After nearly a decade of managing the Fries Museum, the Fries Verzetsmuseum and Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Kris Callens is stepping down as general director by mutual agreement with the supervisory board.
However, like many other museums, the Fries Museum is also struggling financially. The 300,000-euro subsidy cut imposed on the museum from 2026 further exacerbates the problem, forcing the organisation to restructure in 2025.
Kris Callens took office as general director on 1 August 2015. Under his guidance, the museums presented a number of major exhibitions that attracted large audiences, such as Alma-Tadema, Classical charm (2016), Escher on tour (2018) Rembrandt & Saskia (2018) and We Vikings (2019). Last year was also successful for both museums, with the impressive international productions Porcelain Fever and Wu Zetian at the Princessehof, and the crowd-puller Yes, I Do! at the Fries Museum.
Now is a logical time for Kris Callens and the supervisory board to part ways. Hayo Apotheker, chairman of the board: “It’s time for the museum to turn a new page. We face a challenging year ahead, which also calls for renewed leadership. For the time being, an interim construction will supervise the management of the organisation until a replacement is found.”