Laurence Rassel appointed as new director of the Rijksakademie

Laurence Rassel has been director of erg (école de recherche graphique), an art school based in Brussels, since 2016. Trained in the visual arts, pedagogy, and the management of art institutions, she was director of Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, from 2008 to 2015, an institution created in 1984 by the artist Antoni Tàpies to promote the study and knowledge of modern and contemporary art. From 1998 to 2008, Rassel was a member of Constant, a non-profit association and interdisciplinary arts-lab based and active in Brussels in the fields of art, media and technology.

"We’re very excited to welcome Laurence Rassel as the new director of the Rijksakademie. Her profound grasp of artistic practice, combined with her innovative approach to encouraging dialogue and experimentation, perfectly aligns with our mission", say Otobong Nkanga and Marian Scheele, co-chairs of the Supervisory Board. "Laurence brings a wealth of experience and an unwavering commitment to the transformative power of art. We eagerly anticipate her leadership as she steers the Rijksakademie towards the future."

Rassel on her appointment: “The history of the Rijksakademie resonates with my own trajectory. Becoming the new director will lead me to follow the same path as the institution, a trajectory from an art school to an artist residency and community. In the political context we are living, to join forces and contribute to an institution that defines herself as an art laboratory where critical dialogue and artistic transformation go hand in hand, is a wonderful opportunity. It is a necessity and a sign of hope to preserve and protect a place where the international encounters and connections are in the centre of the mission. It is an honour and a thrilling challenge to accompany a place that gathers artists of multiple practices and continents who mark the now and the future of the art world.”

Laurence Rassel succeeds Emily Pethick, who was director until September 2025. Pethick left the Rijksakademie after leading the organisation through several challenging years, maintaining stability and expanding the organisation's public role. The Rijksakademie expresses its sincere gratitude to her.
The Rijksakademie also thanks Patricia de Weichs de Wenne for overseeing the organisation through the interim period.

The appointment of Rassel follows a selection procedure led by a committee consisting of members of the Supervisory Board of the Rijksakademie, as well as Rijksakademie team members, artistic advisors and alumni.

Trained in visual arts and education, Laurence Rassel (1967), director of erg from 2016, a graphic research school and higher education institution, has pursued an interdisciplinary career from a new media non-profit organisation to institutional management. She considers the director position as defined by the need for transparency, collaboration, participation, co-responsibility, and co-construction in the management of institutions, and therefore the institution.

From 2010 to the end of June 2015, she was director of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona. Under her leadership, she presented renewed readings of Antoni Tàpies' works, as well as exhibitions of the artist's collection featuring works by Joan Miró, Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and others; monographic exhibitions of, among others Maria Lassnig, Kerry James Marshall, Ana Maria Maiolino, Eva Hesse and exhibitions including performances, video libraries, sound installations, and concerts as for example ‘Interval, Accions Sonores’ in 2014 with works by Brian Eno, Susan Philipsz, Hanne Darboven, among others, ‘Allan Kaprow. Other ways’ or ‘re.act.feminism #2’ a performing archive. Also, she was curator of ‘Retrospective' by Xavier Leroy, a renowned danced exhibition that travels around the world since 2012.

Recently, she curated with Mar Villaespesa, Esther Ferrer’s exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, and San Sebastian. In addition, she curated the ‘Chantal Akerman. Travelling’ exhibition at Bozar, Brussels, Jeu de Paume, Paris, and MAC/CCB, Lisbonne.

Previously, from 1998 to 2008, she was administrator and artistic director of Constant, a non-profit organisation based in Brussels. Constant connects theoretical thinking, the critical use of new technologies, artistic behaviour and political issues in the digital realm, and organises workshops, conferences and exhibitions in public spaces. Constant's approach is resolutely feminist and has long defended a critical and alternative position on intellectual property. During this same period, from 2001 to 2006, Rassel was also project coordinator for culture, vocational training and technology for the ADA network (a network for women and technology) as part of Interface 3, a training and professional integration centre based in Brussels.