the suling gaba. The exhibition itself becomes a living ecotone, a meeting place for the Moluccan diaspora, where generations, knowledge and media merge into a new ecological whole.

The exhibition Tones of the Ecotone serves as a metaphorical homecoming of the Moluccan diaspora, presented in the heart of the Amsterdam’s canal belt: a place intrinsically linked to the violent exploitation, destruction and forced displacement of nature and communities.

The exhibition is curated by guest curator Zippora Elders Tahalele, who invited the artists to Foam 3h. Like the artists, Elders has Moluccan roots and focuses in her curatorial practice on, among other things, collectivism and ecological restoration.

About the artists

Finn Maätita (NL, 1998) and Jerrold Saija (NL, 1996) work individually as well as collaboratively. The practice of Maätita and Saija is deeply rooted in social engagement, advocating for connection, care, and responsibility toward one another and the earth.

Finn Maätita completed a bachelor’s in Photography at HKU (University of Arts Utrecht) and a master Planetary Poetics at the Sandberg Instituut. In his work he delves into the memories of the ecological embodiment of ancestral languages and the revitalization of this landscape. This results in layered media installations. The application of old Moluccan strategies around knowledge transfer is central to his working method.

Jerrold Saija completed a bachelor’s in Art & Research at St. Joost and a master in Ecologies of Transformation at the Sandberg Instituut. His practice spans across various mediums, including installations, sculptures and performances in which heritage, migration and ecology come together. His work explores the connection between space and memory, constantly searching for ways to make stories tangible and give them physical presence.

About Foam 3h

Foam 3h is a project space in the museum where recently graduated artists and photographers are invited to present their first solo museum exhibition. For this space, Foam selects national and international artists who are challenged to experiment, surprise and push the limits of photography.

Finn Maätita and Jerrold Saija – Tones of the Ecotone can be seen from 20 March 2025 – 14 June 2025 at Foam. Open daily 10.00 – 18.00 hrs, Thurs/Fri 10.00 – 21.00 hrs.

Foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+ 31 (0)20 5516500
www.foam.org