FROM 7 NOV '26 to 7 MAR '27 | Kunsthal Rotterdam will present Jip van den Toorn. Now That You’re Here from 7 November 2026 to 7 March 2027, bringing together more than 250 drawings from the cartoonist’s past six years. The retrospective follows ideas from early notes and sketchbook doodles to finished cartoons, while also showing how Van den Toorn uses humour to dissect everyday life, social tensions and the increasingly strange state of the world.
More than 250 drawings
The exhibition takes over HALL 5 at Kunsthal Rotterdam and combines drawings with sketchbooks and video. Rather than simply presenting finished cartoons, Now That You’re Here traces how Van den Toorn develops an idea, beginning with a first note or rough sketch and following it through to the final image.
Visitors are also invited to use Van den Toorn’s work as a starting point for expressing their own views on current affairs and the world around them. Part of the exhibition is the 2026 NTR short documentary Jip van den Toorn – Boekhouder (Bookkeeper), directed by Stephane Kaas, which follows her creative process.
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Humour meets social commentary
Van den Toorn’s cartoons combine a deliberately direct visual language with observations about social behaviour, cultural trends and human shortcomings. Her drawings often reduce complicated situations to a few lines, using satire to expose tensions that might otherwise be difficult to put into words.
That economy is part of what makes her work recognisable. The drawings can look simple at first glance, but the humour often carries a second layer, turning everyday situations into commentary on relationships, politics, culture or changing social norms.
From newspapers to the Kunsthal
Born in 1993, Jip van den Toorn has become one of the best-known cartoonists in the Netherlands. Her drawings regularly appear in publications including de Volkskrant, De Morgen and VPRO Gids.
She won a World Illustration Award in 2018 and made history in 2022 when she became the youngest and first female winner of the Inktspotprijs, the Dutch award recognising political cartoons. Her book Hoe vond je zelf dat het ging? (How did you think it went?) appeared in 2025, and a new 2026 yearbook is due to launch in early November.
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Artist Talk on opening day
Van den Toorn will appear at the Kunsthal on Saturday 7 November at 17:30 for an Artist Talk in the Kunsthal Auditorium. She will discuss her working methods and how her cartoons develop from first idea to finished drawing.
The exhibition will also feature in Kunsthal’s ArtHopping tours, which introduce visitors to different parts of the museum’s programme. Registration for those activities is available through kunsthal.nl.
When to see the exhibition
Jip van den Toorn. Now That You’re Here runs from 7 November 2026 to 7 March 2027 at Kunsthal Rotterdam. The Kunsthal is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00.
More information about the exhibition and accompanying activities is available at kunsthal.nl.
How to get there
