The Supervisory Board of the Mauritshuis announced today that Martine Gosselink has been appointed as General Director of the Mauritshuis. From 1 April, Gosselink will succeed former General Director Emilie Gordenker, who as of 1 February exchanged the Mauritshuis for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
As the Rijksmuseum’s Head of History, Gosselink led the museum’s historical programming (encompassing the permanent display, acquisition policy, provenance research into the museum’s colonial collections, publications and events, including the annual Night of History).
Martine Gosselink (photo: Mauritshuis)
She was responsible for the exhibitions Good Hope (2017, about the relationship between South Africa and the Netherlands since 1600), 80 Years’ War (2018) and the annual photography exhibition Document Nederland. Under her leadership, the upcoming exhibitions Slavery (25 September 2020) and REVOLUSI! (2021, about the Indonesian National Revolution) have been started. Other projects have included collaborations with The Dutch Open Air Museum (The Canon of Dutch History) and the Hermitage and Amsterdam Museum (Portrait Gallery of the 17th Century).
Before joining the Rijksmuseum, Gosselink was a partner and co-founder of the cultural collective De Nieuwe Collectie. Since 1995, she has worked on exhibitions, publications and cultural projects for museums in countries including the Netherlands, New York, Iran and Sri Lanka. In 1995, she completed her studies with Professor Ernst van der Wetering at the University of Amsterdam (17th-century art history). The new director of the Mauritshuis also holds many other positions in the cultural field and for the next six weeks she will be appearing in the six-part Dutch television series Historisch Bewijs (from 5 February 2020 on NP02).