Olafur Eliasson creates an evocative deep-sea experience for the new ARTIS-Aquarium in Amsterdam

at PR Newswire

AMSTERDAM, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This fall, ARTIS will present a new commissioned installation by internationally renowned artist Olafur Eliasson in the new ARTIS-Aquarium. For the monumental rotunda, Eliasson is creating a multisensory artwork that invites visitors to engage with the deep sea: a place where almost no one has been.

Portrait photo of Olafur Eliasson, who created an evocative deep-sea experience for the new ARTIS Aquarium in Amsterdam. Photo credits: Louise Yeowart, 2024.

‘As you approach Deep seeing currents, you are slowly enveloped by darkness and the sounds of life underwater, layers of oceanic cacophony – whale songs, rumbling of hydrothermal vents, and human-made noises, among others. The vibrations can be felt throughout your entire body, emulating the experience of pressure in the deep sea. Above and around you, lights flash and seem to descend like the hypnotic circulation of marine snow, the organic and inorganic particles essential to life in the deep sea,’ says the artist. He also states: ‘I believe that limiting one sense can help us unlock the other senses, which is key to conjuring this unimaginable environment.’  

Art, science and nature converge
With this installation, ARTIS connects art, science and nature. Through sound, light, and touch, Deep seeing currents make the alien environment of the deep sea physically conceivable within the rotunda of the Aquarium. The work aligns seamlessly with the core of the new Aquarium, which lets visitors experience how everything on Earth is connected to water, from the deepest ocean to daily life on land.

The new ARTIS-Aquarium
The ARTIS-Aquarium, an iconic national monument, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, dating from 1882, has undergone extensive restoration in recent years and will reopen to the public in June 2026. The new Aquarium is not only a place for aquatic life, but also a museum environment where architecture, installations, science and art come together to tell a new story about the relationship between humans, water and nature. One of the oldest aquariums in the world has been transformed into a contemporary cultural experience. With the addition of Eliasson’s installation, the Aquarium gains a new dimension, where wonder, experience, and urgency converge.

Olafur Eliasson’s installation will be on view from October 3, 2026

Made possible in part by the Mondriaan Fund.

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SOURCE ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo