Els van der Plas appointed new director of the Allard Pierson

Els van der Plas will become director of the Allard Pierson in Amsterdam on 1 April 2022. She is currently managing director of the Bonnefanten in Maastricht. Van der Plas succeeds Wim Hupperetz, who has accepted the position of Chief Science Officer at the national Cultural Heritage Agency.

Born in 1960, van der Plas studied art history at Utrecht University, and she has successively held the positions of founder and director of the Gate Foundation (1987-1997), first director of the Prince Claus Fund (1997-2010), director of Premsela, the Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion (2011-2012) and general director of the National Opera & Ballet, before becoming managing director of the Bonnefanten in Maastricht in 2020.

Els van der Plas on her appointment: “As general director of the Allard Pierson, I will have broad-ranging responsibility, enabling me to draw on my experience and expertise in all areas. The Allard Pierson, an institute that unites the arts, heritage and scholarship, feels like coming home. I have always combined positions in the arts with advisory and supervisory roles in education and academia. All of this comes together in this new position.”

Gerard Nijsten: “We welcome a director with a broad network in the national and international cultural field and somebody with proven ability in connecting scholarship with heritage and the arts. Moreover, she has consistently demonstrated her ability to connect and motivate people.”