It’s been a busy week for happenings at museums in Amsterdam. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview of Temporary Stedelijk 2 at the newly reopened Stedelijk Museum, along with a few hundred other people who work with and for the museum. Very interesting to see some classic favourite pieces from the museum’s collection, out of storage for the first time in a while, including works by Mondriaan, Matisse, Malevich and a very shiny and cheeky neon by Bruce Nauman. One new acquisition I’ll definitely go back to visit is Piero Golia‘s Double Tumble – completely disorienting shots of a camera freefalling from a plane, looping over and over, as the film itself loops through the room. Fantastically dizzy-making! Great to look at, but I’m glad I waited until after I’d seen it before snagging a mini-doughnut from the museum bar.
Today’s fun was a visit to the Van Gogh Museum for the launch of a new comic book by the museum and EurEducation, based on the life of Van Gogh, with a presentation of the book and book trailer, followed by a reception and signing. Comic-book artist Marc Verhaegen and writer Jan Kragt were both there, along with friends and family and everyone involved with the project, including me as the English translator. The press photographers were particularly keen to capture shots of the first copies of the comic book being presented to the youngest members of Van Gogh’s family. The Van Gogh family still maintains close links with the museum.
It’s great to see Amsterdam’s museums so vibrant and full of people. I’m just a little bit worried about the large shed that I saw on Museumplein, which appears to be announcing itself as the New Rijksmuseum. Oh, those government cuts!
