Celebrating Curators

In 2023, it will be 25 years since CODART, the international network of museum curators of Dutch and Flemish art, was founded. To mark this milestone, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary year with festive activities on the theme ‘The Curator of the Future’. Throughout all of 2023 we offer a broad program, both online and offline, for a wide audience of curators, cultural professionals, students and all other lovers of Dutch and Flemish art.

The curator takes center stage in CODART’s 25th anniversary celebration

Survey and symposium

As the international network of museum curators of Dutch and Flemish art, we value the continuation and development of the curatorial profession. That is why we have commissioned a Dutch research agency to examine the current state and future of the profession. The results of the study will be presented during a public symposium on 9 June 2023 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. More information and the program will be announced soon on this website.

In addition to these two main activities, during CODART’s anniversary year we will organize several events on the same theme, “The Curator of the Future,” both online and offline.

Website and social media

To celebrate Dutch and Flemish art and make it even more accessible to an international audience, the CODART website will be expanded in the anniversary year with approximately 160 concise summaries of important museum collections in Belgium and the Netherlands.

To better serve the professional network, the database of curators will be enriched with the areas of interest and specializations of curators. This expansion will make it possible to find colleagues who specialize in a specific subject. In addition, the website will feature a new careers section where curatorial vacancies are listed and an up-to-date overview of relevant fellowship offerings in museums worldwide is kept.

In a special anniversary edition of Curator in the Spotlight, this year we highlight six curators who have been members of CODART since its founding in 1998. They reflect on the past 25 years and look back on their first time participating in a CODART event.

Every 25th of the month, we dive into the archives and publish a photo of a historic CODART event under the title CODART Memories. The photos are posted in advance on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Join the conservation on social media and guess where and when they were taken!

Mentoring Program

After a successful pilot study, CODART is launching a mentoring program that pairs curators at the start of their careers with those who have years of experience in the profession. Supporting curators of Dutch and Flemish art in their work, bringing members from different countries together in a range of activities, and facilitating knowledge exchange are integral parts of CODART’s mission and vision. With the mentoring program, we set out to give the next generation of curators a flying start in the field – and in the CODART network.

Keep an eye on this page as more announcements will follow throughout the year!