COVID-19. Ahoy’s halls are empty. The museum is closed. No holidays abroad this summer and Rotterdammers are staying at home. Two of Rotterdam’s cultural icons have come together to create an unforgettable experience, tailored to our current circumstances and open to all: a surprising exhibition of more than fifty artworks from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s internationally renowned collection plus installations by several invited artists.

Nature vs. culture

The Boijmans Ahoy Drive-Thru Museum has been created in response to the 1.5-metre social-distancing rule and highlights the current tension between man and nature. The world we have created it is under pressure, and nature is demanding more space. Despite its microscopic size, the virus has unleashed great chaos, bringing everything to a standstill and revealing our vulnerability and the limits of existence. We have fallen back upon our most basic needs and retreated into the groups in which we feel safest. Art can offer us comfort and help us to put things into perspective, and it can also show us the unpredictable and fickle nature of human existence. This exhibition explores the boundary between humanity and the forces of nature. You drive through the space, experiencing everything from the safe cocoon of your own car. Once inside the show there is only one direction and it is straight ahead.

Artworks and artists

The exhibition is based on an idea by Ted Noten. It features world-famous works from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and installations by contemporary artists that reflect on how people relate to their natural environment. Boijmans Ahoy Drive-Thru Museum brings together works by Ted Noten, Oskar Kokoschka, Bas Jan Ader, Melanie Smith, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Ugo Rondinone, Cyprien Gaillard, Joep van Lieshout, Wieki Somers and Jim Shaw, and installations by Bas Princen, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Anselm Kiefer, Olaf Nicolai, Bas van Beek and Marijke van Warmerdam.