SIGNAL '26

On Friday 16 October, level -2 of the Q-Park Museumplein car park is transformed for three hours into an exhibition space showing the work of twenty recently graduated artists and designers from Dutch art and design academies. From 18:00 to 21:00, SIGNAL '26 brings the next generation of creative talent together with cultural professionals and the public, presenting work across visual art, fashion, textile, jewellery, painting, graphic design, sculpture, photography and digital art.

The Netherlands has a strong art academy system, but the step from graduation to a professional practice remains difficult. Once they graduate, young artists often lose the visibility, networks and context the academy gave them, and their work is mostly seen in separate graduation shows, which makes it hard to see a generation as a whole. Rather than extending the graduation-show format, SIGNAL '26 offers a concentrated first encounter with the professional field, putting emerging artists in direct contact with curators, collectors, gallery owners, museum directors, creative directors and the public.

The artists were selected for their artistic urgency, their ability to reflect the current zeitgeist, and the breadth of disciplines and academies they represent. The final selection was made by a nine-member curatorial board: Raquel van Haver (artist), Tess van Zalinge (couturier), Jochem Leegstra (founder of ANDSTAAT and initiator of THE NEW STIJL), Esmay Wagemans (artist), Marina Elenskaya (founder and editor-in-chief of Current Obsession), Samir Bantal (director of AMO, OMA's research and design studio), Emma Waslander (curator at the Amsterdam Museum), Fidelio Faustino (artist, photographer and art director) and Merel van Helsdingen (founder and director of NXT Museum).

In contrast to the established institutions above ground, SIGNAL '26 deliberately takes place in an unexpected, temporary setting beneath Museumplein: a three-hour pop-up designed not only to present new work but to start collaborations, exhibitions and commissions that last beyond the evening.

SIGNAL '26 is an initiative of the creative agency buro babet, produced by Stichting SIGNAL Foundation. The inaugural edition is made possible by the VandenEnde Foundation and Zadelhoff Cultuurfonds, with Q-Park, ANDSTAAT, STËLZ, ZEEKR, FLYERMAN, Celebratix and the support of the City of Amsterdam.