“Play and participation are key for me —
I’m serious about my work, but also silly in it.”
Bibi Jordan (fka Bliekendaal) is a New Zealand/Dutch artist based in Amsterdam. She creates drawings and sculpture, often made from recycled materials, through which she deals with the environmental, feminist and 'discombobulating' states in which we live. Her practice is tactile and frequently collaborative, but there’s also a vulnerability, isolation, ferocity...and a few funnies.
Longer story:
I grew up in a Dutch immigrant family on the west coast of New Zealand. It’s a place that’s beautiful and rough, serene yet rowdy, laid-back but also—for me—there’s a weight: cultural tension, familial haunting, and a machismo shaped by colonial injustices, inequality and gendered power. These tensions framed my personal experiences, altered who I am, and continue to arise in my artistic work.
My practice often begins with perceived oppositions or discombobulation — a combination of fragility and weight, playful and political, heavy and light — I’m interested in movement, change, where materials, meanings, and perspectives shift. I’m drawn to scrap and discarded materials for this reason. They’re often seen as finished or useless, but I see ‘mauri’, lifeforce within. They can be industrial, ugly, impolite or mundane. And also, have soul.
My brain’s constantly coming up with all kinds of ideas, but I’m happiest when the material speaks.
Now
Sept 25-30 #nfcdab Near-Field Communication Digital Art Biennale 7th Ed., A’dam
Upcoming
Nov 7 Flower Power at MuseumNacht, Social Design Workshop, Amsterdam
Nov 15 Kunsttraject, Members Groupshow, Amsterdam West
Nov 20 The Slooooow Shoooooow workshop+performance with The Royal Snail
CIRCL Fest, Marineterrein, Amsterdam. Tickets here.
Nov 27 Si.Si.Spex, Site Specific Show, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
Past
Sept 2026 Big Art, Codrico Fabriek Rotterdam
Aug 2026 Flower Power, Hannover Maker Faire, DE
Jul 2026 Art Carriage, Open Collective, Alsverjo SE
March 2026 The Wrong Biennale, Invisible Forces Pavilion
Jan 2026 Harmony, Kunsttraject Groupshow, Amsterdam West
Nov 2025 SiSiSpex, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
Sep 2025 Big Orange Monster, Kolaj Institute, New Orleans Louisiana USA
July 2025 Drop, Open Collective, Alsverjo SE
June 2025 Exploration of Senses Group Show, De Sering, Amsterdam, NL
March 2025 Update 1 Arti et Amicitiae, Group Show, Amsterdam, NL
Nov 2024 I Cry and Cry, One Off Moving Image Festival, Valencia, Spain
July 2024 ParkXPark, Marineterrein, Amsterdam, NL
Dec 2024 Gerrit Rietveld DGT 3 Bogota Broedplaats, Halfweg, NL
Aug 2024 Radical (dis)Connection, KlimaatMuseum / VOX-POP, Amsterdam, NL
Dec 2023 DGT 2, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
July 2023 Tinkle Drum, Lola Luid, Amsterdam NL (Solo Show)
Sept 2022 Tinkle Drum, Reno Tahoe International Art Show, Reno NV, US
Aug 2022 Tinkle Drum, Burning Man Honorarium Sculpture, Black Rock City, NV, US
July 2022 Tinkle Drum Living Arts Lab Energy Junkies Prize, Amsterdam, NL (Solo Show)
June 2022 Tinkle Drum Burning Man NL Art Jump Grant & show, Flevoland, NL
Bibi’s work is in the collection of Kolaj Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana since 2025.
Collectives and Collaborations
TЯAsh Collective
Bibi founded TЯAsh Collective in 2022—a collective of artists, engineers, social workers, and researchers creating art from recycled materials.
(KYBL)
KIEM, Yufei Gao, Bibi Jordan and Lorena Rode first collaborated in May 2024 for the 'Radical Connection' exhibition in Amsterdam. When student protests against Dutch ties to Israeli institutions erupted, the artists transformed their individual works into a collaborative, site-specific piece of censorship, Radical Disconnection.
Snack’n Sketch
Bibi she hosts regular sketch sessions to observe and respond to our changing environment.
Selected Press, Appearances & Media
Stahlblume und Fünf-Meter-Vogel: Es ist wieder „Maker Faire“
Tageblatt.de | August 16, 2026
"Bibi Jordan stands in front of her fire-breathing artwork 'Flower Power'..."
Read Article
Flower Power Hannover (Sat.1 Regional Feature)
Sat.1 Regional (German TV) | August 14, 2026
"The Maker Faire 2026 kicks off this weekend in Hanover (Lower Saxony). It's the premier event for creatives..
Watch Feature
Stahlblume und Fünf-Meter-Vogel: Es ist wieder „Maker Faire“
Nord24 | August 16, 2026
"Bibi Jordan steht auf der 'Maker Faire' vor ihrem feuerspeienden Kunstwerk 'Flower-Power'.
Read Article
Für Bastler und Tüftler: Stahlblume und Fünf-Meter-Vogel
Süddeutsche Zeitung | August 16, 2026
"Als Messe und Mitmach-Festival für Tüftler und Bastler lockt die 'Maker Faire' in Hannover Zehntausende Menschen an. Besonders spektakulär in diesem Jahr: Feuer aus einer Blume aus Stahl, Bibi Jordan..."
Read Article
Big Orange Monster
Kolaj Magazine | 10 September 2025
Big Orange Monster: An Emergency Collage Exhibition at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA."
Read Article
CLOSE UP 2023–2024
VOX-POP & UvA Climate Museum | 2023–2024
Exhibition 'Radical Connection' explores the intersection of academia and the urgency of the climate crisis...
Read Article
Tales of Dreamers Documentary
International Wood Culture Society | 9 Aug 2023
the International Wood Culture Society delves into sustainability initiatives in BRC — from Burning Man Project and from a
variety of theme camps, artists, and.. Watch the documentary
Muziekdoos The Tinkle Drum maakt geluid en beweging
Oost-Online | September 12, 2022
"The Tinkle Drum staat nog tot 13 september bij de Buitenbroedplaats (naast de Schietbaan en gebouw 024) op het Marineterrein. Bibi Bliekendaal gaat nu..."
Energy Junkies: The Tinkle Drum at Living Art Lab
Read Article
Energy Junkies - Bibi Bliekendaal: The Tinkle Drum
Cityscapes Foundation | August 2022
"Winner of the 'Energy Junkies' open call in collaboration with AHK & NEMO Science Museum, transforming human kinetic energy into an open-air musical instrument."
Read Article
The Tinkle Drum: The Sweet Melody of People-Powered Art
Burning Man Journal & Kiwiburn | July 2022
"An interactive Honoraria piece centered on international collaboration, recycled materials, and bringing people together through music and human-powered mechanics."
Read Burning Man Journal · Read Kiwiburn Feature
Kiwi Artist's Burning Man Interactive Artwork
Today FM | Radio Interview with Wilhelmina Shrimpton | June 27, 2022
Bibi Bliekendaal joined Today FM to share the story behind the artwork and the journey bringing an interactive installation to Black Rock City.
Listen here
Questions That Deserve Answers
The Big Idea | June 16, 2022
"With festivals around the world getting back up and running after an understandably bleak few years, a New Zealand-driven project by Bibi Bliekendaal is set to feature in one of the most iconic of them all..."
The Tinkle Drum Opening & School Holiday Events
Lola Luid (Nieuw-West) | June 8, 2022
"The Tinkle Drum will be on display at Lola Luid with fun, educational sessions for children, alongside autumn evening community jam sessions for people of all ages and musical abilities."
See the gallery
Introducing the 2022 Black Rock City Honoraria
Burning Man Arts | March 11, 2022
Official announcement selecting The Tinkle Drum as an official Black Rock City Honorarium Grant recipient.
Read Announcement
Education
Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam)
BFA
2022 - 2027
Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam)
Orientation Year
2021
Auckland University of Technology
Bachelor of Communications
2006
Contact: Bibi.Bliekendaal@gmail.com
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