From 11 November Bonnefanten will present a major new exhibition, 'Cooking from the Fridge'. 27 guest curators selected 270 works of art by 145 artists.

The artworks were acquired for the collections of Bonnefanten Maastricht, SCHUNCK Heerlen and Het Domein Sittard over the past thirty years. They will feature in surprising, stimulating and layered presentations covering an entire floor of the museum, combining painting, photography, film & video, installations and sculptures. 

Collections in perspective

The exhibition will mark the forthcoming departure of Bonnefanten director Stijn Huijts, who for the past three decades has worked as director of three collections in the Zuid-Limburg Regional Culture Partnership: Het Domein (1996–2007), SCHUNCK (2007–2012) and Bonnefanten (2012–2026). Together, they represent a combined collection of more than 1000 works, with a distinctive mix of regional, national and international voices. Cooking from the Fridge – a unique collaboration between three museums – will showcase the strengths and relevance of these collections, both within and beyond the Zuid-Limburg region, as an essential part of the Dutch national collection.  

Highlighting the alternative canon

The ten-month exhibition will feature national and international highlights, underlining the importance of Zuid-Limburg as a treasure trove of international contemporary art. With a wide variety of curatorial and artistic outlooks, the project will help foster a broader, more inclusive perspective on the Dutch national collection, not least because cracking open the mainstream canon has always been an important driver of Huijts’ collecting policy. 

Urgent, idiosyncratic and with a range of voices

Though this unique exhibition was originally Huijts’ initiative, he left the execution to 27 guest curators from the Netherlands and abroad, each of whom played an important role in the development of his artistic vision as a museum director over the past thirty years. He asked them to delve into three museum repositories and put together their own presentation (‘cooking from the fridge’). Their choices give us fresh perspectives on current issues, and highlight the social relevance of thirty years of collecting in Zuid-Limburg. Cooking from the Fridge will be a kaleidoscope, an ode to the combined efforts of museums, artists and curators working together to build a Dutch national collection for the future.

The guest curators are Maria Barnas, Paula van den Bosch, Lex ter Braak, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Valentijn Byvanck,  Ann Demeester, Marian Duff, Hu Fang, Celien Govaerts, Krist Gruijthuijsen, Ad Himmelreich, Lene ter Haar, Roxy Jongewaard, patricia kaersenhout, Fabian de Kloe, Mees Knarren, Victoria Noorthoorn, Hoor Al Qasimi, Jip van Reijen, Catharien Romijn, Wilma Sütö, Jennifer Tee, Ranti Tjan, Jerika Vertegaal, Zhang Wei, Wieteke van Zeil and Kitty Zijlmans.

Cooking from the Fridge publication

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication of the same name, with essays by Sarah van Binsbergen, Edo Dijksterhuis, Hu Fang en Aaron Rose, as well as interviews with the guest curators and a visual account of thirty years of collecting for Het Domein Sittard, SCHUNCK Heerlen and Bonnefanten Maastricht. The book will be published by nai010 Publishers, based on a concept developed by Bonnefanten, with editing by Bodosz, design by Buro Marcel van der Heyden and printing by Drukkerij Walters.

Cooking up something special

Cooking from the Fridge is an initiative of Stijn Huijts (director of Bonnefanten), in partnership with Het Nieuwe Domein, Sittard and SCHUNCK Museum, Heerlen. Produced in collaboration with guest curators Maria Barnas, Paula van den Bosch, Lex ter Braak, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Valentijn Byvanck,  Ann Demeester, Marian Duff, Hu Fang, Celien Govaerts, Krist Gruijthuijsen, Ad Himmelreich, Lene ter Haar, Roxy Jongewaard, patricia kaersenhout, Fabian de Kloe, Mees Knarren, Victoria Noorthoorn, Hoor Al Qasimi, Jip van Reijen, Catharien Romijn, Wilma Sütö, Jennifer Tee, Ranti Tjan, Jerika Vertegaal, Zhang Wei, Wieteke van Zeil and Kitty Zijlmans.

Thanks to Limburg provincial authority, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, VriendenLoterij lottery, Mondrian Fund, Het Nieuwe Domein Sittard, SCHUNCK Museum Heerlen.