Unseen photo fair is returning to Amsterdam under new management and in a new venue, five years after its commercial elements filed for bankruptcy.
Founded in 2012 by the Amsterdam photography museum Foam, the Vandejong Creative Agency, and the agency Platform A, and originally centred around a former gasworks in the city’s Westerpark, Unseen quickly established itself as a smaller, more agile rival to Paris Photo and Photo London. It earned a reputation as the essential place to discover—and purchase—work by the most significant emerging photographers.
However, the fair declared its commercial entities to be bankrupt in early 2020, leaving some artists unpaid for commissioned work. A statement issued by Unseen at the time said: “The three commercial entities of Unseen, Unseen International BV, Unseen Media BV and Unseen Amsterdam BV, have declared bankruptcy.
“The existing business model was making a financial loss due to high costs and disappointing revenues and therefore was no longer able to support its outstanding debts. The bankruptcy only concerns the private limited companies which have been financed by commercial revenues and investments.”
Under new ownership
Later in 2020, Fons Hof, the director of Art Rotterdam since its inception in 2000, oversaw the acquisition of Unseen’s assets by the rival art fair. Now Unseen’s director, Hof will this year relaunch the photography fair.
“Since the takeover, we’ve worked on rebuilding the event step by step,” he says. “That has meant reestablishing relationships with galleries and partners. The goal has been to secure a stable future for the fair, both structurally and artistically.”
“Although the new organisation was not legally responsible for the debts of the previous entity, we decided early on to pay the artists who were still owed money from the previous management,” the director continues. “This step helped rebuild trust and was appreciated by many in the field, including collectors, curators, and participating artists. Other outstanding claims were handled through the bankruptcy process and fall outside the current team’s responsibility.”
Hof recognises that Unseen has had to work to rebuild its reputation and brand. “We’ve tried to be transparent in communication and consistent in our organisational work,” he says. “That includes timely payments, clear terms for participants, and direct contact with galleries and partners. The involvement of the Art Rotterdam team has helped provide continuity and professional structure.”
The fair’s new home is a 20,000 sq. m cultural centre housed in a former shipyard in the borough of Amsterdam Noord
Courtesy of Unseen
Expansion and new location
The fair is relaunching in an expanded format that reaches beyond photography. The 13th edition will take place from 18 to 21 September at the NDSM Loods, a 20,000 sq. m cultural centre housed in a former shipyard in the borough of Amsterdam Noord—“a larger and more flexible space,” Hof says.
This year, Unseen will introduce five curated sections organised by the British curator Susan Bright, the Italian curator Domenico de Chirico and the French-Italian curator Théo-Mario Coppola, among others. Unseen will also launch Unfold, a new section dedicated to contemporary art beyond photography. The popular and free-to-enter Unseen Book Market will also return, hosting 60 independent publishers.
Unseen’s move into NDSM Loods reflects the ongoing repurposing of port neighbourhoods both in Amsterdam and in nearby Rotterdam. The vast 20,000 sq. m warehouse, originally part of the Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM) shipyard, was a vital element of one of Europe’s largest shipbuilding hubs throughout the 20th century before falling into disuse and disrepair.
Reimaging a cultural centre
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, artists began to reimagine the site as a cultural centre. Kinetisch Noord, a foundation that grew out of an artist collective, owns and manages the building, with the local architectural studio Jim du Pan overseeing the redesign.
The studio has retained many of the original industrial elements of the shipyard, including steel girders, overhead cranes, and wide concrete floors, while integrating modular exhibition spaces, flexible lighting systems, and improved insulation.
Another example of the dockyard trend is the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Holland’s national museum of photography, relocating to the historic Santos warehouse in Rijnhaven—Rotterdam’s port district dating back to the late 19th century. The Grade A listed, eight-storey building—which is one of the best-preserved warehouses in the Netherlands—will house and exhibit the museum’s collection of more than 6.5 million images. Its opening will coincide with the new edition of Unseen this autumn.
Birgit Donker, the museum’s director, says: “This will be the place where photography is celebrated to the full, from amateur photos to art photography and all that comes with it.”
Arriving even sooner is Fenix is a new international art museum dedicated to exploring themes of migration. The space will open to the public on 16 May, in a restored historic warehouse transformed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the internationally acclaimed Beijing-based architecture practice. It forms the centrepiece of the regeneration of Katendrecht, Rotterdam’s former red-light district and the oldest Chinatown in continental Europe.
The museum’s inaugural exhibition, The Family of Migrants, draws inspiration from The Family of Man (1955), the landmark exhibition curated by Edward Steichen, then the director of MoMA’s photography department. The Fenix show will feature 194 photographs from 55 countries, including Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother (1936) and Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl (1984).
