The Dynamic Hub for Creativity: A Guide to Amsterdam Art Week 2024

Spring is well on its way into summer, and Amsterdam is starting to feel more alive than ever! Excitement is in the air as we embark on this vibrant new season, not least because we get to welcome the 12th edition of Amsterdam Art Week at the brink of June.

In an interview with FAD, the director, Martina Halsema, recently described the art festival as ”an exhilarating celebration of contemporary art”, and talked about how it began as a grassroots initiative to showcase and platform the city’s experimental art scene. With a focus on identifying young talent, Amsterdam Art Week invites all art lovers and people from the arts sector to gather and enjoy the offerings of the compact hub of contemporary art.

This year, the work of over 300 artists will be displayed in 77 participating locations around the city, featuring both established and emerging artists. Think exhibition openings, performances, parties, talks, studio visits, a mini-symposium, family workshops, and even a breakfast run. To champion accessible art, most of the events are free to attend!

As a local student and art lover, I have picked out the most interesting happenings of the week to help you plan your schedule and explore the diverse and bustling neighbourhoods and art scene of Amsterdam!

Pro tip: Recognise the participating galleries by the ‘broker’ signs attached to their facades. Find all other practical information HERE and a list of all the events HERE.

Soft landing

Ease into the atmosphere of the city and the busy week with two free exhibition openings on Wednesday evening. “What You see Is What I Like”, curated by Bisou Gallery, will be set in the Garden room of Pulitzer Hotel on Prinsengracht and is open from 12:00 to 17:00.  The exhibition will showcase work by Pascal Duval, Riëtte Wanders, Steven van Lummel, Jules Julien, Jamel Armand & Faan Olgers. With its focus on artists with a distinctive and uplifting visual language, “What You See is What I Like” promises a mid-week boost of positive energy.

After enjoying the mix of vibrant artworks, head to the Amsterdam Oost and explore some of the city’s most beautiful architecture or enjoy a stroll in the Oosterpark. Finally, make sure to attend the opening of “THE FUTURE IS EQUAL” at Capital C on Weesperplein from 19:00 to 21:30. This all-female exhibition curated by Young Collectors Circle features work from four artists – Shani Leseman, Sarah Mei Herman, and Hedy Tjin – exploring themes such as magic, relationships and other topics of social value through the female gaze. The exhibition  aims to shed light on the findings of a study by Boekman Foundation on behalf of the Niemeijer fund, revealing that women are still underrepresented and underpaid in the art industry compared to their male counterparts. Their work is also less frequently acquired by museums.

Immersive morning of deep connection

Thursday marks the day most of the exhibitions participating in Amsterdam Art Week open their doors to the public. I recommend starting the day by delving into the worlds of 44 artists midway through or towards the end of their residency period in the Rijksakademie with their annual Open Studios. The academy building on Sarphatistraat will be open daily with a ticket until the 2nd of June. Visitors will be able to engage with creativity in multifaceted ways through a programme of studio presentations, talks, films, performances and collective practices. 

An alternative, free way to immersively start your day is to visit the installation “How are you these days?” by Trần Quang Đại in the Green Room at Prinsengracht. Curated by Wumen, this will be the Vietnamese artist’s 15th exhibition with the same title. As a form of art therapy, he aims to manifest love in a tangible form as an antidote to the widespread loneliness of our digital age and connect people on a profound level. 

Playful evening in the Jordaan

After getting inspired by the resident artists at Rijksakademie or experiencing a deep connection with your companions at “How are you these days?”, embark on a celebratory journey with Festive Gallery Night. All galleries participating in Amsterdam Art Week will be open free of charge from 17:00 to 20:00. I recommend heading to the trendy area of Jordaan, where you can enjoy the galleries, people-watch and grab a drink or bite at the  many bars and restaurants popular with the locals. 

An exhibition in the neighbourhood that no fashion lover should miss is “Tenant of Culture” by at Galerie Fons Welters. The artist, Hendrickje Schimmel, is a trained fashion and textile practitioner who applies a contemporary art perspective to the medium of fashion. She utilises garments discarded by the fashion industry as her main source of material, exploring the problematic waste by repurposing it into sculptures, garments and anthropomorphic forms reminiscent of couture. 

Before dancing the night away or enjoying a conversation with other art lovers over a drink at the official free afterparty  hosted by No Man’s Art Gallery from 20:00 onwards, make sure to check out “dandelions milk” by Afra Eisma. Open until 20:00 in the same location, the artist’s debut solo exhibition draws from the strength in emotions and trauma as a catalyst for self-empowerment and change, transporting the visitor into a colourful world of playfulness, magic and radical imagination.

Brunch tour and live painting in the south

On the third day of the festival, take part in a free curated brunch tour around De Pijp, a neighbourhood known for its various hotspots among the young people of Amsterdam and, of course, the Albert Cuypmarkt. Treasure Hunt: Curated Brunch Tour encourages participants to explore nine participating galleries, all located in the south of Amsterdam, from 12:00 to 15:00. The tour starts at Enari Gallery, where participants receive a stamp card, and ends at Hama Gallery, where a fully stamped card grants the chance of winning tickets for the evening’s VIP event at Stedelijk Museum.

If you miss the brunch tour, consider checking out at least a few of the participating galleries during the festival. For example, AKINCI will show the film “I Wan’na Be Like You” by Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen, which explores Western images of ‘the Jungle’ and set in a phantom maze. Additionally, the second iteration of the four-part series ‘THERE ARE (MANY) PARTS TO THIS – 2’ by G, an artist, natural death researcher and raver, will take place at Marwan. 

After the brunch tour, make your way to Vondelpark for a quick break before heading to Mick Galerie right next door for some Late afternoon drinks and live painting by Santiago Pani from 17:00 to 20:00. Enjoy witnessing the process of the artist, born in Mexico City, who is constantly in search of a recognisable pictorial language in the hopes of transcending and being recognised.

Friday night feast

On Friday evening, feed your senses and intellect by attending a free screening of Deirdre O’Mahony’s “The Quickening” at Kunstverein, close to the Museum Quarter. Enjoy this with a side of potato kombucha served in special ceramics made by O’Mahony and a potato-tulip ice cream by artists Honey Jones-Hughes & Antonio de la Hera. The film addresses  issues emerging in farming, food production and consumption as a consequence of climate change, with a soundscape based on sounds of nature and transcriptions of O’Mahony’s “Sustainment Experiments”. These gatherings brought together farmers, politicians and scientists to discuss climate and food around a modern lent feast. This event aims to offer a Dutch version of the gathering, embodying the artist’s belief in art as a tool to bring diverse communities together and broaden our perspectives.  

An afternoon of unique experiences

On Saturday, consider visiting the the Canopy of Rietveld alumni. As a new addition to Amsterdam Art Week, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie will be displaying 16 projects by emerging artists who graduated between 2021 and 2023. The 1000-square-metre rooftop of the Fedlev building, located in Amsterdam Zuid, will act as the venue for this unique opportunity to view ceramics, glass, photography, sculpture, video, sound work and performance in a space resembling a levitated schoolyard. For example, on Saturday from 14:00 to 15:00 there will be a live glass blowing session with Eva van der Zand. The show is curated by Tirza Kater in collaboration with Public Rietveld & Projects and is free to attend.

Another noteworthy event during the day is Nomin Zezegmaa’s exhibition opening, which will take place at Galerie Bart on Elandsgracht from 16:00 to 17:00. What makes this event especially interesting is that the artist has invited Yesun-Erdene Bat, a Mongolian throat singer and horse head violin player, to give a musical performance during it. Zezegmaa’s solo-exhibition ᠴᠢᠨᠠᠳᠤ ᠰᠠᠯᠬ (The Wind on the Other Side), invites audiences to engage in a dialogue celebrating the intertwined dance of all living beings. Drawing inspiration from deep time and the spiritual realms of Mongol cosmology, her work connects the physical and the unseen.

A Saturday night in Noord

This year, Amsterdam Art Week shines a spotlight on the artistic district of Amsterdam Noord. Reachable by the metro or a free ferry from Centraal Station, the area is the place to be for those wanting to discover the vibrant alternative art and party scene of the city. Noord Night’s full evening programme invites the attendees of the festival to do just that, from 17:00 until late.

The events that caught my eye include the Sexy Castle Mini Art Fair, which opens at 13:00 with free admission, “Breath in a Physical Resolution” – a dance performance at the immersive art space NXT Museum (tickets available), and “Culture is  – Togetherness in Time”, a film screening, panel talk and party at the Eye Film museum (tickets available). 

Of course, the official Afterparty of Noord Night at SexyLand World from 21:30 to 03:00 is not to be missed. Tickets to the full house takeover with Eye Filmmuseum, Nxt Museum, Fanny Freytag, Projectspace 38/40 & No Limits! Art Castle, Welcome Stranger and SEXYLAND World can be found here.

Explore Amsterdam Zuidoost or Dive into the world of Sound Art 

Sunday marks the last day of Amsterdam Art Week and is dedicated to families. Find child-friendly workshops, gallery tours and other activities aimed at the youngest art lovers on the Family Sunday programme. 

Located in the diverse neighbourhood of Zuidoost, CBK Zuidoost is worth a visit, with or without family. On view, both in the gallery and outside the Bijlmer Arena station, is the free photographic exhibition “M’a wak un rosea, m’a skucha un lus” (Saw a Breath, Heard a Light), featuring photos, film and sounds by artists Hannes Wallrafen and Kevin Osepa. Hannes Wallrafen is an iconic name in the history of Dutch photography, known for his magical touch in directing images. Inspired by his work, the young artist Kevin Osepa explores the space between reality, imagination, time, and spirituality, producing images that depict the search for identity(s) using motifs from Curaçao reality. 

The two found common ground in storytelling linked to memories, history, culture and identity through the sound fragments Wallrafen recorded in Curaçao in 2004, the year he went blind due to a hereditary disease. In honour of Family Sunday, a workshop and tour of the exhibition will be held for children with and without a visual disabilities from 14:00 to 15:30. They will get to experience the world sensorially and explore tactile and sound objects, brought to the event by Wallrafen himself. Participation is free, but registration is required. 

Another inspiring way to spend the day is by visiting Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond near the city centre, where FIBER Festival, STUK and the Brakke Grond present a day filled with sound art from the Netherlands and Belgium under the title “Neighbouring Frequencies”.

The programme runs from 13:00 to 17:00 and includes lectures and sound art performances, complemented by a compact exhibition of the same name, featuring sound art installations by four artists: Els Viaene, Floris Vanhoof, Oussama Tabti, Stijn Demeulenaere & Luis Lecea Romera. Their works use sound to explore the hidden dimensions of our environment and the relationships between landscapes, humans, and non-humans. Find more information about the event and buy tickets for the performances here. The exhibition can also be visited free of charge on other days of Amsterdam Art Week.

To stay updated on all the events and activities during Amsterdam Art Week, visit the official website and follow their social media channels for the full program. If you explore the events suggested in this guide, don't forget to tag @followart.world in your Instagram stories!