Dutch Culture USA

🖊️Pete Wu at Art Omi: Writers Reading
📍Art Omi in Ghent, NY
📅 May 9, 2026, 5-6:30 PM

📝Journalist and author Pete Wu brings sharp insight and personal storytelling to questions of identity, belonging, and representation. His acclaimed book "De bananengeneratie" explores the experiences of second-generation Chinese Dutch communities, a theme he continued in his documentary "Pete en de bananen".

His career spans from journalism, literature, film, to collaborations with organizations such as NOS and VICE Media. This May, he joins the international cohort at Art Omi for a public reading, offering a glimpse into his new work in progress.

Meet the winners of the Netherlands & America 250 Open Call 🇳🇱🇺🇸

More than 75 artists and organizations applied to our Open Call marking the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.

From California to North Carolina, Dutch and American creatives pitched ideas to highlight Dutch contributions to U.S. independence, celebrate the shared history between our two countries, and strengthen the cultural profile of the Netherlands in the United States.

Together with , we are proud to announce the eight selected projects, which will be rolled out across the United States in the coming months:

✔️ Lua Vollaard / San José Museum of Art — Superkilogirls: The Manual for Superfluous Motions (California)

✔️ Udo Prinsen — From Wenters to Wisconsin (Midwest and East Coast)

✔️New Netherland Institute — Ben Franklin’s World: Dutch Involvement in the American Revolution (Nationwide)

✔️Marcia Haffman — Discerning Throughlines (Virginia)

✔️ National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Middletown Chapter – Mint Commemorative Coins (New Jersey)

✔️ The English-Speaking Union of the United States, Colonial NC Branch — Telling the Story of the Dutch and the U.S. War of Independence (North Carolina)

✔️ Sina Mostafavi / Texas Tech University — Dutch Art in Robotic Motion (Texas)

✔️ Tymon de Laat — Modern Study of Old Masters (the South)

Thank you to everyone who participated and helps showcase the enduring cultural ties between the Netherlands and the United States.

Stay tuned for updates!

🎉Joris Laarman returns to New York with SYMBIO for his first solo exhibition in the city in a decade.
📅 May 8 - July 24, 2026
📍Friedman Benda, New York, NY

The exhibition presents two new bodies of work developed through Laarman’s ongoing research into digital fabrication and material innovation. The Ply Loop series includes a chair, console, bookcase, and wall shelf, constructed from plywood and assembled by hand using digitally generated geometries and a biodegradable resin designed to make engineered wood more sustainable.

The second series, Symbio, consists of 3D-printed benches made from experimental materials, including concrete formulations designed to store carbon rather than emit it. Integrated bio-active channels allow moss and lichens to grow across the surfaces, forming living patterns based on reaction-diffusion systems first described by Alan Turing.

Together, the works extend Laarman’s long-standing collaboration with engineers, researchers, and technologists to test how design can operate at the intersection of computation, biology, and fabrication.

Images: Photography by Leonard Faüstle, Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Joris Laarman Lab
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An evening of Dutch music and art. Yesterday, we had the privilege of welcoming the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to The Frick Collection in New York for an evening of music and connection with our network.

Seeing our hometown orchestra perform in such an extraordinary setting, surrounded by masterpieces from Dutch greats like Rembrandt and Vermeer, truly highlights the richness of the Dutch-US cultural connection.

Consul General Ahmed Dadou: “The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and its musicians continue to inspire audiences around the world through their exceptional artistry and dedication. Music connects people, builds bridges, sparks important conversations. That is vital, especially in times of great societal pressures and uncertainties.”

We are already looking ahead with excitement to the Orchestra’s planned US tour in 2029.

A heartfelt thank you to Axel Rüger and Dominik Winterling for bringing this special event to life and for gathering such an inspiring group of guests. Your commitment helps bring music to wider audiences and ensures it continues to thrive across borders.

🎨Peruvian Amsterdam based artists Arturo Kameya and Claudia Garay present a new site-specific installation as a part of the 59th Carnegie International "If the Word we".
📍Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, PA
📅May 2, 2026 - January 3, 2027

🖌️The exhibition explores both artists' Peruvian history, memory, and identity in relation to the colonial legacy and how collective narrative can shape memory. Kameya works a lot with architectural and cultural languages and Garay uses Andean symbolic imagery, which translates into a merge of mythical stories and socio-political histories. The artists are a part of the Amsterdam base of the international contemporary art gallery GRIMM.

🌷What makes it extra special, is that the exhibition is a part of the Carnegie International: the longest-running exhibition of international art in North America and a leading platform for societal relevant contemporary art and artists.

If you want to know more about the art, the artists, or the Carnegie and the mattress factory, find the link in our bio!

Image 1: Arturo Kameya, installation view of Whatever comes first, Prospect New Orleans (US), 2024, “The Future Is Present, The Harbinger Is Home.” Courtesy of the Artist, Prospect 6, and GRIMM, Amsterdam | London | New York; Photo: Alex Marks

Image 2: Claudia Martínez Garay, installation view of Ghost Kingdom, GRIMM, New York, NY (US), 2022, Courtesy of the Artist and GRIMM, Amsterdam | London | New York; Photo: On White Wall Studio

Happy . Today, we highlight an early work by Piet Mondriaan.

In Farm near Duivendrecht (1916), Mondriaan depicts a quiet rural scene with farm buildings, trees, and their reflections. The painting is a good example of Mondriaan beginning to simplify forms and emphasize structure. The composition reflects a pivotal moment in his artistic development, as he moved gradually from painting landscapes toward abstraction.

Created during World War I, this work offers insight into the transition that would ultimately define his contribution to modern art.

The painting is a part of the modern art collection at the Art Institute Chicago and can be viewed in Gallery 391.

🖌️Let the Old Masters introduce you to New Amsterdam.

📍Old Masters, New Amsterdam exhibition at the New York Historical.
📅 May 1 - August 30, 2026

🌷This spring you can discover New Amsterdam through portraits, genre scenes, and still lifes by 17th-century Dutch masters, marking the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding.

🎨Leading artists of the Dutch Golden Age, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Lievens, Gabriel Metsu, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen, painted vivid portraits and character studies. While these works depict life in the Netherlands, they offer glimpses into everyday experiences of the people New Amsterdam, from government officials and fur traders to preachers, physicians, and women at home and in the marketplace.

The exhibition brings together an exceptional group of works from The New York Historical, alongside loans from The Leiden Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the National Gallery of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the New York State Archives, Trinity Church, and private collections.

See the link in our bio to discover more.

Image 1: Gerrit Dou (1613-1675), Herring Seller and Boy, 1664. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York

Image 2: Frans van Mieris (1635-1681), Young Woman Feeding a Parrot, 1663. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York

Image 3: Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), Young Man Smoking and A Woman Pouring Beer, ca. 1656-58. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York

📸Gerrit Rietveld through the lense of Arjan Bronkhorst
📅May 7 – September 2, 2026
📍Center for Architecture, New York

🏠"Wealth of Sobriety" presents photographs by Arjan Bronkhorst, drawn from his long-term project documenting lesser-known houses by architect Gerrit Rietveld. On view at the Center for Architecture, the exhibition features 15 homes built between 1924 and 1963, including Rietveld’s only U.S. project in Ohio.

📷Rather than following a strict timeline, the exhibition brings together details across projects, offering a closer look at recurring ideas in Rietveld’s work and the relationships behind them.

See the link in our bio for more information on the exciting exhibition.

Image: Rietveld Schröder House exterior. Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1924. Photo: Arjan Bronkhorst, courtesy of Center for Architecture.

🎻From Amsterdam to Washington and Rochester, in concert
📅April 30, 2026 📍Killbourn Hall, University of Rochester, NY
📅May 2, 2026 📍Dumbarton Arts & Education, Washington

🎼Formed by members of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), Camerata RCO performs chamber music in formations ranging from duet to small chamber orchestra. With a focus on Classical and Romantic repertoire for winds and strings, and ongoing collaborations with living composers, their programs weave together Mozart’s precision, Brahms’s richness, and Dvořák’s lyricism.

Image: Camerata RCO during Christmas in the Westergasfabriek, courtesy of the RCO

🏛️Step into the haunting and poetic world of .manders
📍 in New York
📅 April 30 - June 13, 2026

For decades, Manders has been crafting his universe of sculptures, installations, and fragments that feel like frozen moments in time. Each object tells a story, yet leaves place for your own interpretation, bridging memory, imagination and reality. Manders' word invites you in and convinces you to stay.

His sixth solo exhibition with the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery opens next weekend April 30. See the link in our bio for more information.

image: Mark Manders, Monument, 2024-2025, courtesy of the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery