In his exhibition Valkenburg, specially for Another Story at Centraal Museum, leading artist Willem de Rooij has created an installation centered around paintings by Dutch artist Dirk Valkenburg (1675-1721), accompanied by a catalogue raisonné including new essays by international scholars, edited by De Rooij and Karwan Fatah-Black.
Valkenburg (1675-1721) was one of the first Europeans to depict Indigenous and enslaved people on Surinamese plantations, while also painting hunting still lifes and portraits of Dutch elites. The breadth of his oeuvre makes it particularly relevant for research into colonial image production and the “white gaze”. In this installation, De Rooij displays 25 works in idiosyncratic combinations, inviting reflection onhow these 18th-century Dutch elites used art to support and legitimise colonial ideology.
Since the early 1990s, Willem de Rooij (1969) has created temporary installations in that explore the politics of representation through appropriation and collaboration. In 2005, he represented the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale and has since exhibited in leading museums worldwide. A distinctive feature of his practice is the reuse and rearrangement of existing images and objects, often based on in-depth art-historical and cultural research. In doing so, he creates new meanings between diverse visual elements. Recent exhibitions include King Vulture (Akademie der Künste, Vienna) and Pierre Verger in Suriname (Portikus, Frankfurt). De Rooij teaches in Frankfurt, Berlin and Amsterdam and lectures internationally.
PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM | 19 January, 2026 | 10.00 - 17.30 | Grote Zaal, Wereldmuseum Leiden
The Research Center for Material Culture in collaboration with Professors Willem de Rooij, Karwan Fatah-Black, and the Centraal Museum Utrecht will be hosting a symposium on January 19 in Wereldmuseum Leiden. The event is preceded by two events at Centraal Museum, Utrecht on January 17. The symposium at Wereldmuseum Leiden will explore questions and themes surrounding the exhibition Valkenburg — Willem de Rooij. Participants in the symposium include Will Fredo Furtado, Dicky Takendare, Caroline Fowler, Jessica de Abreau, Julie Hartkamp and Imara Limon.
Valkenburg (1675-1721) was one of the first Europeans to depict Indigenous and enslaved people on Surinamese plantations, while also painting hunting still lifes and portraits of Dutch elites. The breadth of his oeuvre makes it particularly relevant for research into colonial image production and the “white gaze”. In this installation, De Rooij displays 25 works in idiosyncratic combinations, inviting reflection onhow these 18th-century Dutch elites used art to support and legitimise colonial ideology.
Since the early 1990s, Willem de Rooij (1969) has created temporary installations in that explore the politics of representation through appropriation and collaboration. In 2005, he represented the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale and has since exhibited in leading museums worldwide. A distinctive feature of his practice is the reuse and rearrangement of existing images and objects, often based on in-depth art-historical and cultural research. In doing so, he creates new meanings between diverse visual elements. Recent exhibitions include King Vulture (Akademie der Künste, Vienna) and Pierre Verger in Suriname (Portikus, Frankfurt). De Rooij teaches in Frankfurt, Berlin and Amsterdam and lectures internationally.
PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM | 19 January, 2026 | 10.00 - 17.30 | Grote Zaal, Wereldmuseum Leiden
The Research Center for Material Culture in collaboration with Professors Willem de Rooij, Karwan Fatah-Black, and the Centraal Museum Utrecht will be hosting a symposium on January 19 in Wereldmuseum Leiden. The event is preceded by two events at Centraal Museum, Utrecht on January 17. The symposium at Wereldmuseum Leiden will explore questions and themes surrounding the exhibition Valkenburg — Willem de Rooij. Participants in the symposium include Will Fredo Furtado, Dicky Takendare, Caroline Fowler, Jessica de Abreau, Julie Hartkamp and Imara Limon.
Exhibition 13 September 2025 to 25 January 2026, Pulic Symposium 19 January, 2026 10.00 am