About Plaarts
Plaarts is for the art that's happening near you, now.
01. Who's behind this
Plaarts is built by Bradley, in Amsterdam, part-time. When you read "we" in the app, that's the platform talking. When you read "I", that's me, Bradley.
02. Where Plaats meets Art
03. Why I built this
Hi ~ Bradley here. I'm a designer and an artist working as speculative artefact.
The first time I exhibited in Amsterdam, I was frantically putting work together as people had already started entering the room. I kept wondering who would actually walk in. Friends, mostly. The same small circle that had been showing up for each other since the Rietveld. After Amsterdam there was Haarlem, and then another in Amsterdam, and each time the question was the same. The answer was the same.
I'm not a natural networker. My circle is small, and I lean heavily on the people I graduated with to spread the word, which works, in the way that small things work. But it kept nagging at me. How many other people are doing this exact thing right now, painting or installing in some project space in Noord or De Pijp, hoping someone they don't already know shows up.
And the flip side: if I weren't an artist myself, how would I ever hear about a show like ours? The big institutions are easy. Everything else lives in Instagram stories and word of mouth, and most of it just passes by.
That gap is what I've been trying to close. Plaarts is a way to find exhibitions in the Netherlands, especially the small galleries, the artist-run spaces, the project spaces.
It's still in beta. Plenty of rough edges. But after a thousand commits, it feels real enough to start sharing.
Bradley
04. What this isn't built on
Most platforms tell you what they stand for. Easier to fake. Here's what Plaarts refuses to do, with the reason next to it.
No engagement farming
The feed is ranked by urgency, freshness, proximity, and what others are saving. Nothing is tuned to keep you scrolling.
No ads
No banners. No sponsored content. No affiliate links to ticket platforms. Your attention isn't for sale here.
No promoted listings
Every exhibition is listed on equal terms. No premium tier, no boosted placement, no pay-to-win.
No selling your data
Plaarts collects what's needed to run; nothing more. Analytics fire after consent. Email me if you want to know exactly what's stored.
05. Where this is going
Most of the exhibitions on Plaarts are in Amsterdam right now. A buurt show in Eindhoven deserves the same chance to be found as a gallery opening in the Jordaan, so Plaarts is expanding across the Netherlands. I'm one person; coverage gets thinner the further you get from where I live. Help me change that.
Find your next exhibition, or share your own
Art lover? See what's on near you. Artist or gallery? Get your work in front of the people who care.