FROM 21 MAR to 30 AUG 2026 | Kunsthal Rotterdam will present Mr. Goodman: The Kiteman from 21 March to 30 August 2026, bringing together more than 250 kites from around the world. The exhibition draws from the collection of British collector Malcolm Goodman and traces how kites have been used across centuries as ritual objects, weapons, tools and artworks.
Image: Japanese room in Mr. Goodmans house. Photo: Scheltens & Abbenes / Kite Club
What makes this show stand out is its range. Rather than treating the kite as a simple toy, Mr. Goodman: The Kiteman looks at it as one of the oldest flying objects made by humans and shows how different cultures gave it very different meanings.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with The Kite Club and marks the first stop of a travelling exhibition built around Goodman’s collection. During his travels to around fifty countries, he acquired more than 500 kites, many of them from Asia.
More than decorative objects
Some of the most striking kites in the exhibition were used in healing rituals. One example is the tradition of hanging a kite above the bed of a sick person for three days before cutting the line and letting the wind carry the illness away.
Other kites on display are designed to make sound. Fitted with bamboo flutes and strings, they hum and sing in the air, turning flight into something close to a musical performance.
Japanese kites and kite battles
The exhibition also includes hand-painted Japanese kites made by master craftsmen recognised in Japan as Living National Treasures. These works add another layer to the show, connecting kite-making to long-standing craft traditions.
Another highlight is a selection of large rectangular and hexagonal fighting kites. In Japan, teams have used these kites for more than three centuries in contests aimed at cutting each other’s lines, turning the sky into a battlefield of skill and timing.
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The story behind Malcolm Goodman
Malcolm Goodman’s fascination with kites began in the mid-1970s during travels through China and Japan. What started as curiosity grew into a lifelong pursuit that led him to visit and organise kite festivals and build a collection of around five hundred examples.
In 2003, Goodman and his wife Jeanette bought an old bed and breakfast in Middleton-in-Teesdale, England, planning to turn it into a kite museum. Room by room, the house filled with kites, but permission to open the museum was never granted because of fire safety regulations.
Inside the house of kites
That unusual chapter also forms part of the exhibition. A photo series gives you a look inside Goodman’s extraordinary home, where the dream of a kite museum lived on even without official approval.
The presentation at Kunsthal Rotterdam was developed with The Kite Club, made up of still-life photographers Liesbeth Abbenes and Maurice Scheltens, creative director Peter Hebbing, and designer Bertjan Pot. After meeting Goodman, the group decided to document his collection in a publication and create a travelling exhibition around it.
