Phantasmopolis: Ghosts of Amsterdam��s Past

Victorian photography

Rooted in the tradition of Dada and surrealist photomontage, Wanderwelle draws inspiration from the work of Man Ray and Dora Maar, artists who fragment and rearrange images to create new, provocative meanings. Wanderwelle extends these techniques into the 21st century, fusing them with the ominous aesthetics of Victorian spirit photography, a form used in the late 19th century to capture supposed ghostly apparitions. The result is an atmospheric exploration of the hidden, ghostly layers of Amsterdam’s past.

Genius loci

Central to Phantasmopolis is the concept of ‘genius loci’, which refers to the unique soul of a place, shaped by its past and the people who have lived there. In this exhibition, the ‘phantasms’ transcend the usual ghost stories. They represent forgotten histories and enduring memories that continue to influence the spaces in which they hide. Wanderwelle sees cities as palimpsests, layered with traces of human experience, in which each generation builds on the remains of the previous one.

Wanderwelle���s work invites the viewer to see the city not just as a physical space, but as a living repository of hidden stories and forgotten voices. This dialogue between the visible and the invisible, the remembered and the forgotten, reflects how history continues to shape the city today. It challenges the viewer to consider: which stories have been lost, erased or overlooked? Which echoes of the past continue to influence how we experience the city today? Through these haunting photomontages, Wanderwelle challenges us to realize that we always live among the ghosts of the past—whether we see them or not.

Walking Trail

Amsterdam-based collective Wanderwelle consists of Alexander Bartels (1993) and Phil van Dulm (1993). Their work spans a wide range of art forms—including experimental music, live performance, film, video installation, writing, and photography���and is informed by their shared interests and academic backgrounds in history, art history, and medicine. Wanderwelle’s work is characterized by a strong conceptual foundation and uncanny elements. With a non-linear view of time, they explore the connections between past and present, investigating the ominous space between echoing timelines that harbor both reason and superstition.

Their vinyl albums are internationally acclaimed and their debut film, The Four Nightmares (2023), compiled from archive material from the Eye Film Museum, was selected for both the Golden Calf Competition (2023) and the Debut Competition (2023) of the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF). They are currently working on their first feature documentary film Misery Blvd.