BuroDijkstra Art Gallery

In Rotterdam’s port in an old industrial building now converted into artist studios, the BuroDijkstra ArtGallery opened to the public in November 2005.  While this opening may have marked the official beginning of the gallery, the true conception of the space began in 2001 when the owner, Albert Dijkstra began offering his time and energy to the promotion of artists’ work on an international level.

 For four years Albert Dijkstra worked to establish connections with several art galleries around the world. These included: Galerie Aele/Evelyn Botella (Madrid), Art Statements Gallery (Hong Kong), Festival Walk Mall, Swire Group (Hong Kong), NYDesignroom (New York), Fanclub (Amsterdam), Gallery Leo Kamen (Toronto) and ArtMur (Montreal), among others.  At the end of four years it was apparent that a gallery was needed to host the growing number of national and international artists Albert Dijkstra supported and wished to support.


.  Throughout the last four years BuroDijkstra ArtGallery has hosted over 25 exhibitions and events and has exposed 38 established and emerging artists’ work to the Dutch  and International public. Accompanying these accomplishments in February 2007 Albert Dijkstra opened a second space in Amsterdam called the BuroDijkstra Private Viewing Space Amsterdam, located in a residential area in the city centre.  


The nature of Albert Dijkstra’s curatorial practice allows for much experimentation and openness.  Not having been established with a foundation in the arts has meant that his taste and influences are free from much of the artistic jargon that permeates other establishments. This openness to experimentation has also meant that the galleries are not only used as venues for commercial activities but also as spaces to host the exploration of ideas, especially those that concern the relationship between art, display, and space. It is through these dialogues and the personal drive of Albert Dijkstra that new spaces for generating and displaying art are continuously being created and changed.


  The BuroDijkstra ArtGallery in Rotterdam frequently holds many different spaces: small and intimate, large and cold, and even an outdoor space, the Post Grad Garden, a designated place for installations by recently graduated art students.  The BuroDijkstra Private Viewing Space Amsterdam, on the other hand, holds an atmosphere that is much more intimate and places a lot more focus on art as belonging to a domestic sphere.
Next to this BuroDijkstra attended a number of art fairs knowing: Art Amsterdam, Art Rotterdam and Preview Berlin.


Albert Dijkstra’s interdisciplinary approach to space also extends to his interest in a multiplicity of artistic mediums.  Through the last years BuroDijkstra is focusing more and more on sculptural and installation art work  Although mixed media sculptures, blind prints, oil paintings, installations, photography, textiles, drawings, music, video and performance have all found a place in the Dijkstra galleries. Additionally Albert Dijkstra’s receptiveness to art forms such as performance and installations - mediums that are not traditionally portrayed in commercial galleries - further distinguishes his galleries from more conventional ones.


Within the last 4 years the BuroDijkstra Art Gallery has not only proven to be a congenial space for the intersecting of different art forms but also a strong supporter of its artists. Several artists represented by the BuroDijkstra ArtGallery have sold works to institutions, such as Boijmans in Rotterdam and the National Gallery of Canada.  Others have received tributes, such as the Pendrecht Cultuur Prijs .However perhaps the most intriguing part of BuroDijkstra’s success is that the gallery has created a space in the Netherlands
commercial art community that is receptive to an array of diverse artistic mediums and practices that have not been experienced before.


 It is the hope of Albert Dijkstra and the artists involved with his galleries that the BuroDijkstra ArtGallery continues to broaden the borders of what is experienced, purchased and viewed in commercial settings.


Text by Michaela Chandler (Montreal, Canada)

BuroDijkstra ArtGallery Keileweg 26

3029 BT Rotterdam

mobile Albert Dijkstra + 31 (0)6 55894617 

burodijkstra@gmail.com