What’s happening in Art & Culture? 🇳🇱

The season begins.
September is when the arts and culture calendar comes alive: a time of new openings, fresh energy and renewed inspiration.

This edition gathers highlights to explore between September 1 and October 15 from exhibitions closing soon to festivals carrying us into autumn.

Special thanks to Merve Öztürk Gayretli for this selection!

Follow Event Gatekeepers to stay inspired.

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Events closing soon

Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht — Music Festival
📅 Aug 29 – Sept 7, Utrecht
Why go: The world’s largest early music festival presents hundreds of concerts in historic venues. A must for lovers of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.
🔗 https://oudemuziek.nl/en/home

Amsterdam Fringe Festival — Avant-Garde / Independent Performing Arts
📅 Sept 4 – 14, Amsterdam (22 venues citywide)
Why go: With 200+ performances, this is the place to discover bold new voices, daring experiments, and late-night programs.
🔗 https://amsterdamfringefestival.nl/

Nederlands Theater Festival (NTF) — Best Productions of the Season
📅 Sept 4 – 14, Amsterdam (ITA and other theatres)
Why go: Showcasing the top productions selected by a professional jury; a fascinating contrast to the experimental Fringe, running simultaneously.
🔗 https://tf.nl/

Gaudeamus Festival — New Music / Young Composers
📅 Sept 10 – 14, Utrecht
Why go: A forward-looking platform for young composers and contemporary sounds, centered around the prestigious Gaudeamus Award.
🔗 https://gaudeamus.nl/en/festival/

Open Monumentendag — Open Monuments Weekend
📅 Sept 13 – 14, Nationwide
Why go: Step inside hundreds of historic buildings usually closed to the public—for free. From canal houses to hidden chapels and modernist gems.
🔗 https://www.openmonumentendag.nl

Fiona Tan: Monomania — Rijksmuseum — Contemporary & Archive-Based Exhibition
📅 July 4 – Sept 14, Amsterdam (last chance)
Why go: A poetic blend of film, installation, and archives, creating a dialogue with the national collection.
🔗 https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/fiona-tan-monomania

Tussen Tompouce en Baklava — Van Eesteren Museum — Exhibition
📅 July 10 – Sept 14, Amsterdam (last chance)
Why go: An exploration of cultural identity, migration, and shared traditions through the lens of food and community.
🔗 https://www.vaneesterenmuseum.nl/events/tussen-tompouce-en-baklava-2

Ongoing into October

The Underground Camera — FOAM — Documentary Photography
📅 May 2 – Oct 2, Amsterdam
Why go: Presented for Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary, this exhibition reveals clandestine photos taken during the Nazi occupation—a poignant story of memory and resistance.
🔗 https://www.foam.org/press/the-underground-camera

Sandra Mujinga: Skin to Skin — Stedelijk — Contemporary Art
📅 Sept 13, 2025 – Jan 11, 2026, Amsterdam
Why go: Dark, immersive installations exploring post-humanism, visibility, and the body—an inspiring case of contemporary curatorial practice.
🔗 https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/sandra-mujinga-2

Brancusi: The Parisian Brancusi — H’ART Museum — Sculpture
📅 Sept 20, 2025 – Jan 18, 2026, Amsterdam
Why go: A rare large-scale exhibition of modern sculpture pioneer Constantin Brâncuși, unseen in Amsterdam for decades.
🔗 https://hartmuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/the-parisian-brancusi/

Blommers & Schumm: Mid-Air — FOAM — Photography & Fashion Visual Culture
📅 Sept 20, 2025 – Feb 23, 2026, Amsterdam
Why go: The duo’s first major solo survey, looking back on 25+ years of blending fashion, photography, and staged imagery.
🔗 https://www.foam.org/press/blommers-schumm

Nederlands Film Festival (NFF) — National Film Festival
📅 Sept 26 – Oct 3, Utrecht
Why go: The country’s biggest film celebration, featuring premieres, industry events, and the prestigious Golden Calf Awards.
🔗 https://www.filmfestival.nl/en/about

Tilda Swinton — Ongoing — Eye Filmmuseum — Cinema & Art Exhibition
📅 Sept 28, 2025 – Feb 8, 2026, Amsterdam
Why go: A unique look at Swinton’s collaborations with artists, highlighting the intersection of film and performance art.
🔗 https://www.eyefilm.nl/en/programme/tilda-swinton/1473850

CAMERA JAPAN Festival (Amsterdam edition) — Japanese Film & Culture
📅 Oct 2 – 5, Amsterdam (LAB111 and other venues)
Why go: A weekend dedicated to Japanese cinema, with guest speakers and side events adding cultural depth.
🔗 https://camerajapan.nl/

Afrovibes Festival — Contemporary African Performing Arts
📅 Oct 2 – 12, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem
Why go: Dance, theatre, performance, and talks bringing fresh perspectives from the African continent.
🔗 https://www.afrovibes.nl/?lang=en

Karel Martens: Unbound — Stedelijk — Graphic Design
📅 July 11 – Oct 26, 2025, Amsterdam
Why go: The first major retrospective of the legendary Dutch graphic designer, covering 65 years of typographic and print innovation.
🔗 https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/karel-martens-en