Monumental blow-up art with BlowUp Art X Pulchri Studio at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague

In May, The Hague's historic Lange Voorhout transforms into an open-air gallery with BlowUp Art X Pulchri Studio. The fourth edition of BlowUp Art The Hague presents an exciting mix of inflatable art installations by John Körmeling, Kiki and Joost, Eugenie Boon, Piet Warffemius and Fransje Killaars.

From May 10 through June 11, BlowUp Art X Pulchri Studio offers visitors an exhibition of volume with surprising, colorful installations in the public space. This year, the large-scale blow-up artworks can be seen simultaneously with Voorhout Monumentaal, Pulchri Studio's sculpture exhibition.

With these simultaneous outdoor exhibitions, in which Pulchri Studio, BlowUp Art Den Haag and West Den Haag have joined forces, a visit to the cultural hotspots of the Museum Quarter becomes even more rewarding.

Fourth edition
Curator Mary Hessing: “For this edition of BlowUp Art The Hague, we have selected a few giants from the art world who are not afraid to think ‘big’. The Lange Voorhout will get a solid and colorful metamorphosis.”

Since 2022, BlowUp Art The Hague has been an annual event where the outdoor space in the Museum Quarter is shaken up with colorful installations. During previous editions, for example, the Gevangenpoort was transformed into a green tunnel, the parking entrance to the Museum Quarter was given an ornament of red spikes, and last year a veritable sculpture island floated on the Hofvijver.

Joining forces
Pulchri Studio opens this season the third edition of Voorhout Monumentaal, the legendary biennial sculpture exhibition. This edition - themed “Celebrate Imagination” - will take place from May 10 through August 17, 2025. It showcases the work of fifteen artists of national and international stature.

This year the Lange Voorhout will be given extra color by BlowUp Art Den Haag, which surprises visitors with monumental works of art made of dust and air. In addition, West The Hague presents the Open Pavilion with Surinamese artist Marcel Pinas: a space for meeting, art and imagination.

BlowUp Art X Pulchri Studio: The artworks

With The Always Beating Calendar, John Körmeling displays a monumental yellow “donut” that celebrates time and rhythm, inspired by an ancient Persian calendar. Working with a 19-year cycle, the calendar is infinite, as is the form of this colorful artwork.

Eindhoven duo Kiki & Joost surprise with Look Always in the Right Direction. This artwork bursts out of Pulchri Studio's windows like a wave of creative energy. It is studded with arrows that give direction to positive thinking - as a visual ode to the power of art within The Hague's culture.

Eugenie Boon's Koncha pa dilanti focuses on identity, heritage and spirituality. Her birthplace of Curaçao is reflected in her work through Caribbean visual culture. For BlowUp Art The Hague, Boon, who has lived in The Hague for five years, created a giant inflatable deck of cards - at once playful and fraught. 

With Growth, Piet Warffemius invites stillness: his tree-shaped sculpture is a poetic gesture of nature in the city. In the outdoor space, his work becomes nimble and meditative at the same time. The bright red work features the distinctive, two-lobed leaf shape of the Japanese walnut tree (Ginkgo biloba) that is often found in Warffemius' work.

Fransje Killaars' sensory, monumental installation 24 hours revives the Lange Voorhout. Using materials such as rugs, fabrics and draperies, she has been exploring the power of color, textiles and ritual for decades. For BlowUp Art The Hague, Killaars created a colorful, inflatable sculpture full of emotion, movement and rhythm.

Fresh look
BlowUp Art X Pulchri Studio is part of the BinnenhofBuiten project, an initiative of The Hague & Partners that makes culture and art accessible during the renovation of the Binnenhof. The exhibition is freely accessible and offers a fresh look at art in public space.