Established in 1975, De Appel has become a prominent space for contemporary art within the Dutch cultural sector, and is related to fellow institutes such as Witte de With in Rotterdam and BAK in Utrecht. At the international level de Appel serves as a benchmark for determining relevant trends in contemporary art and curatorial practice. De Appel arts centre is named after its very first location, a historic warehouse called De Appel, located on the Brouwersgracht in Amsterdam. De Appel was founded in 1975 as an initiative of Wies Smals, making it one of the oldest non-profit contemporary arts institutes in the Netherlands. Under Smals’ inspired leadership between 1975 and 1983, de Appel developed into a well-known centre for performance, installations and video art. These art forms were still in their infancy at that time. Under the subsequent management of Saskia Bos De Appel became a centre with an international reputation. The programme focused on the promotion of young artistic talent. After she left De Appel in 2006, became the Dean of the School of Art at The Cooper Union, New York. Between 2006 and January 2014 director Ann Demeester added cutting edge programming. She also worked to improve the transparency and accessibility of the institute. Currently Demeester is director of the Frans Hals Museum/De Hallen in Haarlem. Demeester was succeeded by Lorenzo Benedetti (former director of De Vleeshal in Middelburg) in 2014. After finishing the Curatorial Programme at the Appel arts centre he curated a variety of exhibitions, including the Dutch Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale. Since July 2016 Niels van Tomme serves as the director of de Appel. As a curator, researcher and critic, Van Tomme worked on the borders of contemporary culture, social studies and aesthetics. In 2019 Monika Szewczyk took over directorial duties. With Szewczyk De Appel found a director who expressed a deeply felt love for art. She embraces different traditions and looks to new dimensions of practice. In 2023 Lara Khaldi was appointed Artistic Director. She is an alumna of its curatorial programme in 2013/2014. She was a member of the curatorial team of documenta 15 tussen 2020-2023. She taught at and was the head of the Media Studies Programme at Alquds Bard College, Jerusalem, 2018 - 2020 and a tutor in the Disarming Design MA program, at Sandberg Institute, 2020-2022.

this narrative is a work in progress as our institution evolves