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From Friday 27 to Sunday 29 March, Art Rotterdam returns with a sharpened fair format that brings together visual art, photography, video and large-scale installations. The format offers space for both emerging talent and established galleries, while the addition of Unseen Photo introduces a sharply curated and internationally oriented photography programme, fully integrated into the fair. With the return to Rotterdam Ahoy, Art Rotterdam continues the course set in 2025. The venue’s scale and openness, along with its hospitality facilities, contribute to a pleasant visit with room for quiet moments of rest. As a result, visitors spend more time on the fair floor. Last year, Art Rotterdam welcomed 28,000 visitors.
This edition features over 150 galleries from the Netherlands and abroad, including exhibitors from Lisbon, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Johannesburg, Bratislava, London, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Riga. Art Rotterdam also maintains a strong bond with the city. The Wall Street Journal recently included Rotterdam in their 10 Best Places to Visit in 2026: “The city has reinvented itself as one of Europe’s most experimental urban laboratories, with starchitect-designed towers and cultural districts built on former docklands.” Last year, the city saw the opening of the 15,000 m² migration museum Fenix, and the brand-new eight-storey Nederlands Fotomuseum is set to open its doors soon with a festive launch.
DHB Bank returns as the main sponsor of Art Rotterdam. DHB Bank is a Dutch savings bank where you can save online. Its head office has been based in Rotterdam for over 30 years. Over time, the city became its home base, which is one of the reasons DHB Bank proudly supports Art Rotterdam.
Art Rotterdam is divided into distinct sections that offer a clear and coherent view of today’s contemporary art practice. These sections help visitors to navigate the fair.
Art Rotterdam 2026 sections
In the Main Section, participating galleries present a diverse selection of contemporary art. The Solo/Duo section is integrated within this format, with booths that highlight the work of one or two artists.
The New Art Section is devoted to solo presentations by emerging artists with exciting practices. After a successful first edition, curator Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu returns for Art Rotterdam 2026. In addition to Unseen booths in the Main and Solo/Duo sections, three specially curated sections form a distinctive photography pavilion: New Photography, Encounters and The Past Present. These sections explore hybrid visual languages, crossovers with other disciplines, and new perspectives on analogue photography and archival material. Alongside this, the Unseen Book Market will take place in the new Nederlands Fotomuseum, where forty publishers present a wide selection of photobooks and publications. Van Lanschot Kempen is the new partner of Unseen Photo.
The Prospects section by the Mondriaan Fund introduces a broad audience to a new generation of artists. This fourteenth edition presents work by 92 emerging artists who received financial support in 2024 to help launch their careers. The exhibition is curated by Johan Gustavsson and Daphne Verberg.
Projections is the fair’s video art section: a darkened space of over 800 square metres with twelve projections on freestanding five-metre-wide screens.
Sculpture Park serves as a meeting point within the fair, offering 280 square metres of sculptures and installations. Designed by Tom Postma Design, the section literally brings air and space into the fair layout.
Highlights
kumalo | turpin from Johannesburg presents work by Boemo Diale in the Main Section. Diale grew up within the complex racial and socio-political structures of post-apartheid South Africa and works from a multidisciplinary practice in which identity, generational trauma and dreams converge. Her visual language is deeply personal, with a strong focus on her maternal lineage, while also addressing the shared cultural heritage of African women. By intertwining fragments from her family archive with colourful, dreamlike settings, she creates friction between reality and imagination, raising questions about her position, origins and the potential of art to effect change.
Kévin Bray (Upstream Gallery) works from a multidisciplinary practice where digital and physical realities continuously merge, using video, digital painting, 3D-printed sculptures and sound as equal components. Drawing on his background in graphic design, the French artist unpacks the logic of software, games and interfaces, translating these into hybrid forms that demonstrate how images shape not only our perception, but also our behaviour and reality. In the Main Section, it becomes clear how Bray deliberately equalises fiction and matter, consistently dissolving the boundaries between digital and tactile, imagination and reality. His work was previously shown at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Kunstinstituut Melly, Foam Amsterdam, Het Nieuwe Instituut and The Hole in New York, and has been included in the collections of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, ING and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the Solo/Duo section, No Man’s Art Gallery presents work by Buhlebezwe Siwani. As a sangoma, a traditional spiritual healer, Siwani explores the tension between African spirituality and a modern, patriarchal world. In performances, photography, installations and sculptures, her own body often plays a central role, embodying themes such as colonial legacies, spirituality, alternative knowledge systems and the positioning of the Black female body. Her work has been exhibited at Tate Modern, Zeitz MOCAA, Kunstinstituut Melly, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, the 14th Gwangju Biennale and Manifesta 15, and is part of collections including those of the Centraal Museum, Tate, Frans Hals Museum, Akzo Nobel Art Foundation and Fondation Louis Vuitton. Siwani was recently nominated for the Prix de Rome.
ZAHORIAN & VAN ESPEN from Bratislava (Main Section) presents work by Vladimír Ossif, a painter working within the tradition of geometric abstraction. The Slovak artist spent time in cities such as Paris, Bratislava, Madrid and New York, and his vibrant paintings are therefore infused with motion and change, expressed in dynamic compositions in which forms collide, overlap or balance alongside each other. His works explore what images can communicate when language falls short. His work is included in the collections of Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Casa de Velázquez in Madrid and the National Gallery in Prague, and was featured in the 13th Havana Biennial.
In the Solo/Duo section at Annet Gelink Gallery, works are presented by Helen Verhoeven and Steffani Jemison, two artists who each in their own way explore the tension between individual and collective, delving into themes of the body and representation. Jemison investigates how African-American culture, history, knowledge systems, movement, language and storytelling are transmitted, creating performances, videos, audio works and sculptures that have been shown at MoMA, the Whitney Museum (the Whitney Biennial), the Brooklyn Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Jeu de Paume and MoMA PS1. Verhoeven works with large, layered paintings in which dream, history, religion, mythology and social violence merge. She created a royal portrait for the Dutch Royal Family, and her work has been included in the collections of the Centraal Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Bonnefanten museum, Saatchi Gallery, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, De Nederlandsche Bank and Rabobank.
In the Main Section, Heejsteck# presents the installation ‘Add to Cart’ by Peer Vink and Tom Putman. The project takes the shopping mall as a starting point, not as a nostalgic backdrop but as an outdated status symbol, comparable to a film set that convinces from a distance but reveals its construction up close. The largely enclosed booth is accessible only through a cave-like portal and leads to an artificial grotto with a waterfall and bar, exposing how artificial nature and fictional worlds are used to drive desire and consumption. The installation is accompanied by new works from both artists.
Stephan Balkenhol creates hand-carved wooden sculptures in which the human figure almost always takes centre stage. He typically carves his works from a single block of wood, sometimes even an entire tree trunk, using hammers and chisels with minimal use of machinery, leaving visible splinters, cracks and grooves. Shown by AKINCI in the Main Section, his practice reveals how this sober, artisanal approach results in sculptures that resonate universally. His work is held in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Tate, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Museum Voorlinden, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, MoMA, LACMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, Hamburger Bahnhof, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Kunstmuseum Den Haag. His work was recently shown in a solo exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam.
In the Solo/Duo section, Galerie Fontana presents work by Thijs Segers, including recent paintings and a new installation. Segers explores themes such as decay, transformation and impermanence. His paintings capture both personal memories and universal themes, often inspired by abandoned places, nature and his inner world. His work has previously been shown at the Noordbrabants Museum, Paleis op de Dam, the Vincent van GoghHuis, Museum Villa Mondriaan and Het HEM. In 2021, 2024 and 2025 he was nominated for the Royal Award for Modern Painting.
For tickets and a full list of participants, visit www.artrotterdam.com. The fair catalogue will be published on GalleryViewer.com on 20 March 2026.
Written by Flor Linckens
From 27 to 29 March 2026, Unseen Photo will present a sharply curated international photography programme within Art Rotterdam at Rotterdam Ahoy, bringing together established names and emerging talent. This year, Unseen consists of six interconnected components. On the fair floor, Unseen appears in the Main Section and the Solo/Duo programme, both tightly selected and fully embedded among the wider Art Rotterdam presentations across 14,000 m².
The curated sections bring Unseen’s conceptual depth into focus. Presenting photography within a curated framework lends the works a museum-level focus while revealing how dynamic, varied and resonant the medium is today. The New Photography section, curated by the Unseen fair committee (Caroline O’Breen, Domenico de Chirico, Els Drummen, Hedy van Erp and Dries Roelens), forms a distinctive photographic pavilion on the fair floor, together with Encounters and The Past Present.
In Encounters, the Milan-based curator Domenico de Chirico examines the interplay between photography and other artistic practices, generating new narratives and hybrid visual worlds that stretch the medium’s boundaries.
In The Past Present, photo historian, curator and author Hedy van Erp offers a contemporary perspective on analogue photography up to the year 2000, with particular attention to lost archives and found images. She brings together artists who use existing photographic material and techniques in new ways, to restore weight and meaning to the past.
Together, these curated sections offer a layered overview of photographic positions, ranging from conceptual research projects to spatial installations and post-digital image culture. The featured artists respond to themes such as identity, technology and materiality as well as to the shifting circulation and interpretation of images. As a result, Unseen Photo develops a distinct signature within Art Rotterdam and deepens the fair’s artistic scope, creating a platform that connects photography with other contemporary disciplines in a dynamic environment that appeals to a young and international public.
The sixth pillar, the Unseen Book Market, takes place simultaneously at the new location of the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Pakhuis Santos, which opens in February. In the museum, an official partner, forty publishers present a wide range of photobooks and publications.
Unseen Photo is powered by the new Partner Van Lanschot Kempen.
A number of highlights
Several presentations stand out within the selection.
Intervalle (Paris) highlights Julien Mignot’s series “Screenlove” in the New Photography section. In these works, the artist examines how intimacy and distance shift in an era in which relationships unfold through screens. Mignot works with blurred webcam images, created with the explicit consent of his models, which he casts in semi-transparent blocks, so that the image appears or disappears depending on the viewing angle. The series, rooted in his youthful curiosity about the lives unfolding behind windows, reflects on digital voyeurism, the fragility of relationships, contemporary forms of loneliness and the power embedded in the act of looking. For Unseen Photo 2026 Intervalle presents new, previously unseen works from the series. Mignot has previously created commissioned work for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and the Opéra de Paris.
In the Encounters section, VIASATERNA (Milan) will show work by Teresa Giannico, who transforms digital image fragments from the online realm into layered compositions at the intersection of photography, collage and painting. Her dreamlike scenes reveal how algorithms shape our ways of seeing and how the mind reconstructs fragmented imagery into new realities. In her recent work, she examines the objectivity of photography with both precision and poetic restraint, in an age of endless digital reproducibility. Until 18 January 2026, her work is on view at the eighteenth Quadriennale d’Arte in Rome.
Hedy van Erp: “Ray K. Metzker (1931–2014, United States) is regarded as part of the photographic avant-garde and a pioneer of urban photography, in which he experimented extensively with light. In 2026, a monograph of his work, City Lux, will be published. His work is held in the collections of institutions including MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, the J Paul Getty Museum and the Albertina. The Paris gallery Les Douches La Galerie is presenting rare vintage Ray Metzker prints, which are seldom offered.”
Erika Deák Gallery (Budapest) will present work by Andrea Gáldi Vinkó in the Encounters section. In her practice, the artist examines the tension between intimacy, identity and the vulnerability of everyday life, weaving personal experience together with universal themes. Her photographs, often balancing between the everyday and the absurdly poetic, have been shown at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center and Kunsthalle Budapest. She has created commissioned work for Tate, Vogue Italia, The New Yorker, Die Zeit, i-D, Dazed and Le Monde. With her distinctive visual narratives, she is regarded as one of the most compelling voices in Hungarian photography.
In “ReCollection”, Casper Faassen (Bildhalle, Amsterdam, in the Solo/Duo section) explores how photography can move beyond documentation into an almost sculptural form by creating 1:1 reinterpretations of contested colonial artefacts from museum collections such as those of the Louvre and the British Museum. In a contemporary Wunderkammer, he gathers these photographic objects as a critical reflection on collecting, ownership and the stories inherited from previous generations. Through layered techniques, visible traces of time and the question of who holds the right to preserve history, Faassen turns photography into a poetic and political medium.
Einspach & Czapolai Fine Art (Budapest) will show work by Tamas Dezsö in the Main Section. His ongoing series ‘Notes for an Epilogue’ reveals the quiet legacy of a post-communist Romania. Dezsö’s work captures with remarkable sensitivity how history becomes embedded in the everyday and shapes the ways societies move forward in the layered aftermath of a regime. His photographs have been shown at Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam, the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center and the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, and have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and Le Monde.
About the curators
Domenico de Chirico is an independent curator based in Milan. He taught Visual Culture and Trend Research at Istituto Europeo di Design Milan (2011–2015) and served as Artistic Director of DAMA Fair, Turin (2016–2019). His experience includes jury roles, artist residencies, and teaching positions at institutions such as Goldsmiths (London), Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (Prague), Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (Milan), and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. He has been a visiting curator at the Swiss Institute in Rome and the Artistic Director of Ortigia Contemporanea 2024. Current projects include curatorial roles at SWAB Barcelona, MIA Photo Fair (Milan), and Prisma Art Prize (Rome).
Hedy van Erp is a Dutch photo historian, curator, and author specialising in vintage and vernacular photography. She has worked on exhibitions for institutions such as the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Fotomuseum The Hague, the National Media Museum (UK), the Science Museum (London) and (now) H’ART Museum in Amsterdam. She is also the co-author of Photography Decoded (Tate Publishing, 2019). Current projects include an exhibition co-curated with Susan Bright, scheduled for June 2026 at the Alice Austen House Museum in New York, and an upcoming issue of the international photozine Fotozini, dedicated to vintage, obscure and unconventional photography.
During Art Rotterdam, taking place at Rotterdam Ahoy from March 27 to 29, the Mondriaan Fund will present the new edition of Prospects. The exhibition, now in its 14th year at Art Rotterdam, showcases the work of 92 emerging artists. All artists received a financial contribution in 2024 within the Artist Start grant of the Mondriaan Fund to kickstart their career.
The 14th edition of Prospects is being curated by Johan Gustavsson and Daphne Verberg.
Gustavsson is co-director of 1646 and a lecturer at the KABK. Verberg is a freelance curator and project manager. She is currently working on a series of solo presentations at the Palace of Justice in The Hague and for the past two years, she has been co-director of the resort.
Gustavsson and Verberg on the exhibition:
“Prospects 2026 highlights a new wave of artists who address today’s changing world with imagination, rigour, and great energy. This 14th edition of Prospects, participants take on urgent questions from reshaping collective memory to examining new relationships between technology, ecology and the human body. Their works show that experimentation and care can go hand in hand, offering glimpses of alternative futures that are both challenging and full of possibilities. We are honoured to introduce this diverse group of talents, whose practices reflect the richness and momentum of contemporary art in the Netherlands.”
The Mondriaan Fund organises the ‘Prospects’ exhibition each year to give the visibility of starting artists an extra boost. The proximity of Art Rotterdam gives art professionals and collectors, but also a broad group of interested parties, the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of these promising artists.
Last year’s Art Rotterdam edition was not only the first at the new Ahoy location, it also marked the introduction of the new main partner: DHB Bank. Looking back on a successful launch, the bank has decided to extend the partnership for the coming years.
One of the highlights of Art Rotterdam 2025 was the presentation of the DHB Art Space. With this initiative, DHB Bank invites young talent to take a look at making the city more sustainable. The upcoming edition will once again give special attention to the future of Rotterdam South.
“Art lends itself well to this,” says Okan Balköse, CEO of DHB Bank: “Artists can make us look at the world differently and thus inspire us towards sustainability. With the DHB Art Space, we give Rotterdam artists a platform and want to stimulate visitors with fresh ideas for a better world.”
Fons Hof, director of Art Rotterdam: “With the move to Ahoy last year, we wanted to anchor ourselves in Rotterdam South. That ambition has been realized, partly thanks to the powerful presentation in the DHB Art Space by curators Houcem Bellakoud and Jeanthalou Haynes. The fact that DHB remains our Main Partner and continues the DHB Art Space with the same curatorial duo not only strengthens the fair, but also Rotterdam and Rotterdam South in particular.”
The thirteenth edition of Unseen, now part of Art Rotterdam, will take place at the end of March 2026 — and not, as previously announced, this coming September at Amsterdam’s NDSM Loods. Unseen and Art Rotterdam are joining forces and are currently preparing for their first joint edition, scheduled to take place from March 26 to 29, 2026, at Rotterdam Ahoy. Like Art Rotterdam 2025, this combined edition will cover an area of 14,000 m².
In recent years, Unseen has been confronted with a diminishing role of photography within gallery programs and a declining number of galleries exclusively focused on photography. The strategic alliance with Art Rotterdam opens new doors for Unseen: a compact, carefully curated and sharply focused selection of photography within a broader contemporary art context.
Art Rotterdam, widely praised as an experiential fair with a variety of sections under one roof — including video art, sculptures, and large-scale installations — will become even more diverse and appealing to a young and international audience through the addition of a strong photography section.
A stronger platform for photography
Fons Hof, director of Art Rotterdam and Unseen Amsterdam:
“Especially in a time when the photography market is facing challenges, the integration of Unseen into Art Rotterdam offers a unique opportunity for renewal. This creates a more powerful platform that strengthens photography as an essential voice within contemporary art.”
Benefits of the new joint setup
In addition to benefiting from Art Rotterdam’s visitor flows and promotional efforts, Unseen will maintain its focus on international collectors, curators, and photography professionals. In collaboration with the fair’s curators, Unseen is developing several special programs. The reopening of the Dutch Photo Museum in the iconic Santos warehouse in Rotterdam will play a prominent role in this context.
Moreover, Unseen’s social media channels (92,000 Instagram followers) will remain exclusively focused on photography presentations. This ensures additional exposure for the selected Unseen works during Art Rotterdam. The strategic merger offers photographic talent a broader platform.
Unseen’s unique identity and mission — to discover and support emerging photographic talent — will remain central and will be further sharpened within the multidisciplinary framework of Art Rotterdam.
Unseen Book Market @ The National Museum of Photography
During Unseen Photo 2026 at Ahoy Rotterdam, the Book Market will run concurrently at the newly opened Dutch Museum of Photography. The museum’s entrance space will accommodate approximately 40 publishers, creating a comprehensive hub for special books and other photography publications. Beginning of 2026 The National Museum of Photography opens in a spectacular new building in Rotterdam. Warehouse Santos offers an impressive eight floors dedicated to photography.
Director Art Rotterdam Fons Hof about the move to Rotterdam Ahoy
For its 26th edition Art Rotterdam is moving to the Rotterdam Ahoy, the event centre in Rotterdam South. Fair director Fons Hof immediately saw the potential of the spacious new venue. Alongside Prospects, which was the main reason for the move, Projections, Sculpture Park and Intersections will also be returning at the Ahoy. “It will be a total experience. We’re showcasing a versatile spectrum, from more collectible art to institutional work,” Hof says.
“There aren’t many locations in Rotterdam that are 10,000 square meters or larger—in fact, there’s just one,” Hof explains as the decision why they choose the Ahoy. When it became clear that the distribution hall of the Van Nelle Factory would no longer be available from 2025, the decision came quickly. Prospects, the section for young artists supported by the Mondriaan Fund, has traditionally been housed in this hall. Losing this section would directly impact Art Rotterdam’s identity as the fair for young art.
“It’s not an architectural monument, but we’re getting so much in return. People are familiar with the Ahoy Arena from concerts and the tennis tournament, but we’ll be in the exhibition halls, which have been completely renovated, and a concert hall—the RTM Stage—has also be added. The venue also has a fantastic mix of natural and artificial light, which pleasantly surprised us.”
“Art Rotterdam had outgrown the Van Nelle Factory,” Hof adds. The narrow entrance often caused bottlenecks, parking was limited and there were not enough options for food service. “At the Ahoy, we’re ‘small fry’,” says Hof, noting Ahoy’s larger capacity.
Broader concept
Hof immediately recognised the opportunity to broaden Art Rotterdam’s fair concept. At the Ahoy, there is plenty of space for Prospects, which will also be significantly larger. And the Sculpture Park, Intersections (large-scale work) and Projections (video art) sections are all making a comeback. All three had occasionally been excluded in previous editions due to space limitations. “It will be a total experience. We’re showcasing a versatile spectrum, from more collectible art to institutional wors,” Hof emphasises.
The revamped setup also caters to a new generation of art collectors. Instead of a small group purchasing large quantities of art, there is now a broader range of buyers who make smaller purchases. This group seeks out information about all facets of the art world. “People are interested in a day out, and good food is part of that. At the Ahoy, the food and beverage offerings will triple, including a pop-up restaurant by Café Marseille, famous in Rotterdam for its delicious and honest French cuisine.”
“Art fairs are always looking for ways to make their concept more engaging. We’ve found the key,” Hof adds. He presented the new concept to international galleries, which responded enthusiastically. The number of international participants increased from one-third to half. In the New Art section, dedicated to young galleries, 80% of participants are from abroad. This is partly due to the internationally acclaimed curator of the New Art section, Berlin-based Övül Durmuşoğlu.
Connecting with Rotterdam South
Art Rotterdam has always emphasised strong ties with art institutions and initiatives, while valuing an excellent relationship with the city. The move to Rotterdam Ahoy also signifies a shift to Rotterdam South, a part of the city that the municipality aims to develop further. Like Art Rotterdam, the new main sponsor, Rotterdam-based DHB Bank, prioritises a strong connection with the city. In the new DHB Art Space, curated by Rotterdam collective Unity in Diversity, Pedro Gil Farias will be creating a sound artwork featuring the dreams of Rotterdam South’s residents, further linking the art world to the local community.
Written by Wouter van den Eijkel
The New Art Section is arguably one of the most exciting components of Art Rotterdam. This year, curator Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu has brought together a surprising mix of international galleries, each presenting a solo booth by artists proposing new formal and material languages. The section welcomes galleries and artists of all ages, making it a unique space for visitors to discover various paths artists choose to challenge the status quo.
Curator Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu brings her extensive international experience and sharp vision to this dynamic section. With an impressive background in both biennials and exhibitions, and a profound commitment to intersectional and feminist perspectives, Durmuşoğlu focuses on creating an environment where diverse artistic voices and innovative ideas converge. Under her guidance, the New Art Section not only serves as a refreshing constellation of artists but also poses critical questions about what ‘new’ truly means in a time of significant social and cultural transformation. In an interview, Durmuşoğlu shares her vision, curatorial approach, and the exciting collaborations featured in this year’s New Art Section.
Can you describe your vision for the New Art Section? How have your experiences across different contexts — ranging from biennials to monographic exhibitions — and your engagement with topics such as intersectional futures and togetherness (from feminist queer perspectives) shaped your approach to curating the New Art Section? What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your approach?
The world has been going through a major and painful wave of metamorphosis since 2020. Some call it the time of monsters, after Gramsci and Baumann, some think liberalism is already dead and nobody claims its corpse. Questions need to be definitely reformulated, solutions need to be collectively shaped. Freddie Mercury already asked back in 1991: ‘Does anybody know what we are living for?’
As a curator who has been working on collective memory of struggles, intersectional futures and togetherness, I am personally curious about what stays behind and what flourishes new after this giant tide subsides. So the New Art Section takes a questioning spirit; what is that new we have kept running after? What versatile languages can be built inside that questioning spirit?
My desire for the audiences of is that they leave with curiosity, imagination and hope through the constellation of diverse artistic voices and positions we present in the section. There are many worlds in the world that co-habit alongside each other and art world is the same. Creating meaningful environments of relation and communication, rather than division and separation, is crucial in all settings of artistic presentation, including the market.
What excites you most about this edition of the New Art Section? Could you highlight any artists that particularly resonated with you during this year’s selection process?
First of all, I am excited to bring my fair experience from working with ARCO Madrid to Art Rotterdam: It is an organisation that means a lot for local and regional actors and that has a promising potential of growth beyond the region. New Art Section serves as a vital stepping stone environment for upcoming galleries, providing them with a platform where they get to fine tune their voices alongside marking the global young positions connected to the Dutch art scene.
Mercedes Azpilicueta, who has chosen Amsterdam as her second home after Buenos Aires, will be showing her work at Art Rotterdam for the first time. [Her work was recently on view at the Stedelijk Museum, ed.]. Thanks to the gallery Prats Nogueras Blanchard, we will present her mind bending humorous work that challenges everyday understanding of corporealities. On the other side, Brussels-based artist Yesim Akdeniz, who showed her paintings in Art Rotterdam fifteen years ago, comes back with exquisite installation work departing from eccentricities of modernist logic.
A long time friend and collaborator Ivan Gallery from Bucharest comes with the strong and delicate painting work Shahin Sharafaldin for the first time, who currently lives in London. I am also very happy to be able to present the fresh and uncompromising work of Mane Pacheco with Balcony Gallery from Lisbon, an artist that I have been following for a while. Thanks to KIN, one of the new voices of Brussels, it was exciting to discover the work of Tanae Hynes, questioning the illusions of liberal logic, which is echoed by Buenos Aires-based artist Nina Kovensky, presented by Quimera.
You have been working in different institutional settings throughout your internationally driven practice alongside the fair structures. How do you see the interplay between the commercial art world and experimental and critical art practices?
Always curious about infrastructure as material and notion, I believe it is important to acknowledge the dynamics of art world’s different components in order to propose better working solutions. The balance among galleries, project spaces, initiatives, art centres, and museums in a particular context shows a healthy and sensitively woven artistic structure. Therefore, in a world that pushes us to respond only in like and dislike, love and hate, I propose to search after meaningful pluralities and a fair share of resources.
What are you currently reading and watching?
I’m currently reading the English translation of Aimé Césaire’s long poem ‘Return To My Native Land’ (1956), whose thinking has kept on inspiring me, about the measure of the world, radical hope and the irony of projected equality for humanity. ‘The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages’ (2013) by François-Xavier Fauvelle is so refreshing to read, Fauvelle treats the unspoken histories of civilisation in such a careful and intelligent way. I am also accompanied by the new jewel biography of Audre Lorde penned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, ‘Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde’. I have watched the works of Pinar Ögrenci and Claudia Pages Rabal for the new texts I am preparing and Kamal Aljafari’s precise counter narrative take ‘A Fidai Film’ (2024).
About
Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu is a curator, writer and educator with a focus on constructive critiques of civilization, the sustainability of intersectional futures, and practices of togetherness from feminist queer perspectives. She recently curated the monographic exhibitions ‘The Story Behind Each Word Must Be Told’ by Nil Yalter (Ab Anbar, London), ‘Portrait of a Movement’ by Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz (CA2M, Madrid and Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm), and ‘Burn&Gloom, Glow&Moon: Thousand Years of Troubled Genders’ by Katrina Daschner (Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna). She also co-curated two editions of the Autostrada Biennale in Kosovo and in the past curated programmes for the Istanbul Biennale, dOCUMENTA (13) and steirischer herbst. Durmuşoğlu co-leads the Art in Discourse programme at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig and previously taught as a guest professor at the Graduate School of the Universität der Künste in Berlin. She lives and works in Berlin.
New Art Section 2025
The galleries participating in the New Art Section in 2025 are: Balcony Gallery (Portugal), Brinkman & Bergsma Contemporary Art (The Netherlands), BUYSSE GALLERY (Belgium), Contemporary Cluster (Italy), Double V Gallery (France), Erika Deák Gallery (Hungary), Galerie Fleur & Wouter (The Netherlands), Galerist (Turkiye), Gallery Van Fanny Freytag (The Netherlands), Ivan (Romania), JOEY RAMONE (The Netherlands), Kin Gallery BV (Belgium), Mini Galerie (The Netherlands), Pizza Gallery (Belgium), Prats Nogueras Blanchard (Spain), Quimera (Argentinia), SANATORIUM (Turkiye), TATJANA PIETERS GALLERY (Belgium), Wouters Gallery (Belgium) and Zyrland Zoiropa (Germany).
Written by Flor Linckens
For the ninth consecutive year, the NN Art Award will be presented in 2025 to a promising artist showcasing their work at Art Rotterdam. This year’s nominees are Diana Scherer (andriesse eyck galerie), Marcos Kueh (Prospects section of the Mondriaan Fund, courtesy of Galerie Ron Mandos), Pris Roos (Mini Galerie) and Bodil Ouédraogo (Prospects section of the Mondriaan Fund). The work of the four nominees will be on view at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 15 March until 11 May 2025.
Marcos Kueh (1995) explores the intersections of heritage, identity and contemporary visual culture through his textile-based practice. His woven installations serve as vessels for storytelling, blending traditional craftsmanship with contemporary themes and techniques. At the heart of his work lies an inquiry into the role of textiles as a medium for historiography and self-reflection.
Kueh grew up in postcolonial Malaysia, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, where the legacy of colonial influence, exoticisation and cultural displacement remains deeply embedded. This layered history is central to his artistic practice. Initially, Kueh studied graphic design and advertising at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, but it was only when he began exploring textile design at the same institution that he recognised the potential of textiles as a form of expression. He became fascinated by how his ancestors in Borneo wove stories, myths, and dreams into intricate patterns. This discovery led him to merge traditional weaving techniques from Borneo and other Southeast Asian regions with contemporary Western industrial methods, forging a dialogue between past and present. Beyond its narrative potential, Kueh is also deeply invested in the technical precision and craftsmanship inherent to textile-making.
His work engages with self-awareness and the complexities of decolonisation: both as a historical process and in the ways it continues to shape personal and collective identities. While studying in the Netherlands, he first encountered academic discourses on decolonisation. This experience gave language to a longstanding sense of injustice he had struggled with, revealing it to be not only personal but also systemic. Kueh juxtaposes constructed representations with his own lived experience, interrogating the persistent colonial and postcolonial narratives that continue to shape identity in Southeast Asia. He raises critical questions about terms like ‘Third World country’ and examines who holds the power to narrate the histories of formerly colonised nations. He points out that in Western academic contexts, decolonisation is often framed as a theoretical concept, while the voices from formerly colonised regions — those who originally led decolonisation movements — remain underrepresented. Through his textile works, Kueh confronts these dynamics. His practice bridges personal lived experience with academic reflection, examining how we shape and understand our own histories. He observes that Malaysians often neglect their own stories and history, while unconsciously internalising the colonial gaze that was once imposed upon them.
At Art Rotterdam, Kueh (courtesy of Galerie Ron Mandos) will present a work in the Prospects section of the Mondriaan Fund, delving deeper into the layered nature of identity and cultural heritage. Originally developed for Manifesta 15, this installation was previously exhibited in a 17th-century church in Barcelona, where it engaged in dialogue with a Christian altarpiece — an emblem of the religion introduced to Malaysia by European colonial powers under the guise of ‘civilisation’. In this work, Kueh visualises the inner tension of a postcolonial identity: the struggle between assimilation and authenticity, between adaptation and resistance. In doing so, he dismantles the colonial legacy of Catholicism in Borneo in a way.
Beyond the historical and political dimensions of his work, Kueh also examines how mass communication and advertising shape cultural representation. He draws parallels between traditional storytelling systems and contemporary marketing strategies, exploring how visual communication can manipulate or instrumentalise cultural identity. His woven billboards construct a fictional world where textiles function as a form of visual propaganda, commenting on the ways in which identity is consumed, redefined, and eroded within the capitalist system.
Kueh invites the viewer to look beyond the aesthetic qualities of textiles and instead engage with the deeper structures of history, identity, and craftsmanship embedded within them. At the same time, he infuses his work with humour and satire, perhaps to make the medicine go down easier or to start more meaningful conversations. By interweaving contemporary myths and legends with Sarawakian motifs, symbols, and figures, he creates an alternative mode of visual storytelling.
Marcos, could you tell us a bit more about the work you’re presenting at Art Rotterdam and in the Kunsthal?
Kenyalang Circus is a long term project I started in 2016, that speaks about the exotification of my identity as a person from Borneo. From anthropological museums to tourism advertisements, how we are being described becomes how we describe ourselves, becomes how we perform to the people who wrote our descriptions. The giant woven posters and billboards in these series usually depict images of creatures manifested from stereotypical ideas of the mysterious unknown of the Borneo rainforests. My job, as the ringmaster of the circus, is to parade them around and try to “sell my exotic identity”. The circus has travelled all over the world in many iterations and this will be our debut in Rotterdam.
The work “Homo Reconciliation Eternatus”, originally commissioned for the 15th Manifesta Biennale in Spain, will be performing at the Prospects section of Art Rotterdam. It speaks about the internal struggle to love ourselves and find pride as people from developing countries. “Nenek Moyang”, which debuted in ART Singapore, will be showcased in Kunsthal Rotterdam. The 8 meter woven billboard is displayed like a waterfall – a nod to the Bornean myth in which the ancestors who live in heaven would only travel to the earthly realms through the waterfalls. The high display also prompts viewers to practise looking upwards to your own culture.
What are your plans for 2025?
In 2025, I will be attending a few residencies for the first time as a professional artist. Many of the project plans have been naturally progressing into conversations about factory work. As a Chinese-passing [a person often perceived as Chinese based on their appearance, ed.] non-European person who is deeply involved in the Dutch textile industries, I am excited to dive into stories and conversations about class, capitalism, migration and identity on the factory line. My work has always been about textiles as a finished product, so it is interesting to expand my exploration into the systems surrounding this production. Hopefully by this time next year, I will have many meaningful stories to share.
Can you describe how you felt when you heard you were nominated for the NN Art Award?
I was in Malaysia when I received the news and immediately went to grab some food with my family to celebrate. I’m just glad that there are people out there who consider my work valuable and am glad that by chance, my family was close by to share in the joy.
If you were to win the award, which project would you immediately pursue?
The award will definitely open up new possibilities on my upcoming research projects into factory work and allow me to consider more locations to visit, plus more people to talk to. In a way, the award has already given me so much spotlight, I am also hoping to bring that light forward to undiscovered stories, conversations and perspectives of labourers who we normally can’t interact with in our day to day lives.
At Art Rotterdam, Kueh’s work will be on view in the 13th edition of Prospects, an initiative by the Mondriaan Fund. This exhibition presents work by 116 artists who received financial support in 2023 to aid them in the start of their careers. The section is curated by Johan Gustavsson and Louise Bjeldbak Henriksen. Explore all Prospects artists here.
Marcos Kueh was born in 1995 in Sarawak and divides his time between the Netherlands and Malaysia. In recent years, his work has been exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum, Kunstinstituut Melly, Manifesta, The Backroom in Kuala Lumpur, and Museum Voorlinden. In 2022, he was awarded the Ron Mandos Young Blood Award, after which Museum Voorlinden acquired one of his works. Joop van Caldenborgh, founder of Museum Voorlinden, praised his work for its ‘raving beauty, craftsmanship, and visual power that opens our eyes to the world of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.’ In 2023, Kueh was recognised as Young Designer at the Dutch Design Awards.
The winner of the NN Art Award 2025 will be announced on Friday 28 March at 20:00 in Kunsthal Rotterdam. During this celebratory evening, all exhibitions, including the NN Art Award exhibition, will be freely accessible to attending guests.
Written by Flor Linckens
In the DHB Art Space, made possible by new main partner DHB Bank, Rotterdam-based collective Unity in Diversity Rotterdam (UID) presents an interactive sound artwork by media artist Pedro Gil Farias (developed in collaboration with sound artist Marcin Sky). This artwork, Echoes of Us, focuses on a dreamed future for the residents of Zuid and the area development around Zuidplein and Rotterdam Ahoy. Following an ‘open call’, UID selected Rotterdam-based media artist Pedro Gil Farias from dozens of submissions. Echoes of Us gives a voice to the dreams of artists and residents in the neighbourhood, and invites visitors to Art Rotterdam to share their own dreams too. As an interactive tool, the artwork builds a collective dream for a liveable and sustainable future of Rotterdam South.
Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) is known for monumental sculptures that merge art, architecture, and social research, balancing a playful yet confrontational tone. The work explores power, autonomy, and the role of the artist in a society where visibility and recognition are never guaranteed. Since 1995, Joep van Lieshout has worked under the name Atelier Van Lieshout, a deliberate choice to challenge the classical myth of the individual artist. At Art Rotterdam 2025, in collaboration with Galerie Ron Mandos, AVL presents the Tomb of the Unknown Artist (2024) in Sculpture Park, an homage to the many artists who have remained in the shadows of art history.
Tomb of the Unknown Artist: A Tragedy of Unrecognised Love
A concrete tomb rests on a gun carriage, the undercarriage of a cannon traditionally used to transport the coffins of generals, emperors, and heads of state to their final resting place. Once a symbol of state power and heroism, the gun carriage took on a ceremonial role in state funerals, marking national mourning on a grand scale. In many traditions, it is not a final resting place but merely a temporary means of transport to a grave or mausoleum. Here, it no longer carries a statesman but a monument to the forgotten artist. It is a symbolic transition between life and death, between oblivion and recognition.
Atop the tomb lies a bronze lion, still, perhaps asleep, perhaps lifeless. “That lion is a symbol of strength and perseverance,” says Joep van Lieshout. “The king of the animal kingdom sleeps, or dies, but could also wake up and move on.”
The work is both a monument and a commentary on the unpredictability of recognition. “Artists often lead incredibly tough lives,” says Van Lieshout. “I know so many people who dedicate their entire lives to creating beautiful things, only to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Some are later rediscovered; others disappear entirely. He calls it “a tragedy of unrecognised love.” The work carries a humorous undertone while being deeply serious at the same time. “Humour makes serious messages easier to digest,” he adds with a smile.
On the side of the sculpture, there is an opening, an alcove reminiscent of an ossuary, a place where human remains are stored. “We looked at ossuaries as a source of inspiration for this monument,” says Van Lieshout. “It is a sculpture that remains open to what is yet to come.” In the future, the bones and ashes of unknown artists could be placed here. It is not a closed monument but a space that can literally be filled with the physical remains of those who never received recognition.
Protected, Forgotten, Almighty?
Alongside the Tomb of the Unknown Artist, Atelier Van Lieshout presents three other sculptures at Art Rotterdam, each exploring, in its own way, the tension between protection, power, and erasure.
Tree of Life (2016) is a tree standing over three metres tall, bearing human-shaped fruit in various stages of ripeness. “It can be a representation of life and fertility, but just as much of violence and disappearance,” says Van Lieshout.
Maria’s Cloak (2023) questions who receives protection and who is left outside. Maria’s cloak does not offer automatic safety.
Omnipotent (2023) plays with authority and submission. “Omnipotent is another word for the Almighty,” says Van Lieshout. The sculpture depicts a hand whose meaning shifts depending on its positioning. “You can place it upright, and it becomes a stop sign. Turn it with the palm facing up, and suddenly, it becomes the begging hand of an artist.”
A Floral Tribute at the Monument
On 27 March 2025 at 19:00, a symbolic flower-laying ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Artist (2024). Visitors are invited to bring flowers and lay them at the monument, a final tribute to the artists who remained invisible during their lifetimes. Joep van Lieshout will give a short speech about the work and its broader context within Art Rotterdam.
Is it a comic or tragic gesture? It seems to carry the same ambiguity as the lion resting atop the tomb.
Written by Emily Van Driessen
