AMSTERDAM.- The new board of de Appel is pleased to announce Niels Van Tomme as the newly appointed director of de Appel arts centre, effective immediately. Van Tomme is the embodiment of the change and innovation de Appel needs right now. In him the selection committee found an outstanding candidate to give form and content to the diversified programme and community de Appel envisions. Over the years, Van Tomme has proven himself as a creative thinker, an inquisitive curator and a pioneer working on the intersection between art and society. With the coming of Van Tomme, de Appel is once again firmly anchored within the contemporary arts scene and Amsterdam and ready for the future.

As a curator, researcher and critic, Niels Van Tomme (BE, 1977) works on the borders between contemporary culture, social studies and aesthetics. He holds an MA in Cultural Studies at the University of Leuven and was affiliated with the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at UMBC in Baltimore, where he translated academic research into accessible, often confrontational exhibitions. His exhibitions and public programmes were presented at The Kitchen (New York), Värmlands Museum (Karlstad), National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), Gallery 400 (Chicago), and Akademie der Künste (Berlin). His curatorial projects have received grant awards from The Any Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Lambent Foundation, and The Nathan Cummings Foundation, as well as endorsements and articles in Afterall, Artforum, Art in America, Afterimage, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a contributing editor at Art Papers magazine. His texts, in which he connects contemporary art, literature and music to broader social issues and cultural contexts, are published in various publications, including Art in America, Camera Austria, Afterimage and The Wire. He has published the books Where Do We Migrate To? (2011), Visibility Machines: Harun Farocki and Trevor Paglen (2014), and, with Pascal Gielen, Aesthetic Justice: Intersecting Artistic and Moral Perspectives (2015). Most recently, Niels van Tomme curated the Bucharest Biennale 7.

In a brief comment, Van Tomme states that he feels privileged to lead de Appel: "My practices focus on the relationship between art and society, on creating new opportunities, and on thinking about alternative communities. It is with great enthusiasm that I take up the role of director at de Appel, especially after the recent, eventful period. I want the institution to once again reflect an open and diverse community, where there is room for experimentation, reflection and resolution. As director, my programme will focus on the intellectually and emotionally curious, culturally-aware non-expert, and I invite everyone, both locally and internationally, to come join us in this new, exciting story”.