Last Updated on September 4, 2026
Fenix, Rotterdam’s new art museum dedicated to migration, will expand its exhibition space this autumn with the opening of a new 650 sq. metre ground floor gallery dedicated to major temporary exhibitions by contemporary artists.
The new gallery will open with Mouthfool, the first major exhibition in the Netherlands devoted to the work of the international arts collective Slavs and Tatars. Running from 19 November 2026 to 9 May 2027, the exhibition marks the twentieth anniversary of the collective.
Fenix, which opened to the public on 16 May 2025, has welcomed more than half a million visitors from over 100 countries in its first year, making it the most visited art museum in Rotterdam. Designed by MAD Architects, with extensive permanent galleries developed from the vast spaces of a historic 1923 warehouse on the dock in Rotterdam, Fenix is the world’s first art museum dedicated to the subject of migration.
The new exhibition space will allow for in-depth exploration and current perspectives on migration, seen through the eyes of contemporary artists. It will be on the ground floor of Fenix and compliment the permanent exhibitions All Directions, Family of Migrants and The Suitcase Labyrinth. Exhibitions will be accompanied by an intervention in Plein, the museum’s free inside city square.
Slavs and Tatars was formed in 2006, and their work spans a vast region stretching from the former Berlin Wall to the Great Wall of China. They explore how the immense territory has been shaped by centuries of migration, trade, conquest and cultural exchange. With a combination of humour and astute observations, they show how porous political borders are, and the way in which food, myths, and language move freely through them.
In Mouthfool, Slavs and Tatars focus on the way in which language travels, changes and migrates. The exhibition includes dozens of works across sculpture, textiles and sound. A highlight of the exhibition is Molla’s Reverse Ride (2026) a new work commissioned by Fenix which will take over Plein. The work is inspired by the folk character known as Molla, perhaps the most famous folk character in the region of Slavs and Tatars’ work, whose stories have been told for more than 700 years. Audiences will be invited to sit backwards in bright red race cars that are driven around a track, mimicking Molla who is often depicted sitting backwards on his donkey.
“Following a successful first year, we are delighted to be expanding Fenix’s artistic programme and cultural offering with this new exhibition space,” Anne Kremers, Director of Fenix, said. “The powerful, intelligent and often humorous work of Slavs and Tatars is the ideal way to launch the space, inviting audiences to engage with themes of migrations through art. We look forward to welcoming visitors this autumn.”
Listings Information
Slavs & Tatars: Mouthfool
19 November 2026 – 9 May 2027
Fenix
Paul Nijghkade 5
3072 AT Rotterdam
Tickets from €7.50, free for 18 and under
