From 1976 to 1982 he attended the Teacher Training College 'Ubbo Emmius' in Leeuwarden, where he received his BA in English language and literature and Fine Arts.

In 1981 Van Sinderen came into prominence as spokesman of a young artist group, called Jonge Friezen.

[2] A year earlier they had started a new cultural magazine, called Het Bestaan (The Existence).

[5] In 1982 Van Sinderen started his career as Photo Editor for the Amsterdam music magazine Vinyl.

He was curator at the Kunsthal from the start in April 1992, where he worked with the director Wim van Krimpen.