Zippora Elders Tahalele (39) will become the new general and artistic director of the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam. The museum announced this in a press release on Monday, February 2.
Elders was previously director of Kunstfort at Vijfhuizen and worked as a curator for, among others, the Foam photography museum and the Berlin Gropius Bau museum. She currently works as a senior curator at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. She will take charge in Rotterdam from mid-April. “I see the Photo Museum as a house for photography, visual culture and art in a broad sense, current affairs, and attention to diverse perspectives,” Elders writes in a written response. “The building, the collection, strong Rotterdam relations and the specialist team: a beautiful museum has been created and it is an honor to be able to continue and expand on it.”
Wanda van Kerkvoorden, chairman of the supervisory board, is also looking forward to the collaboration, according to the press release. “Zippora is a figurehead of a new generation, who brings innovative leadership to the cultural sector. She combines a strong artistic-content profile with an integral vision of a museum as a socially relevant organization.”
Months of unrest
There is quite a task on the shoulders of Elders, after months of unrest. The news of her appointment comes in an important week for the Nederlands Fotomuseum. After months of delay, the official reopening will take place in the new Pakhuis Santos building on Saturday February 7. This opening was planned for September but had to be postponed after the supervisory board suddenly dismissed the then director Birgit Donker, based on an investigation into “signals” that the board had received about withholding and attempting to influence information. Donker has always denied this and has now filed a lawsuit against the council. The case will be submitted to the Rotterdam labor court in mid-May. Even if she is vindicated, she will not return as director. According to the Management and Supervision of Legal Entities Act of 2021, dismissal of directors by a supervisory board can no longer be reversed.
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There was also unrest internally, among staff. Reported last summer de Volkskrantbased on mostly anonymous sources, about a “toxic working atmosphere” on the work floor led by Donker. She has always denied this too. She filed a complaint with the Press Council, which deemed it partly justified. A cultural survey is currently underway that the museum’s supervisory board has initiated among all employees who worked at the museum between 2019 and 2025 and that specifically examines Donker’s functioning.
Roderick van der Lee, who was part of the supervisory board before the dismissal, has been interim director since Donker’s dismissal and will lead the reopening this week. Elsewhere will be present. After taking office in April, she will first focus on getting to know the organization and “developing an innovative positioning, strategy and artistic vision for the museum,” according to the press release. The museum indicates that a business director will also be appointed, who will form a “two-person collegial board” together with Elders.
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