Kunsthal Rotterdam

On average, 85% of Kunsthal visitors live in the Netherlands, while the other 15% are international visitors. The Kunsthal attracts a wide diversity of visitors, remarkably including many young people. Surveys held in 2024 show that our largest group of visitors were people aged 25-34 (22.3%), followed by people aged 19-24 (14,9%) and people aged 45-54 (14.6%). 

Spotlight on Rotterdam makers

Famous for being one of the most accessible and audience-friendly museums in the Netherlands, the Kunsthal succeeds in engaging a wide range of target groups: from fashionistas and lovers of art, design, and music, to senior citizens, families, and young people. Director Marianne Splint stresses: “We are extremely proud that our mission has again led to impressive results this year. We were able to achieve these thanks to the support of our audience and many partners and sponsors. Together we realised an inspiring, occasionally provocative, but invariably surprising programme. We furthermore organised ten successful editions of Friday Night LIVE in collaboration with a number of wonderful Rotterdam partners. Huge thanks to all creative makers, artists, and organisations for the memorable programme and the incredible mix of visitors they managed to mobilise. Rotterdam at its finest!”

Highlights in 2024

Apart from the high visitor numbers, extensive media coverage, and winning the Museumtijdschrift Exhibition Award for Ai Weiwei. In Search of Humanity, the Kunsthal can also look back on numerous other highlights in 2024. From the largescale yet intimate paintings of Doron Langberg, and the provocative installations and sculptures of Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury, to an extensive retrospective of work by the world-famous photographer Richard Avedon. In October 2024, All you can Art again embarked on a year-long collaboration with Reakt, financed by this care organisation. We also organised the ninth edition of the All you can Art Summer School and Open Studio. And for the first time ever, the presentation of work by nominees for the NN Art Award took place at the Kunsthal, in collaboration with Nationale-Nederlanden and Art Rotterdam. 

Since the autumn of 2024, the spotlights have been on the British artist Thomas J Price. Especially for this exhibition, his larger-than-life-sized sculpture Reaching Out has been standing at the Kunsthal entrance and will remain there until 9 February 2025. At the same time, the Kunsthal is presenting a retrospective of work by the award-winning graphic novelist, illustrator, and animator Aimée de Jongh. And celebrating the unparallelled and boundless creativity of iconic artists who have challenged the status quo with their bravura and ambition, the exhibition DIVA will remain on view until 2 March 2025.  

In addition, we celebrated and marked various Rotterdam anniversaries and milestones in 2024, with exhibitions showcasing the Summer Carnival, Mayor Aboutaleb, and the creative design bureau 75B. Since the Christmas holidays, we have been showing the new site-specific work Spaces Between Lines by the artist and composer Boris Acket. For the very first time a designer has been commissioned to create a new work to be displayed both inside and outside of the Kunsthal, inspired by the building’s iconic architecture, designed by Rem Koolhaas/OMA. 

Audience activation with Kunsthal LIVE 

Numerous Kunsthal LIVE events, including the monthly programme Friday Night LIVE, helped activate our audience. In 2024, the annual Naked Tour again sold-out in the blink of an eye, and KunstKoppels (ArtCouples) facilitated even more special encounters. In collaboration with the platform Toegankelijk Museum (accessible museum), we organised guided tours in Dutch Sign Language. We furthermore hosted inspiring Artist Talks with renowned artists like Refik Anadol, Thomas J Price, and Aimée de Jongh. 

2025 preview

In the spring of 2025, the Kunsthal is due to present the poignant and imaginative work of Magnum photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, alongside the multi-sensory installations of the South Korean artist Haegue Yang, and the expressionist universe of Max Pechstein.  
The summer will be characterised by Cute, a large-scale exhibition highlighting the irresistible power of cuteness in contemporary culture. In the autumn, the Kunsthal pays homage to the groundbreaking Dutch fashion artist Iris van Herpen with Sculpting the Senses. This immersive retrospective combines fashion, contemporary art, design, and science to create a sensory exploration of the universe of this designer, who is one of the most avant-garde couturiers of her generation. 

In 2025, the Kunsthal will again organise ten editions of Friday Night LIVE, made possible by VriendenLoterij members. The kick-off will take place in January and feature Rotterdam-based hip hop platform Hiphop In Je Smoel, followed by an edition in February hosted by Lab-Z, the talent development programme of Theater Zuidplein. 

Special thanks to

The Kunsthal is extremely grateful for all the generous contributions it received from funds, sponsors, and partners, including Blockbusterfonds, CBK Rotterdam, Droom en Daad, Elise Mathilde Fonds, Erasmusstichting, Fonds21, City of Rotterdam, Harper’s Bazaar, Hauser & Wirth, Instituto Buena Bista Curaçao, Kunsthal Fonds, Kunsthalle Krems, Lang Leve Kunst Fonds, Laurens zorg, MediaCenter Rotterdam, Nationale-Nederlanden, nhow hotel Rotterdam, Pauluskerk Rotterdam, Pro Helvetia, Reakt, RET, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Rotterdam Festivals, Rotterdam Partners, Samsung, Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht, Stichting Retourschip, Stichting Verzameling Van Wijngaarden, Stichting Zabawas, Studio Ai Weiwei, The Netherland-America Foundation, The Richard Avedon Foundation, tonwelt, Universitaire Bibliotheken Leiden, V&A, Van Cappelen Stichting, Vfonds, VriendenLoterij, VSBfonds. 

We would also like to thank all 2024 Friday Night LIVE partners:

RIDCC, Spraakuhloos, Sip ‘N Paint, Motel Mozaïque, Weelde, Operator, 75B, Rotterdam Unlimited Zomercarnaval, and CLUB GEWALT.