Attractiepark
Karel Appel, Jan Vrijman
28. – 30.03.2025


Attractiepark Rotterdam. Photo: Philip Graysc


Jan Vrijman, De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel, 1962. Photo: Philip Graysc


Guided tour at Attractiepark during Het Zuid Manifest: I Love Carlos. Photo: Job Willems


Guided tour at Attractiepark during Het Zuid Manifest: I Love Carlos. Photo: Job Willems


Visitors watching De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel (1962) by Jan Vrijman at Attractiepark Rotterdam. Photo: Job Willems


Guided tour at Attractiepark during Het Zuid Manifest: I Love Carlos. Photo: Job Willems


Sphynx statues at Attractiepark. Photo: Job Willems
At the moment, I am still in the chaos. But it is simply my nature to turn chaos into something positive. That is the spirit of our time nowadays. We always live in a terrible chaos, and who can still turn chaos into something positive? Only the artist.
— Karel Appel, Monaco, 1986
It has been well worth the wait.
— Hennie van der Most, Rotterdam, 2025
For the first time ever, visitors were able to visit the amusement park - still under construction - during Het Zuid Manifest: I Love Carlos. Since 2012, entrepreneur Hennie van der Most has been working on realising his vision for the theme park. As an avid collector of rides from various theme parks and interiors from casinos, his artistic vision brings together multiple zeitgeists and worlds at once.
Led by dedicated volunteers, the guided tours took visitors through the underground haunted house, escape room, Ferris wheel, pirate ship, puppet theatre, and more. Visitors were also able to take a look around the office, where they could view the original construction drawings and sketches of the rides, designed by Van der Most himself.
The tours were fully booked all three days, showing how curious people were to get a glimpse of the park.
The tour ended with a screening of the film 'De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel' (1962) by Jan Vrijman, featuring striking camerawork and music by Karel Appel himself and jazz trompetist Dizzy Gillespie.The film blurs reality and illusion, depicting Karel Appel painting in what appears to be his Paris studio—but is actually a recreated space in Kasteel Groeneveld, a castle in Baarn, the Netherlands.