ROTTERDAM.- From Thursday, February 9th until Sunday, February 12, Art Rotterdam 2017 opens its doors to the public. The location again is the Van Nelle Fabriek, the icon adorning the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2015, Le Monde spoke of "one of the best art fairs in the past year", and according to Huffington Post Art Rotterdam is among the top five winter fairs. So expectations are high. As in previous years, the fair focuses exclusively on young art and includes its highly acclaimed presentation of a variety of exhibition models.

Variety of models
The New Art Section, put together by curator Natasha Hoare from Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, includes work by the youngest among the international galleries. In 2017 there were twenty-one. The Main Section will present seventy leading galleries, including all Dutch charts, the latest developments in the field of contemporary art. Projections, the section of video art and film shows twelve videos on a large, five-meter-wide projection wall. To promote the concentration, each video has its own sound shower. Projections has turned out to be a successful springboard over the past four years. Works by several exhibitors are included in museum collections or can be seen at major international exhibitions. For the exhibition Prospects & Concepts the old distribution centre of the Van Nelle Fabriek was opted. This huge area of 2,500 m will be home to works of about 60 artists who received an incentive in 2015 by the Mondriaan Fund. The curator will be Stijn Huijts, director of the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht. Intersections, the Department of installation and performance art, will reside for the third time in the old workshops of the factory during the eighteenth edition.

Nomination AICA Certificate 2016
The jury report of the AICA Certificate, an annual initiative of AICA (International Association of Art Critics), features Art Rotterdam as nominee alongside the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten en Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art. "Each in their own field on top-of-the-bill" states the report that Art Rotterdam praises as "an art fair which has for years been distinguished by a great diversity and talent to enter into partnerships". The report also praises the exhibition as "a conglomerate of presentations and activities that have upgraded the port city to the country's leading art city". "After a visit (or several visits)", it is finally concluded, "you have the feeling of being totally in terms of Dutch contemporary art. And there is a need, as also reflected in the visitor numbers. Which rose steadily to the point that further growth does not seem possible: from 16,000 in 2013 to 21,500 in 2014 to 26,500 in 2016".

Rotterdam is buzzing with art
During Art Rotterdam the entire city is bustling with beautiful museum exhibitions, site fairs, open studios and pop-up shows. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen will feature the exhibition `Mad about Surrealism`, an unmatched list of masterpieces from four renowned European private collections. The majority has rarely been seen and will disappear behind closed doors late May 2017. In addition, in De Kunsthal Rotterdam an exhibition of internet based art will be displayed from the collection of collectors Hugo and Carla Brown. And Voorlinden, the new private museum of modern and contemporary art collector Joop van Caldenborgh just outside Rotterdam, is an unmissable experience for every art lover.