Van Abbemuseum redesign prioritizes sensory accessibility with neurodivergent input

The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven has launched 'System Thinkers', a long-term initiative embedding artists directly into museum operations. The inaugural cohort includes Ayoung Kim, john gerrard, Ayumi Paul, Kate Crawford, Vladan Joler, and the ADEZIV neurodivergent design network. ADEZIV contributed sensory modifications such as locker keys attached to fidget toys and a sensory map indicating triggers like bright light or buzzing noises. The museum, housing 3,600 works including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, underwent a redesign under director Defne Ayas (appointed September 2025). The building is organized into two segments: a ground floor with collaborations like gerrard's 'Ghost Feed' (2025) digital simulation and Kim's 'Delivery Dancer: Time Curves', and an upstairs with over 250 works reordered non-chronologically in 'Collection as Cosmos'. Curtains, varying light levels, and opera blasts create varied sensory experiences. Donation boxes from 90 local people mark the museum's 90th birthday. A room by Sarkis invites painting in bowls of water. The Wassily Kandinsky painting 'View of Murnau with Church' (1910), identified as Nazi-looted art, has been restituted and replaced with a print and receipt.