ROTTERDAM, 10 November 2025 – Curator Yesomi Umolu has been appointed the new general and artistic director of Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. She will take up the role on 1 March 2026, succeeding Aric Chen, who stepped down last summer.
Image: Yesomi Umolu, new general and artistic director of Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. Photo credit: Luke Walker.
From that date, Umolu will lead the national museum for architecture, design and digital culture together with general and managing director Aukje Bolle. The appointment was made by the Supervisory Board of Nieuwe Instituut after a recruitment process supported by executive search agency Colourful People.
Yesomi Umolu brings international curatorial experience to Rotterdam
Umolu brings extensive experience at the intersection of contemporary art, architecture and digital culture. Until recently she was Director of Curatorial Affairs and Public Practice at Serpentine in London, where she oversaw the artistic programme and led the curatorial team. Earlier, she served as artistic director of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial, regarded as the largest architecture and design exhibition in North America.
Her track record includes numerous exhibitions, commissions and publications with internationally recognised artists and architects. Beyond her curatorial posts, Umolu has advised cultural and philanthropic organisations, served as a trustee of the Graham Foundation in Chicago and sat on the curatorial advisory board for the United States Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale.
Supervisory board highlights combined expertise
Farah Karimi, chair of the Supervisory Board of Nieuwe Instituut, describes the appointment as a strengthening of the institute’s leadership. “We are pleased to welcome Yesomi Umolu as the new general and artistic director of Nieuwe Instituut. With her background as an architect and her international experience, including her curatorship of the Chicago Architecture Biennale, she brings a combination of disciplinary depth and cultural imagination. Her experience as a curator and her vision on architecture, design and digital culture make her well placed to lead Nieuwe Instituut into a new chapter together with Aukje Bolle.”
Karimi notes that under their joint leadership, the institute aims to further develop its role as a national and international centre for forward looking design practices. The appointment confirms Rotterdam’s position as a base for institutions that work with both heritage collections and contemporary experimentation.
Umolu looks ahead to “a new chapter” at museumpark
In her response, Umolu calls it “a great honour to lead a new chapter in the artistic journey of Nieuwe Instituut”. She characterises the institute as a unique organisation that brings together heritage and contemporary practice in architecture, design and digital culture, fields that have strongly shaped her own curatorial work.
Umolu says she looks forward to working closely with Aukje Bolle and colleagues “to further strengthen our institutional practice and to develop programmes that are ambitious, meaningful and sustainable”. Her move to Rotterdam follows years of work in the United Kingdom and the United States, adding an international perspective to the institution based in Museumpark.
Leadership team for the coming years
General and managing director Aukje Bolle expects Umolu’s arrival to support the next phase of the institute’s development. “Yesomi brings extensive experience from internationally recognised cultural institutions and wide knowledge of architecture, design and contemporary art. She has a clear vision of the role design disciplines can play in today’s social, ecological and digital challenges. I look forward to our collaboration.”
Together, Bolle and Umolu will form the executive board of Nieuwe Instituut. The Supervisory Board emphasises that the appointment follows a careful selection process, reflecting the institute’s ambition to balance governance, public responsibility and artistic direction in the years ahead.
About nieuwe instituut
Nieuwe Instituut is the national museum and institute for architecture, design and digital culture, located in Rotterdam’s Museumpark. The organisation combines exhibitions, events, research and international initiatives to explore how design ideas can contribute to pressing social and ecological issues.
The institute manages, preserves and opens up the National Collection for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning, one of the largest architecture collections in the world, and oversees Huis Sonneveld, a 1933 example of Dutch functionalist architecture. It also experiments with organisational models such as the Zoöp, which gives non human life a formal voice within the institute’s structure.
How to get to nieuwe instituut
Nieuwe Instituut is situated in Museumpark, a short walk from Rotterdam Centraal via the Westersingel and close to other cultural venues such as Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and Kunsthal Rotterdam. The area is accessible by tram and metro, with several stops around the park, and by bicycle via routes through the city centre.
Drivers can use nearby parking facilities in and around Museumpark, although public transport and cycling are often the easiest options during busy exhibition periods and evening events.
