Annual Programmme 2025

Navid Nuur – When Doubt Turns into Destiny (until 9 February 2025)
Artist Navid Nuur has created a series of one hundred vases in the Oude Kerk. He grinds the clay together with minerals, soil, and debris collected from all parts of Amsterdam, the city celebrating its 750th anniversary in 2025. Only in 2125, when Amsterdam turns 850, will all the city vases have left the church, marking the completion of the art project. Het Parool and NRC included the exhibition in their lists of the best exhibitions of 2024.

Windows Reframed – Stained Glass Returns to the Oude Kerk (21 February – 7 May 2025:
A major restoration project is coming to completion: after five years, two iconic stained-glass windows are returning to the Oude Kerk. Mary’s Deathbed by Dirck Crabeth (1555) and the Second Mayors’ Window (1757–1795) had to be removed in 2020 to prevent deformation caused by subsiding walls. Now, they are being reinstalled using an innovative technique that will accommodate future movement.

For the first time in years, the church will be free of scaffolding—fitting for Amsterdam’s anniversary celebrations. From 21 February to 5 May, visitors can closely follow the restoration process in the Mary Chapel. Experts will provide weekly insights, and a film will offer background information. On 13 June, Mayor Halsema will unveil the restored windows.

Kimsooja (24 May – 9 November 2025)
Internationally renowned artist Kimsooja is creating a site-specific installation for the Oude Kerk. She envisions the Oude Kerk as a bottari—a travel bundle filled with personal and collective meanings that journeys through time to the present. In Korea, bottari have been used for centuries, symbolising migration, change, and transformation. Kimsooja continually returns to this motif in her work, adapting it to each location and responding to the personal and social conditions around her.

For this installation, she covers the church windows with diffraction film, transforming natural light into a vibrant spectrum of colours. On the floor, she places bottari—brightly coloured, knotted cloth bundles containing personal belongings and clothing. She collaborates with local communities familiar with bottari culture, such as Korean, Chinese, Turkish, and Indonesian groups. In doing so, her work reflects Amsterdam’s diversity and migration history in 2025, situating the Oude Kerk within a broader narrative of movement and connection.

Kimsooja (b. 1957) is one of the world’s leading artists. Her work combines personal history with themes of migration, freedom of movement, and the sense of home, questioning our perception of time and space. She lives in Paris and Seoul and has exhibited worldwide, including at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, and the Guggenheim Bilbao. The Fenix Museum in Rotterdam recently acquired her work.

Minne Kersten in the Side Spaces (18 October 2025 – 1 March 2026)
Minne Kersten explores the interplay between human emotions and architectural spaces in her work. While a building exists as a physical place, people also shape it psychologically, filling it with emotions and memories. Kersten is particularly interested in how these spaces change over time. 

Minne Kersten (b. 1993) graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam) in 2016 and participated in De Ateliers (Amsterdam) from 2018 to 2020. In 2022, she was nominated for the Royal Award for Modern Painting and the Volkskrant Visual Art Prize and was selected for a residency at Triangle-Astérides in Marseille, France.

Hampus Lindwall and the Vater-Müller Organ (7 June, 13 September, 24 October 2025)
The Oude Kerk has invited Hampus Lindwall to curate a series of three concerts. Lindwall has been the titular organist of Saint-Esprit in Paris since 2005 and has developed into an experimental organist performing worldwide. In recent years, he has initiated several collaborative projects with artists. For the Oude Kerk, he is preparing a concert series in collaboration with Hanne Lippard, Ellen Arkbro, and Cory Arcangel.

Special Amsterdam 750 Events in 2025

Closing the Vault (Saturday 8 February 2025)
On 8 February, one hundred Amsterdammers will store Navid Nuur’s city vases in the Iron Chapel (IJzeren Kapel), which served as Amsterdam’s city vault for centuries. Among the historical documents kept here was the Tolprivilege, considered the city’s birth certificate. Each year, one city vase will be removed from the chapel and sold to a new owner. The Oude Kerk will use the proceeds to support artists in creating new works in the church over the next hundred years.

Saskia Ontbijt XL (Sunday 9 March)
Every year on 9 March, at approximately 8:39 AM, a ray of sunlight falls on the grave of Saskia van Uylenburg, one of Amsterdam’s most famous women. Locals, visitors, and admirers gather to witness this magical moment and pay tribute to her.

Reopening of the Oudekerkstoren (Saturday 12 April)
To mark Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary, the Oude Kerk will festively reopen the Oudekerkstoren, which has been closed for a long time. From Amsterdam’s oldest building (1306), visitors will have a panoramic view of the ever-growing city. The current Oudekerkstoren, standing at 67 metres, is the city’s oldest church tower. It may have even inspired Cornelis Antoniszoon’s famous 1544 bird’s-eye map of Amsterdam—a breathtaking world view!

Mayor Femke Halsema Unveils the Crabeth and Second Mayors’ Window (Friday 13 June)
For the first time in years, the Oude Kerk will be seen in its full glory. One of the most significant restoration projects of the past five years will be completed in this milestone year for Amsterdam, as the Burgemeestersraam and Crabethraam return to the Oude Kerk.

Free Entry on Amsterdam’s Birthday – Auction of the First Vase (Monday 27 October)
On Amsterdam’s official birthday, the Oude Kerk will be open to the public free of charge. On this special day, the first of Navid Nuur’s city vases will be auctioned.