a circular jetty made of sand extending into the water

Excursions to Broken Circle/Spiral Hill in 2025-26

We are delighted to announce that Land Art Contemporary and DIEP will organize a series of bus excursions to visit Robert Smithson's Broken Circle/Spiral Hill (1971) in 2025 and 2026. 

Earlier this year the Province of Drenthe in the Netherlands designated the artwork Broken Circle/Spiral Hill as a provincial monument, marking the development of a sustainable future for this world-renowned artwork in Emmen, the Netherlands. The work is located on private land and can now be visited solely during these upcoming eight Open Weekends. Visitors can experience the artwork on two weekends per season and the full schedule is below.

Tickets for these excursions are available here.

To minimize the environmental impact, excursions will be conducted by bus. The departure point is Emmen Zuid Station, which is easily accessible by public transport and car. From the parking area, a bus will take visitors to Broken Circle/Spiral Hill. Along the way, a brief introduction to the artwork will be provided. Additionally, an audio tour (accessible via smartphone) and Nancy Holt's film Breaking Ground: Broken Circle/Spiral Hill (approx. 21 min) will be available for viewing. The visit on site lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

Dates

2025 Excursion Weekends:

Spring:
Weekend 1: Saturday, April 19 & Sunday, April 20
Weekend 2: Saturday, May 10 & Sunday, May 11

Summer:
Weekend 3: Saturday, June 21 & Sunday, June 22
Weekend 4: Saturday, July 26 & Sunday, July 27

Autumn:
Weekend 5: Open Monuments Day Saturday, September 13 & Sunday, September 14 (in development)
Weekend 6: Saturday, October 18 & Sunday, October 19

2026 Excursion Weekends:

Winter:
Weekend 7: Saturday, January 17 & Sunday, January 18
Weekend 8: Saturday, February 21 & Sunday, February 22

Visiting info

In terms of clothing and footwear, keep in mind that a visit to Broken Circle/Spiral Hill takes place mainly in the open air. All visitors must take care on the site. There are steep inclines, and the ground can be muddy. Unfortunately, the artwork is difficult to navigate for those with mobility issues. Please contact info@brokencircle.nl to discuss the details of your visit.

Since February 2024, Broken Circle has been submerged due to high groundwater levels. As a result, visitors cannot enter Broken Circle. However, it remains visible from Spiral Hill. Land Art Contemporary is monitoring the situation and working with experienced professionals and experts on a long-term maintenance plan.

Further information on visiting Robert Smithson's Broken Circle/Spiral Hill  during the 2025-26 Open Weekends is available on the Land Art Contemporary website.

Robert Smithson, Broken Circle (1971)
Emmen, The Netherlands
Water, sand, and boulder
Diameter: 140 ft. (42.6 m); canal: 12 ft. (3.6 m) wide, 10-15 ft. (3-4.5 m) deep
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York

Archived News

an image of a pipeline inside a gallery

Chapter Nine of Tuesday Texts

Throughout February 2026, we are publishing the ninth chapter of our Tuesday Text Series as part of our ongoing Scholarly Text Program, which invites thinkers to focus on a single artwork by Holt and/or Smithson. Developed as a tool for researchers at all stages, the Scholarly Text Program aims to publish two essays on each work, presenting differing opinions and approaches and drawing connections to topics that range from geology and ecology to poetry, architecture, public art, sculpture, drawing, film, philosophy, site, and

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Nancy Holt: Light and Shadow Poetics at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles

What does it mean to notice how we see? "Nancy Holt: Light and Shadow Poetics" at the MAK Center at the Schindler House in Los Angeles offers an encounter where art and architecture shape perception together. This exhibition to brings Holt’s work into a responsive dialogue with the Schindler House, inviting visitors to experience art and architecture as partners in seeing.

a short typewritten text within a circle, with Nancy Holt's signature in the bottom right corner

Nancy Holt concrete poem on show in Paris at Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles

Nancy Holt started making art in 1966, and her first works took the form of concrete poems: artworks testing the structure, content, and form of language. A key concrete poem, "The World Though a Circle," from 1972 is currently on show in the exhibition Deep Fields at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris until March 23, 2026.

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Nancy Holt's Starfire acquired by Powder Art Foundation

We are very pleased to share Nancy Holt’s 1986 sculpture "Starfire" has found a permanent home in the collection of Powder Art Foundation in Eden, Utah. Powder Art Foundation is an outdoor art museum that works closely with Dia Art Foundation. "Starfire" comprises eight pits arranged to mirror the Big Dipper constellation and the North Star. The flames create a terrestrial map of the night sky, bringing the energy of distant stars down to earth.

forthcoming

Holt artworks in "All Light: Light and Space yesterday and today" at Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Light was a constant source of fascination for Nancy Holt throughout her four decades of artmaking. Whether drawn from the stars or powered by electricity, she approached light as a phenomenon, an idea, and a material in itself. Three of her pivotal works investigating the perceptual qualities of light are featured in the exhibition "All Light: Light and Space yesterday and today" at Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany.

Robert Smithson looking at the camera from the back of a stationwagon loaded with rocks

Casting a Glance: Dancing with Smithson

In 1968 Robert Smithson declared: “A great artist can make art by simply casting a glance.” On show until January 20, "Casting a Glance: Dancing with Smithson" at Marian Goodman Gallery Los Angeles takes him at his word and invites eighteen artists to join Smithson on the floor as partners who resist, improvise, and extend the rhythm of his thinking.