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The September edition of ArtsTalk COLOUR SUPPLEMENT is available. A rather slim edition this month as very little happens in July and August. Nevertheless, what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality. In Amsterdam we take another look at The Fall by Albert Camus which is set in Amsterdam and visit the incredible Tuschinski cinema Amsterdam. We look at the Willem de Kooning sculptures at Fenix in Rotterdam and in The Hague we have a review of the fashion exhibition at Kunstmuseum and report on a mystery solved at Maurithuis.

The cover is of Reflections on Fashion is at Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Photo by Sabrina BONGIOVANNI

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In the coming cultural season, the Van Gogh Museum turns its attention to Vincent van Gogh’s contemporaries. Discover James McNeill Whistler as never before in the Netherlands and get to know Eva Gonzalès in the first ever retrospective devoted to her work and life.

Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor
Friday 16 October 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027

This autumn, the Van Gogh Museum and The Mesdag Collection, in collaboration with Tate Britain, present the largest European retrospective of James McNeill Whistler’s work in thirty years – and the first ever in the Netherlands. Meet James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903): painter and printmaker, aesthete and enfant terrible. Whistler is considered one of the most important artists of the 19th century. With his belief that art – like music – should above all evoke a mood, he helped shape modern art. His rebellious nature and outspoken views regularly brought him into conflict with critics and patrons. Vincent van Gogh, a contemporary of Whistler’s, admired his work. They shared a fascination with Japanese art and pushed the boundaries of what art could be.

The exhibition Whistler. Loving the Netherlands runs concurrently at The Mesdag Collection in The Hague, focusing on Whistler’s visits to the Netherlands and work he produced while there.

Amsterdam Dance Event at the Van Gogh Museum
Friday 23 October 2026, tickets on sale from 14 September

As part of Amsterdam Dance Event, the Van Gogh Museum explores the nocturnal worlds of James McNeill Whistler. Drawing on the exhibition Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor, the museum brings together painting, music and atmosphere in an evening programme. As in Whistler’s work, the evening is not about narrative, but mood: mist, light, shadow, sound and the emotion of the city at night. The artists’ collective uncloud offers a new visual interpretation of Whistler’s work. During ADE, the experimental energy of London meets the nocturnal creativity of Amsterdam.

Yoshitoshi. Master of the Moon

Thursday 1 October 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027

One hundred prints, one hundred stories, and always the moon. In the focused presentation Yoshitoshi. Master of the Moon, the Van Gogh Museum presents the famous series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (1885–90) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–92). The Japanese printmaker brings historical figures, warriors, lovers and mythical beings to life in powerful, colourful compositions. The presentation reveals why Yoshitoshi is regarded as the last great master and innovator of Japanese printmaking, while also exploring his connection with Vincent van Gogh, who collected and closely studied his work.

First Ever Retrospective of Eva Gonzalès
Friday 12 February to Sunday 20 June 2027

In spring 2027, the Van Gogh Museum, in collaboration with the Petit Palais in Paris, presents the first ever retrospective of Eva Gonzalès (1847–1883). During her lifetime, Gonzalès was acclaimed by art critics and admired by her contemporaries, but after her untimely death, she largely disappeared from art history. She was an ambitious artist who, as Edouard Manet’s only student, consciously forged her own artistic path and became an innovative voice in the Parisian art world. This exhibition brings her work back into the spotlight and gives it the attention it deserves. Featuring loans from international museums and private collections, the exhibition brings together her delicate paintings and pastels for the first time.

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The death of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has been announced, she was 97. Over the course of a career spanning more than seventy years, Kusama became one of the most influential artists of her time.

She was born in Matsumoto, Japan in 1929. She moved to New York In 1958 where she experimented with painting, sculpture, performance, installation, film and fashion, among other media. During the 1960s, Kusama also spent considerable periods of time in the Netherlands, where she presented her work and maintained close ties with artists associated with the Dutch Nul movement. She returned to Japan in the 1970.

Her connections with Holland were demonstrated with a small retrospective Yayoi Kusama, The Dutch Years 1965 – 1970 at the Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam in October 2023 which ArtsTalk Magazine reviewed. A major retrospective is scheduled for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam opening on 11^th September.

Our review of the Schiedam exhibition is no longer available, so we are reprinting it here . . .

Happenings were very popular in the 1960s and early seventies. They were part of the hippie culture of free expression, free love (i.e. sex), hallucinogenic drugs, poetry readings (where anything that rhymed was derided), tie-died cheesecloth shirts and free love (i.e. sex) – ah, I already said that, but it does bear mentioning twice, and clothes were frequently removed to facilitate it. Those who could not get laid had their bodies painted instead. Body painting was an integral part of happenings much as face painting is now an integral and ubiquitous part of children’s parties and garden fêtes.

Happenings, although meant to be spontaneous expressions of alternative culture, were in fact as spontaneous as a premiere league football match with everybody turning up at a pre-arranged venue ready to head bang, smoke some weed, drop some acid and take their clothes off, although not necessarily in that order – I’m talking about the hippies here, not the footballers. It was pretty groovy, man. All you had to do was join in and drop out.

One of the original initiators of happenings and one of their most famous exponents was Yoko Ono, but another Japanese woman was at it too. Her work can be seen in Yayoi Kusama The Dutch Years 1965 – 1970, a small retrospective at the always worth-visiting Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, a short tram ride from the centre of Rotterdam. Why Schiedam? Well it was here in 1967 that one of her most notorious happenings . . . err . . . happened.

Yayoi Kusama, although not as widely known as Yoko One – but then she didn’t marry John Lennon - was an important and significant figure in the underground movements in both Holland and the USA. The Dutch were ahead of the curve when it came to sex and drugs with their red light districts and euphemistically named coffee shops. So much so that when Yayoi wanted to do her naked body happenings in New York they were frequently banned.

It could be said that the current exhibition in Schiedam is in two halves. There are the pieces of art and there is the documentation. Ms Kusama seems to have been fairly keen on sex and many of the exhibits are phallic symbols and the largest piece consists of dozens of 30cms chrome balls neatly arranged on the floor. One of the most striking exhibits is a huge globe nearly two meters across covered in red rubber gloves. It hangs from the ceiling and can be seen as thousands of dangling phalluses or an over-endowed cow.

Impressive though the artworks are, I was much more interested in the documentation of events in Delft and Schiedam in the late 1960s. There are lots of photographs, printed matter and videos. The photo I liked best was Delft artist Jan Schoonhoven standing naked, except for his glasses and shrivelled grey socks, having his body daubed with coloured blobs of paint by Ms Kusama.

The now ninety-four-year-old Yayoi Kusama and her work seem very much of another time, but as a reflection of an era which some of us remember with a certain affection (although other, I guess, with a certain embarrassment), it is well worth seeing. Michael Hasted, 2^nd October 2023

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24th August 2026 - This summer, Museum Prinsenhof Delft acquired an important private collection of Delft pottery of absolute top quality. Thanks to support from the Rembrandt Association, the Mondriaan Fund and the Van Oosten-Oosterholt Foundation, one of the most important collections of Delft pottery in the world will soon be on display in the renovated Museum Prinsenhof Delft. An enrichment for the museum and also for the Netherlands Collection.

The De Bruyn collection was built over thirty-five years by the Rotterdam entrepreneur Dr. M.C.G. (Gérard) de Bruyn (1893-1964). He was an importer of shipping machinery and a great lover of art and Delft pottery. Until his death, he collected Delft pottery of high artistic quality - from a few imposing bottle-shaped vases to colourful animal figures. The collection is distinguished by a large number of objects painted with flower branches in blue, green and red. This décor was called ‘cachemire’ by collectors, referring to the colourful shawls made of this fabric.

Two plates from the Het Moriaanshooft pottery are the absolute highlights of the collection. They were made around 1680 for the Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneberg. Delft pottery was popular among the European elite during this period. The plates can be regarded as artistic experiments, because they are among the earliest examples of Delft pottery with multi-coloured gold painting.

Delft Blue still has enormous appeal to visitors from all over the world. The museum looks forward to being able to show the De Bruyn collection in all its glory to a broad and international audience when the museum reopens in 2028. Delft pottery from this collection will be on display alongside historical objects, paintings and other forms of art in the new permanent display, and in a special presentation about the Delft pottery industry.

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17th August 2026 - With great enthusiasm, the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition (RIDCC) has announced the appointment of Rupert Tookey as the new Managing Director, effective 1st September. Rupert is an experienced professional in the international cultural field, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the organization.

In recent years, Tookey has demonstrated his expertise as Artistic Producer and Curator at Netherlands Dans Theatre (NDT) as well as Director of Artistic Operations and Interim Managing Director of Ballet BC. His extensive experience in the performing arts, coupled with his business acumen and collaborative leadership, make him the ideal partner to shape the future of RIDCC.

Rupert Tookey said, “I am incredibly excited to join RIDCC at such an important moment in its development. I have long admired the organisation and feel a strong connection to its ambition and the community it has developed. I look forward to bringing my experience, energy and international perspective to RIDCC, working alongside the team to build on its remarkable achievements and shape a sustainable and ambitious future for the organisation and the artists it supports.”

Maya Roest and Mischa van Leeuwen, the co-artistic leaders of RIDCC, commented on Tookey’s appointment: “With his expertise in the international dance field, his business knowledge, collaborative leadership, and commitment to innovation in the international dance sector, he is the ideal partner to build upon the new developments and future of RIDCC. We are excited to work with Rupert and to realize our future vision for RIDCC. Together, we are committed to further strengthening and expanding RIDCC, with the aim of remaining a significant player within the international dance community.”

As of 1st September, Marijn Bellaard will step down from his role as Managing Director of RIDCC. We would like to sincerely thank Marijn for his dedication and valuable contribution over the past two years. We wish him every success in his future career. His knowledge and experience will certainly be missed, and we look forward to following his next steps.

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Writing for film means entering a director’s imagination and understanding the expressive intention behind a scene. At its best, a score captures the essence of a scene and turns a fleeting moment into something unforgettable. Think of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth, or of Harry Potter: a few notes of John Williams’ Hedwig’s Theme are enough to bring an entire universe back to life. It is not a question of success, but of the composer’s ability to translate into sound what the director entrusts to the screen.

Williams once described the process simply: “The film is in front of me, asking, telling and suggesting to me what it might need.” It is when a composer succeeds in reading and interpreting the director’s intentions that sound and image find their alchemy. And when cinema draws on fantasy literature and adventure, the score helps give shape, depth and emotion to what unfolds before us.

That was the appealing premise of the evening in the Grote Zaal of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Philharmonie Leipzig, conducted by Michael Koehler, took on a programme devoted to scores from fantasy and adventure films, from The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Harry Potter to Gladiator, with Game of Thrones also represented. Dutch actress and presenter Dzifa Kusenuh guided the audience through the programme. What was heard on stage was left to evoke the images in the listener’s imagination.

Moving into the musical chronicle of the evening, the warm sound of Philharmonie Leipzig under Michael Koehler made the connection between score and imagination immediate. The orchestral texture provided a natural backdrop against which familiar images could resurface in the mind. Hans Zimmer’s music for Interstellar and Inception was particularly effective in opening up that dreamlike dimension, while the elfin echoes of The Lord of the Rings remained vivid in the collective imagination. Koehler’s intelligent reading and the sensitivity of the Leipzig players allowed the evocative force of these scores to emerge without exaggeration. Dzifa Kusenuh completed the journey with engaging, well-judged introductions, linking the different musical worlds without interrupting the flow of the evening.

In the end, the absence of projected images allowed this relationship to be experienced from a different perspective. A melody, a rhythm or an orchestral colour could be enough to bring back a scene, a character or a landscape — perhaps differently for every listener.

Sound and image can form a formidable combination, sometimes quite literally an Oscar-winning one. But a great film score does not necessarily exhaust its purpose within the work for which it was written. When the writing has its own architecture, tension, colour and expressive force, it acquires an identity of its own and continues to speak beyond the cinematic narrative.

Perhaps that was the most convincing conclusion to the evening at the Concertgebouw: images can make a score unforgettable, just as a score can make images unforgettable, but great film music can also live a life of its own. It remains connected to the story for which it was created without being confined by it. When a few notes are enough to bring back a place, a character or an emotion, the composition has already moved beyond the boundaries of the screen. Antonio D’Amato, 16^th August 2026

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Janny van der Heijden is co-curating a new long-term exhibition marking four centuries of craftsmanship. From household goods to haute couture: Delft Blue has never gone out of style.

“We admire Chinese porcelain for its perfection, while there’s something human about Delftware precisely because of its imperfections. The firing errors, cracks and chips in the glaze show that it was made by hand. And perhaps that is why it suits the present era so well. You can still sense the maker in the material, even hundreds of years later.” Suzanne Lambooy, curator of decorative arts, Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Kunstmuseum Den Haag has one of the world’s largest collections of Delftware, which will be displayed in a new exhibit for the next few years. Visually opulent, versatile and surprising, Blue Loves You will not only present top items from the collection, it will also offer visitors new perspectives, in a presentation that will be open to the public for several years. The extensive exhibition will present a new narrative about one of the Netherlands’ best-known cultural icons. Though first made hundreds of years ago, Delftware has never gone out of fashion. It remains a source of inspiration for potters, craft makers and artists, and continues to attract collectors and virtually everyone who likes the combination blue and white. Curated by Suzanne Lambooy and Janny van der Heijden, the exhibition will present a story of craftsmanship as a living process, of crafting by hand and contemporary techniques. From vases and dining culture to ‘global blue’, Blue Loves You will show how Delftware both symbolises Dutch traditional craft and is part of a global tradition of blue and white ceramics. The exhibition will combine historical eye-catchers with modern art, fashion, design and folk art, inviting visitors to rediscover Delftware: from Lego to Valentino and from embroidery to the serenity of ‘Delft White’. At the same time, Blue Loves You will raise questions about the stories behind these iconic objects, about global trade, cultural exchange and the abiding influence of Delft Blue on today’s artists, designers and makers.

“What moves me so much about Delftware is that it was never just made to look at. It belonged on the table, at home, at the centre of daily life. It’s the combination of craftsmanship, beauty and utility that makes it so timeless. From a simple object to an extravagant tulip vase, you can always feel the hand of the maker in the blue and white, and the love with which it was used. Perhaps that is its strength: the fact that it keeps reinventing itself without ever losing its soul.” Janny van der Heijden

Hands that make

One key focus will be the handmade character of Delftware. The exhibition will highlight ‘craftsmanship’ in the broadest sense: from household items to the costliest tulip vases. As well as historical masterpieces, it will also show how today’s makers are reappropriating Delftware. Blue Loves You will feature embroidery, textile art, felt objects, tuftwork and social media makers giving traditional motifs a contemporary twist. Particular attention will be devoted to a collaboration with ROC Mondriaan vocational college highlighting the importance of learning a skill and passing on craftsmanship. At the same time, the underlying stories will be revealed, showing how Delftware has been reinventing itself for 400 years.

The IKEA of the 17th century

Delftware in the seventeenth century can be compared to IKEA today, in the sense that it was affordable, functional and part of daily life. From plates and bowls to tiles and decorative objects – it brought style and harmony to the homes of a broad section of the population, democratising design long before the concept even existed. It also demonstrated that craftsmanship and mass production could go hand in hand.

Dutch global story

The exhibition will cover the period from 1600 to the present day, showing how these ceramics opened up a world of trade, migration and cultural exchange. Blue Loves You will explore how 17th-century ‘Dutch porcelain’ became the affordable alternative to Chinese porcelain, and an iconic product in itself. Delftware is inextricably linked with the rest of the world. The exhibition will therefore also address the stories of trade and migration that lie behind it, as well as how subjects like slavery, chinoiserie and gender relate to this product that seems so quintessentially Dutch.

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The restored A Courtyard with a Smoking Man and a Drinking Woman by Pieter de Hooch painted around 1658-60 can be seen in Room 15 of the Mauritshuis in The Hague until 24th August. In September it will go to Madrid for the Thyssen-Bornemisza exhibition.

The painting depicts a smoking man, a drinking woman and a child in a Dutch courtyard so characteristic of the Delft painter. However, De Hooch originally painted a third figure, sitting between the man and the woman: a soldier in armour holding a mug of beer. But somewhere along the centuries he had to leave the field. The Mauritshuis was faced with a dilemma about what to do with this figure during restoration. After extensive research and careful consideration, it was decided to largely return the soldier to the painting.

During previous restoration work on the painting, the image of a man had already emerged. The Mauritshuis was faced with a number of choices: paint over the soldier again (make him ‘disappear’), restore him completely or leave him as a vague ‘ghost’ in the painting? The museum’s starting point is to take the public back into the story as De Hooch intended it in the mid-17th century.

Drinking game

Because we can reconstruct what the soldier looked like. In the same period, De Hooch painted exactly the same scene that now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington. In A Dutch Courtyard (c.1658-60) the soldier can be seen smiling at the woman who is just putting a glass to her mouth. The men challenge the woman to a drinking game. We know this because she puts a ‘fitting glass’ to her mouth. She has to continue drinking until the next line. The painting in The Hague has become a completely different scene due to the soldier’s disappearance: a man and a woman who appear to be taking a break together.

Interim solution

Restorers Sabrina Meloni and Abbie Vandivere worked together to reconstruct the missing soldier. Meloni: ‘We ultimately opted for an interim solution. The men challenge the woman to a drinking game, that is what the painting is about. But over the past 360 years, the painting’s pigments have partly discoloured. If we had completely reduced the soldier as seen in the Washington version, the emphasis for the viewer would have been too much on him due to the colour difference between the two paintings. Therefore, a more ‘restored’ version of the soldier and less detailed. A choice that, as with all restorations we do, is reversible. Future generations can remove all the paintings we have made. A nice balance has now been restored to the painting’.

Orphaned beer mug

That there was a third person at the table had been known since the 1920s, when the well-known restorer Martin de Wild took over the work. He exposed the soldier, took a black and white photo of him and then painted over what remained of the soldier. And after that the painting, in the Mauritshuis collection since 1947, remained somewhat strange in design. The soldier’s pipe and his opened beer mug are still orphaned on the table and his cloak hangs over a fence.

Mysteries remain

However, the painting continues to hold its mysteries: who made the soldier disappear and why? It is certain that De Hooch painted two identical works of art, which was not unusual in the 17th century. It is also certain that it was not De Hooch who painted away the soldier. Did a later owner want to make his painting more ‘unique’? Did someone want to erase the soldier’s memory for personal reasons? It is certain that about 180 years later the man was no longer part of the group. In 1833 the painting appeared in a catalogue of the John Smith Gallery in London where it was described without the soldier. Because the same painting had been in that gallery’s possession since 1822, we can conclude that someone deleted the man between 1660 and the early 19th century. The extensive research including Macro-XRF (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Rijksmuseum) has not been able to answer the questions of why, when and who. 5^th August 2026

The painting will hang in Room 15 of the Mauritshuis until the temporary closure of the museum between 24th August and 20th September. It then travels to Madrid for the Mauritshuis Thyssen-Bornemisza exhibition

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It is no surprise that when you turn 75 you have a lot to tell. In the anniversary exhibition the fashion collection of the Kunstmuseum, there are many stories to share. Prepare for a visit where you are taken on a trip down memory lane and well being given a glimpse to the future.

In the first room breaks with an illustrated story that makes our eyebrows rise in disapproval. When the museum opened in 1951, it was quite accepted to show the historical dresses on live models. It was deemed necessary to demonstrate the public the flow of these costumes while being worn instead of placing them in a glass box on a static mannequin.

The second room proudly shows a number a highlights, such as one of the two dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Talking about celebrities, a dress designed and loaned by Christian Siriano for the young Taylor Swift to wear during her perfume Wonderstruck advertisement is also present.

Another highlight, is the restored Chanel dress which is a link with the third room where we get a look behind the scenes. In a glass box restorations take place in front of the public eye and on big tables trained volunteers show items from the collection. I for one have always been very curious about how a garment is put together, and we now finally get to see that right in front of our eyes.

This restauration room is curated by designer Tess van Zalinge. Her designs focus on what is underneath our clothing and she was over the moon to get the opportunity to dive into the museums collection in search for inspiration. This resulted in designs that show what remains unseen under our clothing.

All the following spaces are also curated by people from the fashion industry that were invited by the museum, like Patta and Kleding Cast. For many it was a dream come true being allowed into the depots to search for inspiration for ‘their’ room.
Couturier Jan Taminiau filled an entirely room with black designs. In his opinion, when leaving out all colour, the focus of the public will be on shape and form, an aspect of fashion that fascinates him. Besides that, he shows that the colour black changed status. From being the most expensive colour in the 17^th century being worn solely by the rich merchants to a colour worn by punks expressing their ideas about society with the way they dressed.

Thanks to Janice Deul, the museum is finally able to display a 1900 koto and angisa from Surinam. She states that this too is Dutch Design and the modern interpretations from contemporary designers as Marga Weimans and Denzel Veerkamp sustain this claim.

Many more curators have connected with the collection that can boast on 50.000 items and is the largest fashion collection in The Netherlands. Their views and interpretations have given the curators of the Kunstmuseum a different perspective of their own collection, preparing them for the future of collecting fashion. And for us visitors, this resulted in a delightful anniversary show! Wendy Fossen, 2nd August 2026

The exhibition continues until until 3rd January 2027

Full Photo Credit - Joseph William Raidt, Ensemble, 2025, bruikleen. Frans Molenaar, Cirkelcape, voorjaar 1977, wol, Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Foto: Sabrina Bongiovanni / Kunstmuseum Den Haag art direction: Maarten Spruyt, styling: Pablo Salvador Willemars, assistentie fotografie: Louis Oomes, visagie: Katinka Gernant, haar: Pascale den Dikkenboer, model: Martha G. @ The Fashion Composers

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A slightly smaller edition this month as things tend to be a bit quiet in the summer. Nevertheless, we have some great reviews and photographs. We were in Rotterdam to attend the opening of the Wild Summer of Art at Brutus; to see Quickscan 3 at the Fotomuseum and to visit the Zoo. We were at Museum Beelden aan Zee in Scheveningen for the Rui Chafes/Alberto Giacometti exhibition and we covered several events at the Holland Festival and our reviews are here.

Cover shows a photo by Jan Hoek from the series @jantje666huntedportraithouse, 2025/26 on show at Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam

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The monumental sculptures Seated Woman (1969–1980), Standing Figure (1969–1984) and Reclining Figure (1969–1982) have stood on the Hofplein in Rotterdam since 2005, but due to the centenary of De Kooning’s departure, they will now temporarily be given a place on the quay in front of Fenix. The museum also houses a medium-sized bronze statue, Standing Figure (1969–1980). With this presentation, Fenix ​​honours De Kooning as an artist and an emigrant: a century later, his work stands along the same water over which he once set sail for America. The statues will return to the renovated Hofplein in 2027.

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) was born in Rotterdam and studied at the Rotterdam Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences. On July 18, 1926, he left for the United States as a stowaway – hidden on board the freighter SS Shelley. After a brave crossing, he finally arrived in New York, where he became one of the most influential artists of abstract expressionism. From 1969 onwards, De Kooning also focused on sculpture and made the bronze statues that will soon be on display at Fenix.

The illustrated publication Willem de Kooning Rotterdam New York will be published simultaneously with the installation of the images. This publication shows the lively Rotterdam where De Kooning grew up and was educated and at the same time sketches New York in the 1920s, the place where he starts a new life as an immigrant. The publication contains contributions from Anne Kremers, Wim Pijbes and Ludo van Halem.

On the occasion of the centenary of his departure, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam will dedicate an exhibition to Willem de Kooning this autumn. The exhibition, created in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago and The Willem de Kooning Foundation, New York, is a comprehensive overview of the artist’s drawn work, supplemented with some of his most famous paintings and sculptures. It is also the largest retrospective of the artist in the Netherlands since 1968. This gives his art a new appreciation: not only as that of an American master, but also as that of a Dutchman who left his mark worldwide.

The exhibition can be seen from 9th October until 17th January 2027.

The presentation in Fenix is made in collaboration with The Willem de Kooning Foundation, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, CBK Rotterdam, the municipality of Rotterdam, Droom en Daad, nai010 publishers, Irma Boom, the ABN AMRO Foundation and the Rijksmuseum.

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Wild Summer of Art 2026, Treasure Hunt edition, opened yesterday at Brutus, swiftly transforming the industrial exhibition space into a landmine of art. The format, where you navigate the space with a map, read up on the artists beforehand, and try to make sense of what you’re seeing, is highly interactive, of course. Still, more than that, it is a thoughtful attempt to let our imagination guide our interpretations, allowing for a more authentic and personal understanding of the artwork, rather than one shaped by what it is supposedly meant to be.

Listing every work I managed to decipher would be impractical, and more importantly, I wouldn’t want to spoil the treasure hunt for those still planning to go. However, a few pieces have stubbornly stayed with me. The works of visual artist Inge Aanstoot, using slogans, banners, activism, and layered imagery to create deeply emotive pieces, spoke to me as an exploration of how activism functions for communities whose voices are often overlooked, existing within layers of communication and deeply complex experiences, yet still present through the small acts and stories that we often fail to notice.

Another standout was Dark Days in Doggerland by Koen Taselaar, a woven jacquard tapestry haunted by the memory of birds and landscapes that once existed between the Netherlands and England. The craftsmanship alone is astonishing. Imagining the sheer amount of time required to produce something this intricate only deepens the appreciation, not just for the work itself, but for the dedication behind it and the story it carries.

There is an abundance of different art mediums to discover throughout the exhibition. A documentary feature by Luca Tichelman waits for you as you move through the space, while a mixed-media installation by Natalia (Nika) Sorzano sparks curiosity around themes of gender differences and human connections. I won’t claim that all of this is immediately obvious to your eyes and brain the moment you walk in, there would be little purpose in a treasure hunt otherwise, but the beauty of the format is that it stays with you. I am still looking artists up, trying to understand what they displayed, and carrying their work well beyond the gates of the exhibition.

All of this aside, it is a fun evening full of art, conversations if you seek them, and brilliant music. The space is lit up with a celebratory spirit, with artist takeovers happening every Friday throughout the summer, giving you yet another reason to come back after your first expedition. Atulya JAIN, 18^th July 2026

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Some performances tell you what they are trying to say. Others invite you into the process of discovering it. Winged belongs firmly to the latter. A collaboration between the five dancers of Kalpanarts and the percussionists of HIIIT, the work unfolds as a continuous conversation, rooted in rhythm, trust and attentive listening. Inspired by the murmuration of birds, Winged uses the collective movement of flocks as a premise to think about togetherness in contemporary society. The performers mimic the shifting formations and instinctive responsiveness of birds. The choreography is never interested in imitation alone. Rather, it asks what humans might learn from a world where cohesion exists without conformity.

This idea is beautifully reflected in Kalpana Raghuraman’s choreography, which brings Bharatanatyam, Kathak and contemporary dance into dialogue with one another. You see dancers picking up on each other’s movement languages, finding common rhythms without erasing where they come from. At one point, two dancers wearing ghungaroos (traditional anklets with metallic bells worn by Indian classical dancers) dance with the entire group, the symphony created highlights that blending into one does not mean leaving individuality. In the discussion following the performance, Raghuraman spoke about decolonisation in the performative arts space as a practice rather than a statement. That ethos is visible in the way she has knitted the dance forms together. These forms are not simply placed alongside each other, they borrow from, respond to and reshape one another’s vocabularies.

The performance also draws heavily from patterns found in nature. References to the Fibonacci sequence emerge within the musical structures, while recurring spiral formations ripple across the stage. Together, these motifs remind us that we are all outcomes of what came before us. Nature repeatedly demonstrates that wholeness is built through interconnectedness, not homogenisation. There is enough room for every part to retain its distinct shape while still contributing to something larger and remarkably beautiful. One of my favourite aspects of the performance was the relationship between music and movement. Percussion extends beyond the musicians, with footsteps, bells and physical gestures becoming part of the score, giving the choreography a lot more room to express.

All these hints towards different concepts, philosophical ideas and cultural undertones make Winged a rich and layered experience, one that definitely introduces a new perspective as you leave the hall. Atulya JAIN, 11^th July 2026

There will be a national tour of Winged will take place starting in October

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9th July 2026 - A tribute to artist, programme maker and voice actor Wim T. Schippers (1942–2026) is went on show today at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Depot.

‘Dead. Can’t be helped.’ It was with this brief message that artist, programme maker and voice actor Wim T. Schippers (1942–2026) said his final goodbye. The wording of his death notice was entirely in keeping with his work: matter-of-fact, funny and with a sense of the absurd. If there is one work by Schippers that combines all these elements, it is his famous Peanut Butter Floor. Armed with buckets of peanut butter and plastering tools, two ‘peanut butter plasterers’ have installed a new version of this iconic artwork: 25m2 of hexagonal floor made of 390 kilos of peanut butter, on display to the public until 6th September 2026.

“We will greatly miss Wim T.’s idiosyncratic character, versatility, humour and ability to put things into perspective. He used art to make people think, but always had a light touch. His Peanut Butter Floor still raises questions like, is this art? Am I allowed to like this? And it is this sense of bewilderment that makes this piece so special. We regard it as a great honour to be able to present this unique artwork in his memory.’‘ - Sandra Kisters, acting director of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

The museum is not only showing the Peanut Butter Floor, but also the most recent instructions for the piece which the artist drew up with the museum. According to Wim T. Schippers, it requires 15.6 kilos of smooth peanut butter (not chunky) per m2, no one should stand or lie on the peanut butter floor, the peanut butter should be applied as smoothly and monotonously as possible, and the work should not be approached with any educational purpose. Photographs will give visitors an idea of past incarnations of the piece here in the Netherlands and abroad.

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Europe’s largest outdoor classical music festival returned to Baarn this year. Just half an hour by train from Utrecht, Wonderfeel Festival transforms beautiful natural surroundings into a vibrant celebration of music over the weekend of 3–5 July.

Set among trees and open meadows, the festival offers a relaxed yet engaging atmosphere, with over 100 performances, food trucks, literary talks, and movement activities to enjoy. In the warm summer air, with just a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine, it is easy to settle into the festival’s unhurried rhythm.

It was my first visit to Wonderfeel, and I was fortunate to experience mild temperatures and dry weather throughout the day. I wandered among couples enjoying picnics, children playing with their families, and fellow curious explorers. With seven stages spread across an expansive landscape, the festival never feels overcrowded despite welcoming around 10,000 visitors over three days. Rather than the bustle of a commercial festival, it retains the open, friendly atmosphere more often associated with outdoor pop festivals.

I managed to catch a handful of performances on Saturday, with Sanne Sanne en het Festivalkoor standing out as a particular highlight. Their light, ethereal music complemented the surroundings beautifully, blending effortlessly with the swaying trees and birdsong, as though it belonged naturally within the landscape.

As someone with a wide palette of music taste, Wonderfeel felt like the perfect light Saturday meandering in the woods led by the music. You cannot expect the acoustics of a concert hall, of course, but if you are looking to connect with different styles of music, this is an ideal gezellig setting.

Around 500 musicians take part in the festival, each bringing a distinct artistic voice. While they are masters of their craft, hearing their work performed in this outdoor environment gives it a fresh perspective. Whether you are a classical music enthusiast or simply curious to explore contemporary interpretations, jazz, pop, folk, the intimacy of a solo performance or the camaraderie of a full symphony, you are bound to discover something memorable to take away from Wonderfeel. Rosina Lui, 5^th July 2026

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Vita Soul Wilmering’s immersive solo show of six video projections spread out in a meandering fashion across the ground floor of the old school building involves embodiment. You are encouraged to walk between the slices of life projected - actually back and forth between the rooms when one video stops and another starts - and so the video loops, so to speak, mean you walk one way and then back again in a double-loop led by the sound from the videos. The start and stop of the six projections are twelve scenarios and this is just the right length. You feel as if you are on a journey where, if you stay and walk the whole experience it lasts about 30 minutes before there is a repeat. It feels like the experience of a rich feature film with small talk removed. You are left with slices of dialogue, slices of imagery, with the invitation to fill in the rest. And it feels raw and honest with beautifully captured imagery.
This video installation across three rooms includes fragments from her longer films (un)scripted (2024), The failed holiday: episode 10 (2021), Spiegl (2021), Insomnia (2026), Dear Athanase (in progress) and Zonder (2014).
Vita Soul Wilmering is one of the artists with studios in the floors above the gallery and if you are lucky she might be there to greet you. Ask her anything and go see the show! Sonja van Kerkhoff, 3^rd July 2026

Billytown is an artist-run-gallery located in the centre of The Hague. It organises five to six exhibitions per year, inviting not only national and international, young and established artists, but also curators and writers. It functions as a platform to meet, exchange, experience, discuss and develop.

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There have been some changes at Beelden aan Zee. It is always a pleasure to visit this museum on the beach at Scheveningen and the new layout was the first thing we noticed when we were there this week. The entrance area is re-vamped with the desk moved and the café enlarged. On the open sculpture terrace at the top of the building efforts have been made to integrate it (even more) with the dunes and the beach which is less than a stone’s throw away. Some sandy flower beds have been landscaped with dune-suitable plants. There is now also seating and a kiosk for soft drinks and coffee.

Good though it was to see the changes, we were there to see the work of Alberto Giacometti. I have always been a fan of the Swiss sculptor who had links to Surrealism and Cubism, so I was particularly looking forward to it.

For the third exhibition in the museum’s Gris, Vide, Cris strand which mixes and matches/contrasts and compares the work of two different artists, Giacometti’s work has been paired with that of Rui Chafes from Portugal. The exhibition’s title, translated as Grey, Emptiness, Scream, is borrowed from the poem of the same name by Giacometti,

One the face of it the work of the two artists does not have much in common – Chafes all smooth and abstract, Giacometti rough and figurative, but it was this very contrast that created the tension but also a sort of unity and harmony like a fruit with a rough skin and tender flesh inside. The work of the two artists’ merged with Chafes’s La Nuit with Alberto Giacometti’s Le Nez. La Nuit was like a giant bird skull, or one of those sinister Venetian plague masks, with the Swiss artist’s small white plaster figure suspended within the head.

This is not a large exhibition and in no way does it claim to be any sort of retrospective, but I was a little disappointed that there were only nine pieces by Giacometti. One of them was just a few millimetres high and six of them were hidden away in a dark tunnel in a huge white box which dominated the gallery. These small clay/plaster figures were visible only through narrow vertical slots at waist height and one had to stoop in order to see them. I thought this an unnecessary device from which the work did not benefit.

Nevertheless, it was good to see the work of one of the greatest and most influential sculptors of the twentieth century, and the compare and contrast exercise with Chafes worked well enough.

In the small vaulted gallery in the middle of the museum I was pleased to discover the work of Dutch artist Femmy Otten in her small exhibition, Birthland. This was more obviously surrealist with a couple of very nice paintings and sculptures, the most impressive of which was a life-size female nude and new-born baby quite roughly carved from raw wood, lying prone on the ground. Michael Hasted, 1^st July 2026

Giacometti/Chafes continues until 10^th January 2027 and the Femmy Otten exhibition until 1^st November 2026

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Just click on the picture to read ArtsTalk Colour Supplement. It’s FREE - no subscription, no logging-in, no password, no obligation – just click and read

The July issue of ArtsTalk COLOUR SUPPLEMENT is out! Quite a mixture this month. We were at a couple of important annual festivals - O. in Rotterdam and The Spring Festival in Utrecht. We had a lot of laughs seeing The Ashton Brothers and an equal amount of excitement seeing Spinoza by NITE / Club Guy and Roni. We review NDT1’s new work, ZŌ which we saw at Amare in The Hague and on a quieter note we were at Museum Rijswijk to see the amazing paper sculptures by Peter Gentenaar and Pat Gentenaar-Torley.

Cover shows Brothers on tour with the Ashton Brothers

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Quickscan 3: Photography Now at the Nederlands Fotomuseum traces the shifting terrain of Dutch photography and visual creative communication over the past decade. The exhibition opens with a mirror, a fitting invitation to self-reflection. Rather than treating photography as a fixed discipline, Quickscan 3 shows how the practice has evolved through its subjects, mediums, processes, and the politics shaping images today.

Curated by Guinevere Ras and Ruben Lundgren, the exhibition brings together the work of over twenty artists whose practices collectively map the transformations that have taken place in photography over the last ten years. What struck me most was not simply the diversity of the work on display, but how thoughtfully it had been arranged. Each thematic section felt like an exploration of how artists are approaching photography itself. Increasingly, the emphasis seems to have shifted away from the final image and towards photography as a process, one that is fluid, interdisciplinary and deeply personal.

This is evident in works like Xiaoxiao Xu’s, where collage, old family photographs, and Chinese symbolism transform childhood memories into reconstructed narratives, making photography an act of remembering rather than recording. Another body of work that stayed with me was Peter Pflügler’s Hans: Don’t Bury Me in the Grave of My Father, which uses family archives to reflect on inherited trauma, identity, and the silences surrounding suicide and homosexuality, revealing how personal histories continue to shape the present.

During a conversation with Guinevere Ras, one of the exhibition’s curators, the subject of change naturally came up. She noted that from a distance, the last decade of photography may not look especially radical. But step closer, and the picture shifts. Artists have been prising apart the medium’s old rules, borrowing, bending, and cross-pollinating until familiar forms start to look strangely new. The transformation is slower, subtler, and all the more interesting for it.

The exhibition also confronts questions that feel impossible to ignore today. Works engaging with artificial intelligence, surveillance, and digital image-making ask what authenticity even means in an era where seeing is no longer synonymous with believing. Whether through Jan Hoek’s explorations of AI-generated imagery or the investigations into surveillance and manipulated realities by Esther Hovers and Raphaël Dallaporta, the works consistently return to the same unsettling question: what images can we trust, and who gets to decide what is real?

Amidst these conversations about emerging technologies, I found it refreshing that the exhibition also devoted space to photo books, a medium that social media has, in many ways, pushed into the background. Ultimately, Quickscan 3 magnifies the seemingly mundane realities that shape our everyday lives, always filtered through the distinct perspectives and positionalities of the artists themselves. The issues it grapples with, ethics, climate change, political conflict, identity, memory, and technology, are not presented as grand statements but as lived experiences that quietly permeate contemporary image-making. More than anything, the exhibition encourages viewers to question not only what they see, but also what they instinctively overlook. In a world increasingly comfortable with ready-made narratives and algorithmically curated perspectives, Quickscan 3 offers the space to think independently, to sit with ambiguity, and to arrive at meanings that are entirely one’s own. For that reason alone, it is an exhibition well worth spending time with. Atulya Jain, 26^th June 2026

The exhibition continues until 22nd November 2026

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Otobong Nkanga (1974, Kano, Nigeria) will receive the Sikkens Prize 2026 on Monday, 26^th October. The Sikkens Prize spotlights an artist or collective that is pioneering in the field of color. The prize is awarded to Otobong Nkanga because, in a time that demands both imagination and responsibility, she shows that the power of color begins where it awakens - in the earth, in the community, in life itself. The artist receives an amount of 75,000 euros. She will also be honoured with the Humus Blues exhibition in Singer Laren, which opens immediately after the award ceremony and can be seen for four months.

Every two years, the Sikkens Prize spotlights a person or collective that makes an important contribution to the field of colour. The award is a token of recognition and appreciation for exceptional achievements in which colour as a fundamental force shapes and changes the world. The prize was first awarded in 1959 to architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld and went to the Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist in 2024. The prize winners also include artists Donald Judd and Bridget Riley, designer Hella Jongerius, architects David Chipperfield and Le Corbusier and landscape architect Piet Oudolf, designer of the Singer Laren sculpture garden and the High Line in New York.

The 2026 Sikkens Prize is awarded to Otobong Nkanga because she shows where color really comes from. In her sculptures, carpets, drawings and installations - shown from Paris and Lausanne to Kanazawa, New York and Venice - pigments and minerals are not passive matter but active witnesses: of landscapes and lives, of extraction and reconstruction. Her work connects body and landscape, the local and the global, the personal and the political. In a time that calls for both imagination and responsibility, she shows that the power of color begins where she awakens - in the earth, in the community, in life itself. Her artistry is therefore closely aligned with the mission of the Sikkens Prize.

Otobong Nkanga had solo exhibitions at MAM in Paris and MCBA Lausanne (exhibition I dreamt of you in colours), Kunsthaus Bregenz, Castello di Rivoli in Turin, Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and MoMA in New York, among others. In addition, Nkanga has participated in leading international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale 2026, documenta 14 in Kassel and the Sydney Biennale. She has received several prestigious awards, including the Sharjah Biennial 14 Prize (2019) and the Nasher Sculpture Prize (2025).

The Sikkens Prize amounts to €75,000, of which 50,000 euros is intended for personal development and 25,000 euros for a special project around color. Otobong Nkanga spends her prize money on a project of her Carved to Flow Foundation in Nigeria.

Exhibitions in Laren and Amsterdam

For the first time, the Sikkens Foundation honors the laureate of the Sikkens Prize with an exhibition. Otobong Nkanga’s solo exhibition Humus Blues can be seen in Singer Laren from 27^th October, 2026 to February 28, 2027. In her work she investigates the interconnectedness of people, landscape and raw materials, and themes such as identity, power and change. With sculptures, textiles, drawings, paintings, photographs and poetry, the exhibition offers a versatile introduction to her oeuvre, in which color plays an important role; a quality for which the jury of the Sikkens Prize distinguishes her. Monumental works by Nkanga can also be seen in the anniversary exhibition ReflAction in the Art Space of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation in Amsterdam.

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