At the Rijksmuseum Huis van het boek, Kexin Hao presents an overview of her work as City Illustrator. Original drawings are displayed alongside visual material from her sources of inspiration, including the Municipal Archives of The Hague and various workshops. To conclude her period as City Illustrator, Kexin compiled her city drawings into a special risograph-printed publication. Designed as a calendar, it allows every resident of The Hague to hang one of her city drawings on their wall.

Kexin Hao

Kexin Hao (Beijing, 1993) is a visual artist who lives and works in The Hague. She creates art, design, and theatre, with a focus on performance. Kexin combines various media, including video, printmaking, choreography, and music, and blends these with elements of popular culture such as aerobics, video games, online streaming, and puppet theatre. Through her work, she aims to offer playful, participatory, and interactive experiences that also engage with history, society, and cultural heritage.

City Illustrator of The Hague

Since 2023, The Hague has appointed a different City Illustrator each year. In their own distinctive way, the City Illustrator maps the city, building an artistic archive of The Hague through contemporary eyes.

All drawings created by the City Illustrator are included in the image collection of the Municipal Archives of The Hague. This allows everyone to view the drawings, creating a time document of the city for both present and future generations. The City Illustrator of The Hague is a project by the Municipality of The Hague, the Library of The Hague, the Municipal Archives of The Hague, and the art space Nest.

Images:
Kexin Hao, 'Wie ben ik dat ik dit doen mag', 2025
Kexin Hao, 'De vredesengel en de waarheid', 2025