Another former Amsterdam International Community School student updates us all on what they are doing in our Sharing Stories series. This week, we hear from Oxiea Villamonte, a photographer and researcher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

I joined AICS in MYP5 and attended the school for three years. I graduated from AICS in 2014.

After I graduated, I first took a gap year during which I travelled, worked and researched what I wanted to study. I decided to go to The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium and to study photography.

After graduating with my Master’s in Fine Arts specialized in photography in 2020, I published my first book titled: Next of Kin and have been pursuing my artist career.

Right now, I am working on a one-year research project: The Resilient Archive, supported by The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, which will result in a new book and exhibitions.  In March 2025, I exhibited work at Prospects Art Rotterdam, as I received the artist start grant from The Mondriaan Fund.

It is hard to choose only one memory from my time at AICS but if I must choose one it is going to South-Africa to volunteer, that was a life changing experience.

My advice to current AICS students is to work hard, stay true to who you are and enjoy your time at AICS.  I made some lifelong friends there for which I am forever grateful.