2024 was not an easy year for the visual arts in Utrecht: many organisations lost the support of the Utrecht municipality, with the visual arts domain further disappearing from Utrecht’s policies. On the 10th of January, we closed out the year together and set our sights forward to 2025, reflecting on the importance of solidarity, creativity and a critical view in our society.

The New Year’s drinks took place in The Cake Is a Lie, the IMPAKT Festival exhibition that closed on Sunday, January 12th. The exhibition offered glimpses into the playful and original thinking that artists use – in sometimes annoying, confusing or confronting ways – to focus on the political, ecological and technological conditions that define our world. The exhibition included works by Joyce Overheul and HIMMELSBACH, who were also present at the New Year’s Toast to speak about their artworks.