Big Art Rotterdam brings large-scale art to the city

HAPPENING 11-13 SEP 2026 | Big Art Rotterdam will fill the former Codrico factory on Katendrecht with large-scale art by more than 100 artists and participants from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September. The three-day pop-up art fair gives you a rare chance to enter the national monument during Open Monumentendag weekend and explore monumental art inside its industrial halls and along the Rijnhaven waterfront.

_{Image: Art installation by Roos Schneijderberg. Photo: Jan Willem Kaldenbach}

The factory was closed to the public for years and remained in operation until recently. Big Art will temporarily bring its raw rooms, silos and waterfront grounds back to life with painting, sculpture, photography, textiles, video, light art and installations by established artists and emerging talent. Big Art is not a standard art fair. Each edition adapts to the building it occupies, with the architecture shaping how the works are seen.

More than 100 artists take over Codrico

More than 100 participants will fill the former flour factory with paintings, light art, sculptures, photography, drawings, textiles and large-scale installations. Some works are being made specifically for the industrial spaces of Codrico, allowing the building itself to become part of the exhibition.

Several artists will make their Big Art debut in Rotterdam. Babette Kleijn is creating a geometric wall work in situ, while Kirilla Mihai will install a large altar piece inside one of the factory silos. Recent graduate Nadia Schambach brings large creatures that appear to inhabit the building, Madelon Uljee presents organic forms through Root Gallery and Tanneke Barendregt is constructing a small city inside the vast factory.

Other new works include a large wooden wall sculpture by Kristiyan Dyankov, a recreated beach by Anastasia Omelchenko and an enormous mobile by Michael Bom. Sophie Schreurs presents a mysterious latex installation, while Isabela Verhagen uses a large textile work to address climate change.

Returning participants include Anthony Litjes with an installation of laser beams, Clifton Mahangoe with an interactive work centred on perception and Daniel Samama with a colourful light installation.

Big Art lands in Rotterdam

This is the first Rotterdam edition of Big Art and the platform’s 12th edition overall. Since 2016, the event has occupied a different large building each year, giving artists room to present works that would struggle to fit inside a conventional gallery.

Big Art was founded by cultural entrepreneur Anne van der Zwaag, who also directs Rotterdam design fair OBJECT. After eleven editions in and around Amsterdam, the move to Katendrecht places the fair inside a city and building with a suitably ambitious relationship to scale, industry and reinvention.

Codrico factory is located in Rijnhaven, Rotterdam. Photo: Sebastian van Damme

RotterdamStyle tip: look out for Marie Louise Elshout

Among the more than 100 artists taking part, keep an eye out for Rotterdam-based artist Marie Louise Elshout, presented by Berlin’s janinebeangallery. Her new four-part work Hunters at Dawn stretches approximately 4.5 metres across and combines pencil, charcoal, acrylic, oil paint and real leaves.

The work depicts two girls wearing hare masks in a brightly coloured birch forest. What initially looks almost fairy-tale-like becomes more unsettling as details emerge, including a small hare hanging from a string. Elshout uses the scene to explore vulnerability, control, our relationship with nature and the tension between the natural and artificial.

You can find Hunters at Dawn in Building 3, Section B, No. 3.25.

Marie Louise Elshout in her studio in Rotterdam 2026

Large-scale art reaches the Rijnhaven

Big Art will also extend beyond the factory walls, with several monumental works appearing on the outdoor grounds beside the Rijnhaven. 

Eva Margaretha is creating a five-metre-long Kebaya made from textile elements coloured using Japanese binding and dyeing techniques. Project Friso presents a bright red kinetic installation based on chairs by Dutch designer Friso Kramer, while Melissa Moria will place a huge work of billowing fabric beneath one of the site's old cranes.

Dré Wapenaar, presented by gallery NL=US, will show a wall spiral, a metres-high wall structure that visitors can sit inside. The waterfront setting gives visitors views across the Rijnhaven towards Hotel New York, the Euromast and FENIX, placing the outdoor works directly within Rotterdam's harbour landscape.

Inside the factory, the relationship between art and architecture remains central to the event. The large rooms, walls, silos and remnants of Codrico's industrial past provide artists with spaces that would be difficult to reproduce inside a conventional gallery.

All works at Big Art are available to buy. The independent platform works directly with participating artists and galleries, with sales income going to the participants.

Large painting by Majinggol & de Boer. Photo: Jan Willem Kaldenbach

New life on Katendrecht

The timing also matters because the Codrico site itself is entering a new phase. Now that factory activities have stopped, RED Company will transform the area into a new quarter on Katendrecht. Architect and developer Nanne de Ru says: “Codrico is an industrial enclave that will soon be redeveloped into a wonderful place to live and work. We are very pleased that Big Art is already showing the potential of the place.”

The redevelopment plans include homes, offices, shops, a hotel, hospitality venues, and cultural activities. The monumental character of the factory will remain part of the site’s identity.

For Rotterdam, the location sits in a particularly visible spot between FENIX and the Nederlands Fotomuseum. That places Big Art right in the middle of a part of the city where harbour heritage, culture and new urban life are already rubbing shoulders.

Room-filling graphical work by Ran Kunst. Photo: Almicheal Fraay

A rare look inside

Big Art also offers visitors a rare opportunity to explore a former industrial site that was closed to the public while the factory was operating. The event takes place during Open Monumentendag weekend, when special guided tours will focus on both the history and the future of the Codrico factory and this part of Katendrecht.

The site sits on the Rijnhaven between FENIX and the Nederlands Fotomuseum. With the Codrico area set to enter a new phase of redevelopment, Big Art temporarily opens the factory and its waterfront grounds before the site is transformed.

Video installation by Viktoria Kova - VK Gallery. Photo: DavId van der Horst

Big Art Rotterdam details

Big Art Rotterdam (2026) runs from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September 2026 and is open daily from 11:00 to 18:00. Last admission is at 17:30. Regular tickets cost €16.50, student tickets cost €12.50 with valid identification and visitors aged 16 and under enter free.

Tickets are available online and at the entrance, although booking online should help you avoid the queue. Coffee, tea, drinks and small bites will be available at the factory. Only the ground floor is wheelchair-accessible, and the organiser states that visitors with disabilities enter free. Dogs are not permitted, except assistance dogs.

Tickets and current visitor information: https://bigart.nu/bezoek.html

Website: https://www.bigart.nu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigart.nu/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigartnl

List of artists

Alexandra Arshanskaya, Anastasia Omelchenko, Angeline Dekker, anna hesselmann, Anna Ratibor, Anthony Litjes, Anton Shirkin, Babette kleijn, Bart Verburg | Francis Boeske Projects, Bibi Jordan, Bilal Chahal, Carmo Menezes, Carolien Scholtes, Caroline Girardot-Bijnen, Casper Verborg, Charlotte Dijkgraaf, Chitin Studio, Chris Adriaan, Chung Hsi Han, Clifton Mahangoe, Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev, Daniel Samama, Debby van Adrichem, DH Mack, Dickens van der Werff, Dijntje Bijvank, Dré Wapenaar | galerie NL=US, Eelke van Willegen, Emily Wortel, Erik Buijs, Eva Margaretha, Geertje Tjalma, Gijs van Poecke | Sandra Gisela Martin, Guusje Slagter, Harry Schumacher, ida-simone, Iris de Vries, Isabela Verhagen, Ivo Schouten, Jake Kelly, Jakob van Klinken, Jan Theun van Rees, Jeroen Kool, Jinxiao Zhou | Oooit Art Utrecht, Jolanda Linssen, Josien de Geus, Joyce Overheul | Art Gallery O-68, karlsWerke Dagmar Körkemeier | Fred B.kanena, Katayoon Valamanesh, Katrijn Verstegen, Kirilla Mihai, Kristiyan Dyankov, Lily de Bont | galerie NL=US, Linda Overzee, Lisa Snoek, Lucius Pax, Maarten Fijan, Maartje van Bel, Madelon Uljee | Root Gallery, Margré Steensma, Marie Louise Elshout | janinebeangallery, Martijntje Cornelia, Max Jacobs, Maya Berkhof, Melissa Moria, Michael Bom, Mikołaj Stojanowicz, Mila Lanfermeijer | Rademakers Gallery, Nadia Schambach, Nienke van der Maar, Noor Issa, Olaf Mooij | Buro Rotterdam, Olga Wagemans, OONA FROST, Paul Smulders | ArtSoleil, Pauline Nijenhuis, phlox van oppen, Prins Nicolas, Project Friso, reinier gerritsen | gallery Zic Zerp, Roebie Starink, Roos Schneijderberg, Ruth de Vos, RUWE BOLSTER, Said Kinos | Root Gallery, Sander Bos, Sander Buijk | Gallery Untitled, Sara Vrugt, Sarah Kerbosch, Sarah Reinbold, Saskia van der Kam, SAZZA, Sophie Schreurs, studio mo man tai, studio ron van heusden, Tanneke Barendregt, Textielfabrique | Galerie de Slang, The Youman, Thomas Elshuis, Tilmann Meyer-Faje, Timo Heijnk, Tjep., Tom de Vries, Tomas Schats, Victoria Kovalenchikova, Viktoria Kova | Malin Persson, We do! We do!, Wiepke Wolfsbergen, Willemien Mostert, Yip Stals, among others.

About Big Art

Big Art was founded by cultural entrepreneur Anne van der Zwaag, who is also director of the Rotterdam design fair OBJECT. The platform presents large-scale art by galleries and artists, with works on view and for sale. The organisation operates independently of commercial sponsors and cultural funds. Sales income goes to the participating galleries and artists.

How to get there

The Codrico factory is on Katendrecht, between FENIX and the Nederlands Fotomuseum. From Rotterdam Centraal, take the metro to Rijnhaven, then walk a few minutes towards the Codrico site. Parking is available nearby at Parkeergarage Rijnhaven, and bicycles can be parked around the site.