5 SHOWS is the Artissima twice-monthly feature that recommends 5 exhibitions not to be missed in various geographical areas and cities around the world, chosen from the viewpoint of curators and directors of important institutions who live and work in these contexts. A different way to find guidance in the discovery of global contemporary art, from a personal and always up-to-date perspective.
The eighth focus is on the Netherlands, with a selection by Zippora Elders, Director of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, and leaving Senior Curator at Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.
Here are the 5 exhibitions currently on display that she has chosen for our readers:
Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom
Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam
Up to 6.09.2026
Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom draws on a process of study: learning with and from former Palestinian prisoners, poets, revolutionary thinkers, and the many practices of refusal that continue to shape daily life in Palestine. Through this approach, the installation traces connections across generations, approaching resistance as an ongoing practice of study while acknowledging a broader indebtedness to those who have resisted before us.
In this new commission, Basel and Ruanne ask: what does it mean to resist in impossible conditions, to breathe where one should not breathe, and to emerge from sites of exclusion unbound?
Between Fires – Irradiated Imaginations &
Anti-Nuclear Solidarities
Framer Framed, Amsterdam
Up to 17.05.2026
The exhibition Between Fires: Irradiated Imaginations and Anti-Nuclear Solidarities (2026) traces the intertwined histories of nuclear infrastructures, colonialism and resistance, beginning in the Northern Kazakh steppe around Semey, which the Soviet Union used for their nuclear programme between 1948 and 1991, causing long-lasting effects of pollution and radiation of water, land, humans and non-human animals.
Behind the geopolitical, financial and militarised structures of the atom, lie the lifeworlds of those directly affected by the cycle of mining uranium to detonating and testing nuclear weapons, turning bodies and lands into storage sites of nuclear waste.
Bitches Brew
Bonnefanten, Maastricht
Up to 6.09.2026
They refuse to be categorised and have been innovators in figurative painting for years: Keetje Mans, Tanja Ritterbex and Aline Thomassen. Now their worlds collide in the project Bitches Brew. Each will present their own solo exhibition, but their works also interact with each other. On the one hand, through their styles and themes. On the other hand, through the conversations they had during the project.
Ketahanan: stories of resilience
Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch
Up to 31.05.2026
In Ketahanan: stories of resilience, Moluccans talk about their history in the Netherlands. The exhibition with works of art, historical objects, photos and video stories was developed together with the community. Ketahanan shows how diverse the community is, why plurality of viewpoints is important, and how new generations give direction to the future. Ketahanan offers space to images that were neglected for a long time and invites visitors to listen, to learn, and to move with a history that is still very much alive.
The worlds of Jan Toorop
Singer Laren, Laren
Up to 10.09.2026
With more than eighty important works – paintings, works on paper, sculptures and letters – and unexpected combinations between Toorop’s work and that of his contemporaries and followers, this exhibition offers a fresh perspective on one of the most significant and versatile artists working in the Netherlands around the turn of the 20th century: Jan Toorop (1858-1928). The worlds of Jan Toorop demonstrates for the first time how Toorop consistently and explicitly referenced his Javanese and Chinese heritage throughout his entire career.
Bonus show:
Make Some Noise: Desire. Stage. Change.
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
Up to 20.09.2026
“Let yourself be heard” is the core invitation of Positions #9: Make Some Noise: Desire. Stage. Change. Twelve international artists and collectives convene in a dynamic constellation of solo presentations, performances, and encounters. Their practices span choreography, sound, theatre, sculpture, cinema, and AI-powered composition, each offering a distinct approach to how bodies, materials, and technologies shift and resonate. With movement as its connective thread, Make Some Noise: Desire. Stage. Change. invites visitors to move, to listen, and to imagine what could emerge from this.
If you want to discover the institutions explored so far, here are the previous episodes:
Emirati Arabi Uniti | China | Norway | London | New York | Lisbon | Cape Town