# ArtZuid

ARTZUID is an international sculpture biennale held in Amsterdam Zuid, Netherlands; Apollolaan, Minevalaan, Churchillaan, and Amsterdam Zuides. Established in 2008, the exhibition showcases large-scale contemporary sculptures and installations in public spaces, integrating them with the urban design of Hendrik Petrus Berlage’s 1917 Plan Zuid. The exhibition makes contemporary art accessible while allowing engagement between artists, residents, and visitors. Every two years, approximately 50 high-profile sculptures by artists from the Netherlands and abroad are exhibited for four months on the green lanes of Amsterdam Zuid. The mission is to create a meeting place on the street with museum-quality selection of sculptures and to make art accessible and free of charge. The sculptures are in situ and open to the public 24/7, from May to September. The biennale is attended by an average of 250,000 visitors.
FORMAT
Every edition, a curator is commissioned to make the sculpture selection based on the exhibition theme. Over the years, renowned curators have put together ARTZUID. Among them: Rudi Fuchs, Henk van Os, Jan Cremer, Michiel Romeyn & Roberto Meyer, Jhim Lamoree, Maarten Bertheux, Ralph Keuning and Jasper Krabbé.
According to Rudi Fuchs, ARTZUID is unique in the world. He knows of no other biennale that focuses exclusively on outdoor sculpture.
HISTORY
ARTZUID was founded in 2008 by the ArtZuid Foundation, local residents, and supported by the municipality of Amsterdam Zuid. Initiated by Cintha van Heeswijck, from 2009 onwards, the exhibition has taken place every other year in the monumental Art-Deco district in Amsterdam. ARTZUID sculpture trail starts at Minervalaan 1, at the Information Pavillion. ARTZUID is a community-driven initiative to enrich the neighborhood with public art, inspired by the architectural vision of Berlage, who designed Amsterdam Zuid with grand avenues and open spaces. Since its inception, ARTZUID has grown into a unique outdoor sculpture biennale, attracting thousands of visitors and featuring works by contemporary artists.
Foundation ArtZuid won the Europa Nostra Award in 2011 for making a hidden cultural heritage site known to a broad public.
ARTZUID 2025, ENLIGHTENMENT
This year, Amsterdam celebrates its 750th jubilee. The 9th edition of ARTZUID reflects on the freedom and tolerance that characterize the city.
Key Artists:
* Magdalena Abakanowicz
* Alicja Kwade
* Yoshitomo Nara
* David Nash
* Jaume Plensa
* Arlene Shechet
2025 Curator Ralph Keuning explains:
“The liberal spirit of Amsterdam is a mentality that makes this city a place of freedom, tolerance, solidarity, and a breeding ground for new ideas. As a trading city, the world’s seas have been navigated, and at the same time, Amsterdam has long attracted independent minds from around the world, who have helped shape the city into the metropolis it is today. The title Enlightenment refers to the belief in progress that characterized the 18th century. A century of reason, in which science and art flourished and the foundation for our democracy was laid. At the same time, there was the dark side of colonialism, with all the inhumane aspects that accompanied it. This paradox of progress and prosperity on one hand and exclusion and sacrifice on the other is just as relevant today as it was then and is part of the discourse in the city, in art, and thus on the green lanes of ARTZUID 2025. On the other end of the spectrum, Enlightenment can also be interpreted literally as lightening our worries, relaxing, daydreaming, fantasizing, and finding beauty. This is also what ARTZUID aims to evoke with this edition. Visitors to ARTZUID will walk through a surreal urban landscape with figurative sculptures interspersed with architectural installations. They will be stimulated to reflect on the future of the city and how we live together.”.
EDITIONS
* ARTZUID 2009: The first free accessible exhibition was called Berlage in Sculptures. The creator was Michiel Romeyn. The history of the neighborhood helped him select the art presented. It was supported by international galleries, the Rijksakademie, Dutch company collections, artists, and museums like the Stedelijk Museum. The event attracted 90,000 visitors.
* ARTZUID 2011: The second edition of ARTZUID was called The World Around - Equality in Diversity and opened by Queen Beatrix. Curator Jan Cremer mixed European sculptures with works by artists from Brazil, Suriname, India, Ghana, China, Indonesia, the US, and more to reflect the mixed population of Amsterdam. Artists from 21 countries participated with fifty-eight sculptures from various artists such as Anthony Caro, Jean Tinguely, Anthony Gormley, and Ugo Rondinone.
* ARTZUID 2013: The theme of the third exhibition was Engagement. Foundation ArtZuid, together with curator Henk van Os, professor of Art and Society at the University of Amsterdam, decided to "shake up assumptions and suppositions" and artists from all continents came to the exhibition.
* ARTZUID 2015: Amsterdam, City of Sculptures was the title of the fourth edition of the exhibition, and it was curated by Rudi Fuchs, former director of the Stedelijk Museum. This time, the open-air sculpture route in Amsterdam attracted ~500,000 visitors. Some exhibitions were: Tony Cragg's bronze works, Mimmo Paladino's statues, KAWS' cartoon figures, Jaume Plensa's monumental sculptures.
* ARTZUID 2017: The celebration of the fifth edition ARTZUID coincided with the 100th anniversary of the De Stijl movement. This time Rudi Fuchs chose Dutch abstraction, "the great new revelation of modern art", to be a theme which connected all the sculptures placed in the 2.5-kilometer route in South Amsterdam. Artists that participated in this exhibition were Klaas Gubbels, Arne Quinze and Esther Tielemans, and the Atelier Van Lieshout also contributed to the sculpture route.
* ARTZUID 2019 marked the 6th edition of the sculpture route and was called The Sculptures, The Figurations, The Garden & The Spectacle. It was curated by art historian and retired art critic Jhim Lamoree and visual artist Michiel Romeyn, who themed the exhibition around figuration in modern and contemporary art, as well as emphasizing the adornment of the South Amsterdam area called Plan Zuid. ARTZUID 2019 was organized by the curators to be a reflection on the impact of modern art and sculpture on artists today, and how they use this history to be critical of their foundations. Artists such as Yoshitomo Nara, Ai Weiwei, Takashi Murakami, and Nancy Rubins participated in this edition of ARTZUID. The Stedelijk Museum also participated in and exhibited the works of Henry Moore.
* ARTZUID 2021 was curated and was titled Imagine by Ralph Keuning, a Dutch art historian. Artists such as Sarah Lucas, Joanneke Meester, Ugo Rondinone, and Sokari Douglas Camp participated in this edition of ARTZUID.
* ARTZUID 2023 marked its 8th edition and the 15th anniversary of the Foundation. The curator of this exhibition was artist and TV personality Jasper Krabbé, and the themes being explored were pop art, neo-pop art, and street art.
* In 2025, ARTZUID 2025 will return with "ENLIGHTENMENT".. See Above.