Bart Rutten joins the Rijksakademie Supervisory Board

Our Supervisory Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Bart Rutten as a new Member as of 01-07-2025. The Supervisory Board now consists of co-chairs Otobong Nkanga and Marian Scheele, alongside members Karl Guha, Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau, and Bart Rutten.

Bart Rutten has been Artistic Director of the Centraal Museum in Utrecht since 2017. In this position, he has been strongly committed to ensuring a prominent presence of contemporary art within its programming. This includes a focus on both local talent and internationally pioneering artists.

Before his appointment in Utrecht, Rutten was head of collections at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, where he curated several exhibitions in the field of modern and contemporary art.

For AvroTros he regularly presents items about exhibitions in the television programme ‘Nu te zien’ (Now to be seen) and he is active in various advisory committees and boards in the Netherlands. For example, he is chairman of the board of the Amsterdam contemporary art institution W139, chairman of the Foundation for the Preservation of Modern Art, member of the Supervisory Board of the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar and advisor for the Rembrandt Association.

Bart Rutten on his appointment: "I am delighted to join the board of one of the world’s most esteemed artist residencies. A place that offers artists the space to reflect, experiment, and further develop their practice. As a curator, I have been visiting the Open Studios for 25 years and have worked with many artists who were themselves (once) residents there or advised residents by invitation. I hope that with my 25 years of experience and knowledge of the Dutch field in relation to the international art world, I can contribute to a solid future of the institute."

Otobong Nkanga and Marian Scheele (co-chairs): "The Rijksakademie Supervisory Board warmly welcomes Bart. He is deeply rooted in the contemporary art world, and with his substantive artistic knowledge, will complement the existing expertise of the board and be of great value to the Rijksakademie. We are very much looking forward to working with Bart as a member of the Supervisory Board."