Introduction

Four hundred years ago, in 1624, the first Dutch settlers arrived in what is now New York City, and soon after established New Amsterdam and New Netherland. Over the next four centuries, New Amsterdam has made an impressive transformation, developing into today’s sprawling, diverse metropolis. And in honor of this historic 400-year milestone, the Netherlands wishes to mark the occasion by reflecting on the trials and triumphs that tell a more complete story of New York, while simultaneously looking toward the future. A future that showcases the variety and depth of Dutch-American arts, culture, and enterprise through artistic and innovative exploration, while actively seeking new connections and spawning surprising collaborations.

Standing apart from 2009’s celebration of Henry Hudson’s arrival in New York, this multi-year initiative provides an opportunity to tell the unique history of New York in fresh ways, incorporating perspectives that go beyond the Eurocentric by enriching the current narrative with the voices of those who also lived in and built this city: Native Americans, the enslaved people, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other voices often omitted in historical records, yet not lost from history.

Future 400 aims to be a catalyst directly impacting the next 400 years, ensuring a more equitable ideal for a truly shared history through partnerships among Dutch and American institutions. From 2024 to 2026, artists, performers, innovators, and entrepreneurs from the Netherlands and New York, representing a wide swath of cultures, will collaborate on a series of projects across a broad range of disciplines. New works will be created that grapple with the complex issues raised by this monumental anniversary. Works that serve to answer these fundamental questions: how do we tell the history of New York, including the founding and settling of New Netherland, honestly and inclusively? How do we candidly and meaningfully address the past? How do we acknowledge and steward those values sown centuries ago that still guide us? How do we treat each other in the present, and where are our blind spots? And, of particular note, what do we hope for in the future for our beloved city?

As new challenges arise every day, threatening to divide us, new voices come forward to meet those challenges. By empowering a team of multidisciplinary thinkers from the Netherlands and New York-Future 400 looks forward to the next four centuries, and beyond: A future that provides an opportunity to learn from the past collectively, put in the work to bridge communities, and build a more just tomorrow by creating space for collaboration across borders and boundaries.

FUTURE 400 gives New Yorkers the opportunity to experience their hometown through the lens of its history. From the past to the present, its projects center a multitude of voices—Indigenous, African-American, Dutch, and others—who made up the vibrant tapestry that was New Amsterdam, and whose diversity continues to distinguish New York City to this day.

Ahmed Dadou
Consul General of the Netherlands in New York

Timeline

After Henry Hudson found his way through the narrows between Staten Island and Long Island in 1609, the Dutch claimed the region, an area that started out for the Dutch primarily as fur trading posts. In the period of time between 1624 and 1626, many milestones in Dutch-New York history took place: the Dutch arrived to what’s now known as Governor’s Island; they established a settlement, New Amsterdam, on the southern tip of Manhattan Island; and they took ownership of Manhattan from the indigenous Lenape, in a transaction that, through the lens of time, takes on more nuance and provides an opportunity for reflection and deeper historical understanding. In the next forty years, New Amsterdam would grow to a population of 2,500 people, with a municipal government established in 1647. New Amsterdam developed into an important city of its time, until the English seized control in 1664. For more details on this Dutch colonial history in New York, please visit our respected partners, the New Netherland Institute.

Museum of the City of New York
Nationaal Archief
National Black Theatre
New Amsterdam History Center
New Netherland Institute
New York City Center
New York City Municipal Archives
New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs
New York Department of Cultural Affairs
New-York Historical Society
New York International Children’s Film Festival
Nieuwe Instituut
PEN World Voices Festival
Performa
Photoville
Planting Fields
Powerhouse Arts
Prototype Festival
Rambler Studios Amsterdam
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Rutkay Ozpinar
Schomburg Center
Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site
Socially Relevant Film Festival
South Street Seaport Museum
Stick Together Gallery / Max Zorn
The Committee for New York’s Quadricentennial, Inc.
Tribeca Film Festival
Urban Myth

List in formation as of 3/7/2024

Current & Upcoming Events

Click the image to read our FUTURE 400 brochure, which features select projects

Many events, projects and activities are being planned by a multitude of artists, friends, partners,  arts organizations, and other collaborators. An overview can be found on our main page, and upcoming activities are marked by a FUTURE 400 emblem. All FUTURE 400 activities can be filtered with the FUTURE 400 button at the top of the main page.

> Dates and times can change. Please check with the organization for final details.

New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam
Exhibition at the New-York Historical Society
March 15 – July 24, 2024
> more info

Beatrice Glow: When Our Rivers Meet
Exhibition at the New-York Historical Society
March 29 – August 18, 2024
> more info

Wild by Design Since 2009 – A Celebration of Piet Oudolf
Annual Horticulture Celebration at the High Line, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Friends of the High Line, and the 15th birthday of the park’s opening
June 1 through September, 2024
> more info

Ernst Coppejans – From the Streets to the Heart
Exhibition in the public space as part of Photoville
June 1 – September 1, 2024
> more info

Rambler Studios NYC Summer Internship Program
Summer program for New York youth (“Ramblers”) at Henry Street Settlement and Artist & Fleas, in collaboration with Rambler Studios Amsterdam
July – August, 2024
> more info coming soon

Choreographic Triple Bill from Rutkay Ozpinar
Presented by Battery Dance Festival (NYC) and Korzo Theater (The Hague)
August 2024
> more info coming soon

Delights of the Senses: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life. Featuring Paintings from The Leiden Collection
Exhibition at the Albany Institute of History & Art, in collaboration with The Leiden Collection
September 14 – December 31, 2024
> more info coming soon

Kings…come home
Theater production, co-production at the Apollo Theater by Kip Republic and National Black Theatre
February – March, 2025
> more info coming soon

Public Programs with Native American Communities at the Museum of the City of New York
FUTURE 400 teams with Native American communities through a partnership with Museum of the City of New York to develop a series of public programs over the coming two years, specifically geared towards families, that will include art, dance, theater and educational initiatives, and culminate in an exhibition of new Native American work in 2026.
2024 – 2025
> more info coming soon

 

Recent Events

Dutch Masters Revisited x Flex
Exhibition in the public space as part of Photoville
June 1-16, 2024
> more info

Wave Hill collaborates with Tom de Witte, international landscape designer
Tom de Witte lecture, design charette and gala at Wave Hill – a public garden & cultural center
May 28-30, 2024
> more info

Shipwreck and Salvation – The Wreck of The Prince Maurice 1657
Presentation by Toya Dubin, Mapping Early NY Project Director at the New Amsterdam History Center, Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, Algonkian Historical Consultant, and Julie Van den Hout, Dutch ship expert, at three locations on Long Island.
May 16, 17, and 18, 2024
>more info

Floris Wubben exhibition at The Future Perfect
The Future Perfect presents BRICK, a solo exhibition of sculptural brick works and furniture by Netherlands-based artist Floris Wubben. Coinciding with FUTURE 400, BRICK draws material inspiration from the Dutch-made bricks that contributed to building New York City.
May 9–June 21, 2024
>more info

We Are Still Here! Lunaapeew / Lenape Celebration Weekend
The Lunaapeew/Lenape community and the Museum of the City of New York host a weekend of activities celebrating the resilience and cultural heritage of the First People of the New York City region.
May 4-5, 2024
>more info

Slavery and the Slave Trade in New Netherland and the Dutch Atlantic World
Conference by the New Netherland Institute, in Conjunction with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the New-York Historical Society
May 3-4, 2024
>more info

Giving Voice to Value
Annual conference for museum professionals by the Museum Association of New York in Albany, NY
April 6 – 9, 2024
>more info

New York Before New York: The Dutch Impact
Talk at the New-York Historical Society
March 20, 2024, 6:30-7:30 PM
> more info

New York premiere of Depot – Reflecting Boijmans, by director Sonia Herman Dolz
Screening and talk with the director at the 11th Socially Relevant Film Festival
March 13, 2024 – 8:00 PM
> more info

Future 400 Film Program, Featuring Screenings and Discussions
New York International Children’s Film Festival
March 9-10, 2024
> more info

Rambler Collective Pop-Up at Artist & Fleas
Artist & Fleas partners with Henry Street Settlement and Rambler Studios Amsterdam, to showcase the fashion designs by New York Ramblers Ashley, Carmen, Dean, Jonathan, Stone, and Yaye, led by Andres Biel
February 17/18 and 24/25, 2024
> more info