What to See at Amsterdam Art Weekend

The ultimate guide to Amsterdam's four day art extravaganza.

RijksakademieOPEN, at Amsterdam Art Week 2014. Photo: Roy Taylor via Dafne
Opening of the professionals program at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2014. Photo: Dimer van Santen via Dafne

Opening of the Professionals Program at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2014.
Photo: Dimer van Santen via Dafne.

The fourth edition of Amsterdam Art Weekend is currently underway. The four day art extravaganza attracts a host of collectors, artists, and art enthusiasts to the Dutch capital to enjoy a curated program featuring over 90 exhibitions and events across the city.

Over 50 galleries, project spaces, museums, and institutions work together to attract an international audience to Amsterdam and to shine a light on the city’s buzzing art scene and rich cultural heritage.

Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam Art Week 2014 Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij via Dafne

Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam Art Weekend 2014.
Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij via Dafne.

Running concurrently to the public program, organizers have put together a unique Professionals Program: a series of networking events tailored for art world professionals.

Highlights of the public program include the Amsterdam Art Weekend’s opening event, which is held in conjunction with the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten’s open weekend, when the art school’s resident artists open their studios to the public. The event has gained quite a reputation for giving visitors a sneak peek of some of the hottest emerging artists in the international art scene.

Galerie Akinci, Amsterdam Art Week 2014 Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij via Dafne

Galerie Akinci, Amsterdam Art Weekend 2014.
Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij via Dafne.

Meanwhile, Amsterdam’s participating galleries stage a variety of exciting openings and parties. Be sure to check out Lisa Oppenheim’s exhibition at Juliette Jongma and Jake and Dinos Chapman’s exhibition at Galerie Gabriel Rolt. This evening, do not miss the artist duo’s party after their opening at the gallery.

On Saturday, Isa Genzken’s solo exhibition will open at the Stedelijk Museum. On Sunday, the institution will host a symposium led by the german artist Tino Sehgal with the museum’s director Beatrix Ruf, the Tate Modern curator Catherine Wood, and the curator Frédérique Bergholtz.

RijksakademieOPEN, at Amsterdam Art Week 2014. Photo: Roy Taylor via Dafne

RijksakademieOPEN, at Amsterdam Art Weekend 2014.
Photo: Roy Taylor via Dafne.

On Saturday, De Balie is hosting a relevant talk titled “Contemporary Art, Islam, and the Middle East,” where Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem, Turkish sociologist Nilüfer Göle, director of Doha’s Arab Museum of Modern Art Adbellah Karroum, and Rijksmuseum curator Luit Mols will explore if there really are any contradictions between contemporary art and Islam.

Elsewhere, over at the headquarters of Manifesta, the traveling European contemporary art biennial, visitors will be able to enjoy a selection of works by the artist Christian Jankowski, curator of its upcoming 11th edition.

Amsterdam Art Weekend runs from November 26-29, 2015, in several galleries, museums, and other venues across the city.

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