Museums Talk: From the Netherlands

As part of the “Museums Talk: From the Netherlands” program organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul, Istanbul Modern hosted Sjarel Ex, who served as Director of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam from 2004 to 2022, and Rein Wolfs, Director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, in the first two events.

The program will feature Rijksmuseum from Amsterdam on November 25 at Istanbul Modern.   

FUTURE EVENTS                                               

The Rijksmuseum                                                                              

Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 19.00

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Taco Dibbits
Director
Rijksmuseum           

PAST EVENTS                                                                             

Tomorrow is Always a Different Day

Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 19.00

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Rein Wolfs
Director
Stedelijk Museum                                                                                  

The origins of the Stedelijk Museum date back to 1874, when a group of art enthusiasts in the Dutch capital donated a selection from their collections to establish a museum dedicated to modern art. Initially exhibited at the Rijksmuseum, this collection was later moved to a building designed by A. W. Weissman in 1895. In addition to its significant collection and exhibitions, the Stedelijk Museum holds an important place in museum history as one of the first institutions to develop the “white cube” model. Today, the museum continues to carry forward the innovative approach by Willem Sandberg during and after the Second World War, when he was first a curator and later the director.

Rein Wolfs, who became director in 2019, focuses on the museum’s evolution from Sandberg’s time to the present day in his talk titled “Tomorrow is Always a Different Day.” Wolfs reflect on how museums have responded to the rapid and often difficult-to-follow transformations since the Second World War, and how they can prepare for uncertain futures. He also discusses the steps taken at the Stedelijk Museum, which owns extensive modern and contemporary art and design collections, to ensure the representation of regions beyond Western Europe and North America. Wolfs shares how the museum aims to shape its future by critically engaging with and moving beyond its colonial history.

Before joining the Stedelijk Museum, Rein Wolfs held significant positions at various cultural institutions in Germany and Switzerland, including serving as Director of the Bundeskunsthalle (Bonn, 2013–2019), Artistic Director of Kunsthalle Fridericianum (Kassel, 2008–2013), and Director of Exhibitions of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum (Rotterdam, 2002–2007). He was also the curator of the Dutch Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. During his directorship in Bonn, he developed an extensive exhibition program focusing on figures such as Kazimir Malevich, Karl Lagerfeld, Goethe, and the controversial art collection of Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

17.30 Film screening: DEPOT – Reflecting Boijmans, 86' 
19.00 Talk: A New Typology for Museums and Storage

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Sjarel Ex
Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum

In his talk, Sjarel Ex focuses on the responsibility of museums to develop independently, while connecting art and artists with society. In this context, he discusses how museums can reach out to society in transparency, introducing new methods, and exploring the museum medium as a platform for improving and developing the human mind and life. Ex advocates a dynamic role and an open mind to change, to make an art institute of importance and to let it flourish. One of the issues to elaborate on is how collections in storage can become more accessible, known, and of importance to the public. In addition, Ex emphasizes how the history of the 175-year-old art museum connects to the urban identity of Rotterdam, with its history of a port city that was and still is welcoming the influences of different cultures.

Before the talk, the documentary DEPOT – Reflecting Boijmans, directed by Sonia Herman Dolz, will be screened. The film focuses on the founding story of the Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Depot), known as the world’s first publicly accessible art storage. The documentary reveals the construction process of the Depot through the narratives of Sjarel Ex—he initiated and surveyed the development of the new Depot—together with Winy Maas, one of the founders of MVRDV, the architectural office behind the building. The film, which includes archival material of the first museum building built in the 1930s, also highlights the fundamental objective behind the Depot’s establishment: to better inform the public about the preservation and restoration of art, and how to work in public/private conditions.

Founded in 1849, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum houses an international collection of more than 150,000 classical, modern, and contemporary artworks and design objects. The museum takes its name from its two major donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George Van Beuningen. Located in the Museumpark district, where the city's leading museums are located, the museum operates in the Van der Steur Building, inaugurated in 1935 and expanded over time with additions in the seventies by architect Bodon and in the 90s by architects Robbrecht & Daem. The museum, which recently closed its doors temporarily due to renovations, continues to exhibit its collection in traveling exhibitions and at the Depot, which opened in 2021.

Sjarel Ex, who studied art history, specializes in Dutch avant-garde art, particularly the Dutch De Stijl movement, and how De Stijl was influencing the German Bauhaus in its formative years. He was director of the Municipal Museum of Utrecht from 1988 to 2004 and director in Rotterdam from 2004 to 2022. As an independent researcher, he has published articles internationally and, in addition to curating exhibitions—like “LaLaLa Human Steps” for the Istanbul Modern in 2014—has carried out site-specific projects in public spaces in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. Since leaving the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in 2022, Ex continues his career as an independent curator, writer, and advisor.

Images:

Rijksmuseum, photo: John Lewis Marshall

Taco Dibbits, photo: Ben Roberts