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Rotterdam already has a flourishing scene of arts and culture spaces, from a new museum telling stories of migration through art to Kijk-Kubus, the city’s iconic cube houses. And now, the expansion and conversion of a former coffee warehouse has resulted in a shiny new gallery dedicated to Dutch and international photography.
Formerly located in mixed-use building Las Palmas, the Nederlands Fotomuseum had been crying out for a bigger space to house its collection. Thanks to a collaboration between German architecture firm Renner Hainke Wirth Zirn and the Dutch firm WDJArchitecten, it’s set to open across nine floors this weekend, on February 7.
On the ground floor, you’ll find a library and darkroom, which are both open for free to the public, while the main collection of photos and interactive installations can be found upstairs.
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In total, the national collection contains more than 6.5 million images, including more than 175 complete archives from famous Dutch names like Esther Kroon and Ed van der Elsken. There’ll also be a deepdive into the history of photography, dating back to the earliest daguerreotype (the first-ever commercially viable photographic process, from 1842), documentary snaps from the twentieth century and contemporary work.
The opening of the museum was delayed several months due to the dismissal of former director Birgit Donker, according to The Art Newspaper, but interim director Roderick van der Lee has the reigns for this week’s opening, and Zippora Elders Tahalele, an art historian and curator, will take over permanently on April 13.
Organisers are hoping that social media and the proliferation of smartphones (and therefore camera usage), as well as the AI boom, will lead to greater interest in photography as an artform – something deemed integral to the Netherlands’ creative identity.
‘Since the 17th-century master paintings, light has been an integral part of Dutch art,’ said Van der Lee, ‘And that’s why photography was quite a natural fit within the Dutch artistic palette.’
Read more about Nederlands Fotomuseum on the official website.
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