Sonsbeek is an exhibition with a colourful past. The first Sonsbeek was organised after the second World War and combined important works by established sculptors with a survey of recent movements in a beautiful location, the Sonsbeek Park. In 1971, for its sixth incarnation, the exhibition left the traditional path and chose a more challenging direction. This new concept caused a lot of controversy and it was 15 years before Sonsbeek was restaged in a form more in tune with contemporary thinking on art exhibiting.

A lot of people are involved in the organisation of Sonsbeek. The initiator remains constant: the city of Arnhem. A committee selects a director, who in turn co-ordinates the artists, experts, sponsors and governments who are involved on different levels. This enormous logistical effort also includes catalogue editors, officials, technicians, architects and so on.

But in the beginning is an idea. In the case of Sonsbeek '93, this is director Valerie Smith's 'circles'. Three circles: one in the Sonsbeek Park; one in the city of Arnhem; one in the area around Arnhem. About 50 invited artists participated in the exhibition. Art in the city, the city and art features interviews with the artists as well as with others involved in Sonsbeek, and shows the evolution of this innovative contemporary art exhibition.