Roel Arkesteijn is a curator and author interested in forms of artistic engagement, 'art for social change' and activism. He is chair of the research group Art & Ecology, as well as a guest professor for several art theory courses, including an Art & Ecology program, at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
Arkesteijn has been working as a curator at Museum Het Domein in Sittard; GEM, museum of contemporary art, in The Hague; Stedelijk Museum Schiedam; and the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Interested in artists engaging with socio-political issues, feminism and gender, intercultural dialogues, or actively intervening in ecological situations, he worked with countless international artists, amongst whom Nancy Spero, Raymond Pettibon, Jimmie Durham, Chen Zhen, Mel Chin, Leon Golub, Betye Saar, Roger Ballen, Mark Dion, Patricia Johanson, The Yes Men, Lili Fischer, Brandon Ballengée and Nils Norman. Arkesteijn has been teaching extensively internationally, publishing many books, and guest-curating many exhibitions. In 2022, he was guest curator of the exhibition Botanical Madness. Plant-Thinking in Contemporary Art at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands.