ARTZUID is an international large-scale sculpture exhibition which takes place every two years in Amsterdam. ARTZUID was established in 2008. The initiative came from United Art Consult led by Cintha van Heeswijck. From 2009 on, the exhibition takes place every odd year in the monumental Art-Deco district in Amsterdam, designed in 1917 by Hendrik P. Berlage. ARTZUID sculpture route starts at the Museum Square in front of the Rijksmuseum and stretches for 2,5 kilometers south along the Minervalaan, the Apollolaan and finally up to the Station Zuid. Over a period of 4 months, 60 sculptures of established and emerging artists form an eye-catching spectacle. The biennale is attended by the average number of visitors of 375,000.
ARTZUID 2009: The first free accessible exhibition was called Berlage in Sculptures. The curator was Michiel Romeyn. His choice of art was based on the history of the neighborhood. Antoine Poncet, at that time president of de l'Académie française, opened the exhibition. 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 2013: The theme of the third exhibition was Engagement. , together with curator Henk van Os, professor of Art and Society at the University of Amsterdam, decided to "shake up assumptions and suppositions", demonstrating how engagement unites artists from all continents. Moreover, all the sculptures were meant to add meaning to the so-called Plan Zuid of architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage.
ARTZUID 2015: Amsterdam, City of Sculptures. Rudi Fuchs, former director of the Stedelijk Museum, was a curator of the fourth edition of the exhibition. That time the open-air sculpture route in Amsterdam attracted more than 500,000 visitors. The highlights of the exhibition 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 shared with 100th anniversary of De Stijl movement. This time Rudi Fuchs chose abstraction, "the great new revelation of modern art", to be a theme which embraced all the sculptures placed in a 2,5 kilometer route in Amsterdam.
ARTZUID 2019 takes place from May 17 to September 15, 2019. Dynamic sections are created for solo presentations, group exhibitions and site-specific installations.
Gallery
Awards
Foundation ArtZuid won the Europa Nostra Award in 2011 for making a hidden cultural heritage site known to a broad public.
