Ethereality 2019 – Mixed media installation - 12x5 meters - at Bonnefantemuseum Maastricht Materials: Styrofoam, fabirc,wool,daily objects, videoprojection, paper, glitters, stones, sand ​ ​ Morena Bamberger (1994,Roermond), a recent graduate yet already highly acclaimed, is a master at transforming a space into a magical universe through simple interventions. Her first museumproject is aptly entitled Ethereality, a contraction of two words with opposite meanings: ethereal and reality. And indeed this installation of video images shows an alienating mix of boundless, intangible imagination and everyday normality, which is so characteristic of this artist. Bamberger needs little to achieve this. She conjures up her mysterious worlds with simple materials like plastic sheeting, glitter, fabrics, and polystyrene sheets that she paints pastel colors, with turning windmills that scatter moving gleaming lights through the space like stardust. Here and there, projected videoimages show a world between reality and dream.’’My installations’’, says Bamberger, ‘’are a reflection of how I experience reality and how I want to share this experience with my audience’’. For he film, Morena Bamberger went on a spiritual journey to the Swiss mountains - a sort of ‘vision quest’, as she calls it - in order to get closer to her intuition and to experience her vulnerability and her strength. We see images of green mountain meadows and lowing cattle, but also a surreal masked figure ( the artist ), who bangs on a shaman’s drum beside a calm mountain stream.  In her work, Bamberger does not want to broach or judge anything. In her own words, she wants to move with rather than against. She takes her range of materials outdoors, to parks, woods and squares. People and animals gravitate towards her, curious about what she is doing. They ask questions, and Bamberger invites them to take part. On the basis of pure improvisation, they then get caught up together in ‘’a movement of spontaneity, expression and adventure’’. In her installations, too, she aims to integrate her audience, as it is all about the interaction between film and environment. Bamberger say’s ‘’I sometimes call myself the alpha she-wolf, who runs at the front and-through artistic practice - wants to show the pack members, people and animals she’s created the way to a land where everyday rhythms and patterns are transformed into moments of attention, connection and astonishment. If they dance along as masked creatures, they belong in my world of astonishment, where everything feels like home’’. ​ Morena is the first recipient of the Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium, a new grant initiated by the Province of Limburg. The grant wants to stimulate the work of young Limburg artists and bring it to the attention of a larger audience. The grant includes a residency at the Jan van Eyck Academy, an exhibition in ‘ The studio’ and a cash prize of €5000,-  The Limburg beeldende Kunst Stipendium ( Limburg Visual Art Stipendium) was initiated by the province of Limburg in 2018 as the ‘’Lex ter Braak stipend’’ for Lex ter Braak on the occasion of his retirement as director of the Jan van Eyck academy. The grant was later renamed the Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium, after a committee was formed with Lex ter Braak, Stijn Huijts, director of the Bonnefanten Museum and Joep Vossebeld, artist, curator and writer, who are jointly responsible for the selection for the visual art Stipendium. ​ Written by Paula van den Bosch Senior conservator Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht 2019