Defne Ayas Named Director of Van Abbemuseum
147May 7, 2025
TheVan Abbemuseumin Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has announced Defne Ayas as its new director, beginning in September. Ayas, who formerly helmed Rotterdam’s Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (now Kunstinstituut Melly), is currently curator-at-large at New York’s visual performing arts’ biennial, Performa. She will succeed Charles Esche, who has led the institution for two decades. Ayas’s appointment precedes Van Abbemuseum’s ninetieth anniversary, in 2026, and is the culmination of her decadeslong relationship with the institution, which began in 2005 with her contribution of curatorial texts and continued with her cocuration of the 2011 exhibition “Double Infinity,” a joint initiative between the Museum and Arthub Asia that opened at the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai.
Ayas joined Performa at its inception in 2005, in 2023 curating for the event the series “Protest and Performance: A Way of Life,” featuring artists including Gregg Bordowitz, Pamela Sneed, and Rana Hamadeh. She was director of Witte de With from 2012 to 2017, occupying the role for the maximum allowable term. She was a cocurator of the Thirteenth Gwangju Biennale (2021), the Sixth Moscow Biennale (2015), and the Eleventh Baltic Triennial (2012). In 2015, she curated Sarkis’s exhibition for the Turkish pavilion at the Fifty-Sixth Venice Biennale. Upcoming projects this year include commissions from Ayoung Kim, Lina Lapelytė, Sojung Jun, Moriah Evans, and Isabel Lewis.
“Taking on this legacy of iconoclastic approaches to museology, especially in a city at the heart of the global chip wars, is no small feat,” said Ayas in a statement. “I am committed to continuing a practice of prototyping, one that embodies both the innovative spirit of the city and the museum itself, ensuring the institution remains relevant and forward-thinking. I am deeply aware of the profound impact this institution has had over the past two decades, particularly in shaping conversations around civic-mindedness and accessibility, and I offer my heartfelt thanks not only to my predecessor but also to the many women who have carried its mission forward over the years. I especially want to recognize those who continue to champion its values today, as well as those who have recently embarked on new journeys or transitioned into retirement. It is a true honor to step into this role.”