Roosje Klap Appointed as the New General Director of Noorderlicht

Nicolette Bartelink, Chairman of the Noorderlicht Board of Directors: ‘The Noorderlicht Board is extremely pleased to be able to appoint Roosje Klap as general director. In her, the board believes it has found an inspiring leader who will give the business and artistic course of Noorderlicht an innovative impulse. With her expertise in new media, technology, and research, she fits perfectly into the future of the photographic medium. In addition, her desire to set the agenda and make contemporary complex issues and challenges accessible to a wide audience fits Noorderlicht’s DNA and ambition.’

Digital media, design, and artistic research
Since graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Roosje Klap has built a national and international network in art, design, research, and education, mainly in the cultural sector. Using ARK (the acronym of Atelier Roosje Klap) as a vehicle, Klap has established an interdisciplinary practice through which the collective has realized extraordinary collaborations for, among others, the MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven, the Digital Art Museum in Taipei and the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. In 2022, ARK won the Gouden Kalf for Best Digital Cultural Production for their installation LAWKI.

Her love for photography manifested as she embarked as an editorial board member and creator with the experimental photo magazine Sec. (1998-2002), a platform for young photographers and other emerging image-makers. An experienced teacher and coach specializing in design, digital media, and artistic research, Roosje has led and designed curricula and workshops for (inter)national art schools and universities to guide and inspire creatives. Between 2011 and 2021, Klap was co-head of the Graphic Design (BA) and Non Linear Narrative (MA) departments at the Royal Academy (KABK) in The Hague and was a core advisor at the Van Eyck Academy in Maastricht between 2012 and 2019.

Excellent successor
Retiring director Kees van der Meiden: ‘I am delighted that, with Roosje Klap, an excellent successor has been found to whom I can hand over the beautiful Noorderlicht. We worked intensively with Roosje and her collective ARK during our Noorderlicht biennial, ‘The Makeable Mind’ (2021). Together with her inspiring collective of young people, she produced LAWKI in the Akerk, an intriguing multimedia installation that confronted people with the chaotic cacophony of images that reach and affect us through contemporary media. We were extremely proud that the production was rewarded with a Gouden Kalf! As we experienced then, she is an excellent leader, a true ‘Mater Familias,’ who takes her team to great heights with humor and passion. I wish her and my colleagues at Noorderlicht a bright future!’

About Noorderlicht
Noorderlicht is an international presentation institution for engaged makers from around the world, using the photographic medium and engaging in dialogue with the public. They encourage insight into and engagement with artistic social stories about what touches and moves people, and facilitate their development. Photography is their starting point, visual culture their field of action.