Nieuwe Instituut
Nieuwe Instituut
Tickets

Search

Sonneveld House

News

Events

Now on display

Tickets

Plan your visit

Plan your visit

Events

Now on display

School Visits

Family Visits

Join

Subscribe to our newsletter

Listen to our podcast

Support us

Open calls

Nieuwe Instituut

Collection

Agency

Research

Organisation

About us

Press

Vacancies

Venue hire and catering

NL

World Expo Osaka 2025

12 April 2025 - 12 October 2025

Home
News
Cultural Programme

Cultural Programme

Nieuwe Instituut presents the cultural programme of the Dutch Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo at Osaka, Kansai, Japan. The curatorial team drew inspiration from two key historical examples: the Dutch magazine Avenue, which ran from 1965 to 2003, and the Netherlands Pavilion for the 1970 Osaka World Expo, designed by Jaap Bakema and Carel Weeber.

The cultural programme of Expo 2025 carries forward the approaches of Avenue's dynamic, cross-disciplinary storytelling, and the immersive, interconnected vision of the 1970 Expo. Themed Activating Common Ground, the programme forms a 'live magazine' composed of talk shows, showcases, specials, inserts, reflections and travels, and is built on collaborations between creators and organisations based in the Netherlands and Japan.

Specials

Image: Buro Miso

Buro Miso by Arne Hendriks

Arne Hendriks presents Buro Miso: Together we are the miso.

Waterworks – Hachirogata Lake. Image courtesy of Field Records.

Field Records

With Waterworks, Field Records presents sonic explorations of Japanese-Dutch heritage.

BLOODY BEAUTIFUL by affect lab.

affect lab

affect lab presents BLOODY BEAUTIFUL in Japan: digital inclusivity for all bodies.

Introdans (2022). Photo: Sjoerd Dérine

UNUM by Introdans

Introdans presents UNUM: How to create a symbiotic society?

Image courtesy of We Are The House.

We Are The House

Tomoko Mukaiyama presents We Are The House: a salon and performance space in Kyoto.

Benjamin Herman. Photo: Jonathan Herman

Benjamin Herman

Benjamin Herman presents The Tokyo Sessions, exploring Japanese and Western music.

Re-thinking, Re-use. Image: HOH Architecten

HOH Architecten

HOH Architecten presents Re-thinking, Re-use: a building as a comma.

Pavilion

Showcases

During Expo 2025, the Netherlands Pavilion presents a series of small documentary exhibitions featuring seven special commissions in combination with other projects from creators based in the Netherlands.

Image courtesy of Studio ACTE.

Event space

To create an inspiring setting for the different types of events and meetings held in the Pavilion’s Event Space, the cultural programme includes four additional components.

Off-site

The Editorial Studio

As part of the cultural programme, The Editorial Studio creates a space for meaningful conversations about human behaviour, design and cultural production.

Booklook by Anouk Beckers. Photo: Sharon Jane D.

Fashion and Textile research trip

Together with the Creative Industries Fund NL, which is committed to strengthening the Dutch design sector’s international presence, this programme supports a research trip to Japan for five designers specialising in sustainable fashion and textiles.

Nieuwsbrief

Ontvang als eerste uitnodigingen voor onze events en blijf op de hoogte van komende tentoonstellingen.