Kadir van Lohuizen's Document Nederland on new energy at the Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam opened Document Nederland: nieuwe energie on 9 October 2026. The exhibition shows Kadir van Lohuizen's photographs of the energy transition in the Netherlands and runs until 17 January 2027, according to the listing on Foto-agenda.

A commission with a long history

The show belongs to Document Nederland, one of the longest-running photography commissions in the country. Since 1975 the Rijksmuseum has asked a Dutch photographer each year to examine a current social subject and record it. Taken together, the series make up a visual history of the Netherlands. For this edition the museum asked Van Lohuizen for his view of the energy transition.

The Rijksmuseum describes the subject in broad terms. The country is moving away from polluting fossil fuels towards sustainable sources. Wind turbines are going up at sea and on land, solar parks are spreading and electric cars are filling the cities.

Young photographers alongside

This year the commission comes with the museum's annual photo competition for secondary and vocational (mbo) students, which shares the theme Nieuwe Energie. The museum received 91 series. A professional jury and a public vote on Scholieren.com chose the strongest entries. The selected entrants then attended a run of masterclasses with Van Lohuizen and Rijksmuseum specialists, where they developed their ideas into finished series.

Eleven young photographers were selected: five from secondary schools and six from mbo colleges, including several students from SintLucas. Their work now forms a small exhibition of its own next to Van Lohuizen's. The museum's question for them was what the transition means to people who are young and have their future ahead of them.

Why collectors should take note

Document Nederland matters to anyone who collects Dutch photography. For half a century the commission has added one photographer's account of the country to the national collection each year, and the series now reads as a long record of the Netherlands in pictures. Van Lohuizen's contribution turns to a subject that is reshaping the landscape as it happens.

Neither source says whether a publication accompanies this edition, or who curated the exhibition. We will report on any book that appears.

Visiting

The Rijksmuseum is at Museumstraat 1 in Amsterdam and is open every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Document Nederland is supported by Rijksmuseum NEXT and, through the Rijksmuseum Fonds, by the Floor Fonds and the Familie Van Ogtrop Fonds.

Sources

• Fotowedstrijd 2026, Rijksmuseum
• Foto-agenda België Nederland, Foto-agenda