Defne Ayas (2025 - now)

In September 2025, Defne Ayas (1976) took up the position of director of the Van Abbemuseum. Ayas, who is Dutch and grew up in Istanbul, brings a unique blend of international experience, social engagement, artistic leadership and administrative expertise to the museum.

Career

Before, Ayas worked as a curator, director, educator, and editor whose work spans culture, politics, performance, technology, and spirituality. She started her career in 2003 at the New Museum in New York, developing education and media programs focused on art, technology, and critical gaming. Over the past two decades, Ayas has shaped some of the world’s most adventurous art platforms, biennales, and initiatives. From 2012 to 2017, she led Kunstinstituut Melly (formerly Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art) in Rotterdam. Here, she championed sustained engagement with artists through exhibitions, operatic and theatrical commissions, and archival and publishing projects. One of these catalysed the institution’s transformation and name change, which was officially confirmed in 2020.

Since 2005, Ayas has been a guiding curatorial force at Performa, New York’s biennial of visual art performance. Here, she coordinates a city-wide and international network of institutions and produces programs that foreground civic imagination and urban choreography. Her curatorial work spans multiple continents, where Ayas curated groundbreaking biennials, including the 11th Baltic Triennial in Lithuania (2012), Turkey’s national presentation at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), the 6th Moscow Biennale in Russia (2015), and the 13th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2021).

Van Abbemuseum

Ayas’s relationship with the Van Abbemuseum began early in her career, contributing curatorial texts as far back as 2005. She later co-curated Double Infinity in 2010, a landmark exhibition which marked the first time a European museum opened its collection to the interpretations of artists living and working in China. The project drew partial inspiration from Eindhoven-based artist John Körmeling. Fifteen years later, Ayas returns to Eindhoven as director, providing programmatic and strategic direction for the museum’s programmes and the development of its collection. 'The Van Abbemuseum has a strong international reputation, I wish to uphold that status,' Ayas says. At the same time, she wants to expand the institution's regional role: ‘The museum is located in a city that is enmeshed in global chip infrastructures and complex technological flows. This empire of lasers and optics is fertile ground for us as a museum to connect with. But I do gaze beyond our own city walls. I consider Antwerp, Düsseldorf, Den Bosch, and so on, as local and regional too.’

Collection display

Ayas was appointed ahead of the Van Abbemuseum’s 90th birthday, which takes place in the spring of 2026. This anniversary will be celebrated with a new collection display: Collection as Cosmos, an innovative and large-scale exhibition – on display for four years from June 2026 – offers visitors a new perspective on time. It not only focuses on non-chronological time, but also highlights cycles of life and death, celebration and loss. Ayas: ‘Mourning and grief and how they embody potential for renewed energy and rebirth have a prominent role in the collection display. An approach to time form a regenerative perspective. Celebrating a birthday is wonderful, but at the same time I am looking ahead to the upcoming decade. How can we reinvent ourselves and future-proof the museum?’ Ayas envisions a transformation of the institution: ‘I always thought the word “care” was overused in the art world. Now I see why it is really necessary. Caring about the company, the processes and professionalisation. Caring for each other, but also for yourself. So, starting with the inside.'

Redefining Europe

As in her previous projects, at the Van Abbemuseum Ayas continues to explore how art shapes reality, politics, and representation. In an era of backlash and retaliation, she believes the role of the museum needs to be reconsidered: ‘We live in times in which authoritarianism flourishes and war economies grow. I think there is an educational role for us here. I hope the Van Abbemuseum can play a part in the redefinition of Europe that is currently taking place. Can we draw inspiration from the avant-garde movement that prevailed a century ago? The artists that were part of this group wanted to break with traditional museums. Mondrian, Bourgeois, Pollock and Gordon Matta-Clark: they all sought destruction and reconstruction with renewed energy.’

Partnerships

With a combination of imaginative experimentation and a grounded understanding of governance and municipal rhythms, Ayas wants to investigate how cultural participation can be encouraged. In doing so, she plans to expand the established collaborations the Van Abbemuseum has in the city and surrounding area: ‘Many promising seeds are already sprouting. For instance, the partnerships with organisations in healthcare or help for the homeless, but also our own Van Abbe choir. When it comes to partnerships, there are some great ingredients that in the coming period need to be watered so that they continue to grow. We then have to scale them in a smart way, in which the Van Abbemuseum team works together with the city's residents.'