Gerrit Rietveld Academie

PEEKING

This selection of photographs captures some moments of how students and staff of Rietveld (and Sandberg) inhabit the school by leaving behind personal traces that reflect stories, ideas, or processes that happen within the academy. Whether it’s (hidden) notes around the school, poetic chalk announcement, or the stairs that worn-down only on one side, these traces reveal the everyday presence of those who move through and shape the space.

1. Print of hugging dogs taped to the glass door of the Screen-printing workshop in the basement of the Rietveld building
2. .journal ’s announcement of the deadline extension for the open call written with the chalk on the rooftop of the Pavilion around the beginning of April. The Rietveld Journal is expected to be published around the Graduation Show. Stay tuned!
3. The billboard made by Mani and Pixi, current Basicyear students
4. Close-up of Mani and Pixi’s poster: “Rietveld Grey makes no-one gay”
5. Some chairs that Mani and Pixi painted pink as part of their project
6. The legendary Basicyear horse was spotted transported in an unknown direction on 10 April, reported by Bodil ()
7. The working student poster for the Graduation Show which was hanging around the school (the deadline has passed though!)
8. Stuck cookie in the vending machine (as it indeed happens to drinks and snacks sometimes)
9. The note left on the vending by a concierge asking not to shake the machine
10. Worn-down staircase and floor in the Rietveld building
11. A silhouette of a figure made out of green stickers glued to the lockers in the basement of the RV building
12. And lastly, a small doll in the corner on the second floor of the Benthem Crouwel building (not so far away from the designLAB department)
13. The close-up to the doll; it’s been there for a long time

Peeking at Rietveld is a student-led, ongoing photography archive documenting life at the academy. See more at .
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All images by (except one of the horse captured by Bodil)

ALUM WATCH

Keeping an eye on our alums!

👁️The Swiss Pavilion presents ‘The Unfinished Business of Living Together’. An exhibition during La Biennale di Venezia 2026 with a.o. alum Lithic Alliance ().
👁️'The long middle' is a collaborative exhibition by Rietveld allums Marie Ilse Bourlanges (), and Youngeun Sohn () and Sandberg alum Romy Day Winkel () at . Through sculpture, installation and performance works, the exhibition takes weaving as its underlying logic and as a way of thinking about embodiment and materiality. From 9 till 24 May!
👁️'Mammut' is a solo exhibition by alum Milena Anna Bouma () in from 14 May till 16 July. Showing porcelain sculptures of giant cicadas produced during an artist-in-residence period in Arita, Japan.
👁️What happens when craftsmanship meets high technology? At 'Mens

ORIENTATION COURSE - 1 MAY

Apply now for the Orientation Course!

You can apply for the Orientation Course when you are interested in art education and you’re looking for a broad learning experience. It's an exploratory programme of 25 lessons during which you can familiarise yourself with the working methods of the Rietveld Academie. You can expand your skills or find out if you want to pursue studying art & design. Classes are held on a total of 25 Saturdays, and are given by a team of professional artists, designers and educators.

Note that the application process includes a talk in which we establish if the Orientation Course is a fitting step for you. This is mostly to see if you are informed and motivated.

📌Participants are aged between 16 and 60 and have very different backgrounds and experience
📌Deadline: 1 May 2026
📌More info via the link in bio

PREPARATORY COURSE - 1 MAY

Apply now for the Preparatory Course!

This is your chance to prepare a bit more if you are interested in studying at the Rietveld Academie. In this extensive course of 25 weeks, participants expand their portfolio and do a lot of assignments in three to four half-day lessons in art and design every week. These assignments give a good impression of the kind of education that can be expected in a further study at the academy. After finishing the Preparatory Course, participants with a satisfactory result may be ready to start in Basicyear, the first year of our Bachelor.

Applicants to the Preparatory Course receive assignments to make and present alongside their portfolio during an admission talk. If you want to be considered for the first admission round in May, please apply before 1 May 2025!

📌Applications are open to candidates with the age of 16 to 25
📌Deadline: 1 May 2026
📌More info via the link in bio

STUDENTS

This collection showcases three students from Basicyear, Graphic Design and The Large Glass department: Alice Ann, Anatole, and Friend respectively. Each student shared their work as it was captured in the moment of interviewing.

1. Alice Ann, Basicyear (.lic.e.ann)
2. A close up to Alice Ann’s painting
3. The portrait of the woman by Alice Ann
4. A wearable textile work by Alice Ann: ”…It’s a way for me to reconnect with the [Surinamese] language, making it easier to learn. The textile has translations of body parts, and I’m turning it into a garment, so each body part has its Surinamese word like “Anu” on your arm and “Baka” on your back.”
5. Alice Ann in the class’ storage
6. Anatole holding the book with a cover that looks like an actual cap, 2nd year of Graphic Design department ( )
7. One of Anatole’s websites: “I made another website about an experiment my father conducted at his science faculty involving birds.” 
8. One of the posters Anatole made together with which they designed the Rietveld Journal 6 open day campaign. 
9. Anatole wearing a hat: “The foldable book/hat is a project I made for my graduation at my previous school. It explores the “legends” surrounding my village […]”
10. Friend (Laura), last year of the Glass department, is next to the work “why would anyone do this” during the glass department’s exhibition at Witte De Withstraat 168 ( .glass)
11. A close-up to Friend’s work “why would anyone do this”
12. Friend’s lamp in the basement: “[...] it used to be a party light with many colourful dots and then i removed all but one. It also has a randomiser inside but im pretty sure its random without it as well”
13. Another look at Friend’s lamp 
Rietveld Students is a student-led photography archive that documents how students work, look, and evolve. It began in a Basicyear Mixed Media class and has since grown into a collaborative collection that continues to expand. Visit  to see learn more about each student.

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All images by

OPEN CALL: LENTEKABINET

Rietveld Academie (Public & Projects) is invited for a first time by Lentekabinet Festival to present current Rietveld students during this year's edition.

Lentekabinet Festival is Dekmantel’s annual spring festival that touches down just north of Amsterdam, on the lush grounds of Het Twiske, during Pentecost weekend on 23 and 24 May. For this collaboration Lentekabinet will create an outside exhibition at the festival grounds in the forest. It will be a presentation of a selection of works by approximately 10 current Rietveld students.

🍃Who can apply: Current Rietveld students
🌸What: One existing two-dimensional artwork
🌱Printed on: 60x80cm Forex
🌼When: 23 & 24 May 2026
🌾Theme: Lentekabinet takes place in nature reserve Twiske. Nature is a big part of the festival. Therefore the theme of the exhibition will be the poem ‘De dag is van glas maar o de bomen’ by Maria Barnas. We ask you to find a work that resonates with her poem, that will be the central theme of the exposition and will also be printed at the start of the exhibition.
🌷Open call deadline: Sunday 3 May 2026

More practical info and what to include in your application via the link in bio!

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Images: Lentekabinet Festival, photos by Stef van Oosterhout

APPLY

Would you like to apply for admission to our Bachelor's programme in Fine Arts & Design? That's still possible until 1 May 2026!

For detailed information about our admission procedure, find more information on our website via the link in bio.

If you have any questions left about:
- Admissions? Email: [email protected]
- Student matters? Email: [email protected]
- Visa and residence permits? Email: [email protected]

Image: Open Day 2023, photo by Sophia Jiaqi Xu

KUNSTRAI (3/3)

A last sneak peek for the upcoming KunstRAI x Rietveld Alumni exhibition! ‘paralelepípedo: about paradoxical dreams, bodies and imaginaries’ opens this Wednesday at the Amsterdam RAI’s Europahal.

From 22 until 26 April 2026, KunstRAI and Rietveld Academie jointly present work of 23 artists who graduated in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The artists embody an interdisciplinary, experimental, critical, sensitive, and activist identity that continuously fabulates ways to provoke the assumed and associative meaning of the white cube’s ‘stuckness’.

1. Wenzhu Song () - Finally, light sew us together
2. Elle van Baaren () - HI**ER DEAD
3. Ethan Lieutet Khnafo (.world) - Piggy Banks
4. Rosa Shepherd () - A Duet
5. Sofie Santos (.snts) - The Memory of Matter
6. Pluk Robinson van Herwijnen () - Franklin’s castle
7. Marie Willfort () - da ist was mit himmel und wolken (there is something about skies and clouds)
8. Maud Talma - Jullie Snelwegen !

Get your tickets via the link in bio 🛒