Arts Lecture - Opening of the Faculty of Arts Academic Year

For over 35 years, the Faculty of Arts has opened its academic year with the Arts Lecture. During this lecture - with an interactive Q&A session afterwards - a famous Dutch person shares their opinion about the importance of the arts and humanities for society. Previous speakers include Ellen Deckwitz, Iris de Graaf, Abdelkader Benali, Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal, Stine Jensen, Ramsey Nasr, Anna Enquist and Femke Halsema.

The Arts Lecture is intended for staff and students of the faculty and also serves as a faculty welcome for new first-year students. Other interested parties are also very welcome to attend. The lecture is given alternately in Dutch and in English every year; this year it will be given in English.

The Arts Lecture 2025 will take place on Tuesday, 2 September, delivered by none other than Bastiaan Steffens. The title of his lecture is 'The Imagination of the Museum'.

Bastiaan Steffens (1988) is Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Museum aan de A in Groningen. He studied Archaeology at Leiden University and worked for six years as Curator of Archaeology at the Drents Museum, where he was responsible for creating major exhibitions, such as Pompeii and The Nebra Sky Disk. As an exhibition maker, he is involved in a wide range of projects at the intersection of history, heritage, and the public. Additionally, he is a board member at UNESCO Global Geopark Hondsrug.

Previous speakers include: