Hendrik Folkerts (M.A., Art History, University of Amsterdam) is the Dittmer Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. His commitment to performance and body politics, global and feminist art histories, and supporting the work of contemporary artists through the process of commissioning, unfolds in exhibitions, collection presentations, and performance and research programs at the Art Institute. Most recently, he has organized Mounira Al Solh’s solo exhibition I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous (February 8 – April 29, 2018); Anne Imhof’s performance exhibition Sex (May 30 – July 7, 2019); (iterations (2019-2021), a series of performance commissions that presents new works by Alexandra Bachzetsis, Math Bass, Cevdet Erek, Ralph Lemon, Paulina Olowska, Cally Spooner, and Evelyn T. Wang; a solo presentation by pioneering performance and video artist Vaginal Davis, entitled The White to be Angry (February 1 – April 6, 2020); Malangatana: Mozambique Modern, an exhibition featuring the work of Malangatana Ngwenya, one of Mozambique’s most important modern artists (March 21 – July 7, 2020); and a solo exhibition of Cape Town-based artist Igshaan Adams, planned for 2022.

He was curator at documenta 14 (Athens, April 8 – July 16 / Kassel, June 10 – September 17, 2017) from 2014 until 2017. Together with the team led by artistic director Adam Szymczyk, he was responsible for the exhibitions in Athens, Greece, and Kassel, Germany. With a focus on performance and scores, indigenous practices, and Southeast Asian & Pacific art, he also shepherded a larger number of new artist commissions for the exhibition.

Prior to joining the curatorial team of documenta 14, Folkerts was Curator of Performance, Film, and Discursive Programs at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2010 until 2015). From 2009 to 2011, Folkerts was coordinator of the Curatorial Program at de Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. His texts have been published in journals and magazines such as South as a State of Mind, Mousse Magazine, Artforum International, The Exhibitionist, Metropolis M, Art & the Public Sphere, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues. Most recently, he contributed to monographs on Andy Warhol, Carlos Motta, Anne Imhof, Mounira Al Solh, Vivian Suter, Bouchra Khalili, Alexandra Bachzetsis, and Samson Young. Folkerts is coeditor of The Shadowfiles #3: Curatorial Education (2013), Facing Forward: Art & Theory from a Future Perspective (2014) and the journal Stedelijk Studies #3: The Place of Performance (2015).