#museanetherlands

Kunsthal KAdE (Art Gallery KAdE)

‘’exhibitions on contemporary & modern art, architecture, design, and contemporary visual culture.’’

Location: Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands Price: 13,- / students 6,- Duration: 0,5 - 1 hour Transport: Walking distance from the station of Amersfoort central. Language: Dutch, but it's more looking than reading Activities: Drawing, making clay figures Date of visit: Thursday 23 February 2023 Expo at that time: Ministry of Fear/Foam by Folkert de Jong website

Since the whole museum has a switching exposition and not a fixed collection, I can not really judge over the museum itself, more about the exposition. The museum is placed at ‘’het Eemsplein’’ locally known for having homeless men harassing you, and they did. The building itself is very modern looking, the whole square it's placed on looks modern, all stone and metal. Just not really my thing.

I was not prepared

I was in the city and had some free time, so I popped in, not knowing what the museum was about. After I was greeted by the friendly staff and put my backpack in a locker and walked thou the big doors, where I saw a naked mannequin (Dick out and all) standing at the end of the hallway, staring at me, holding two heads in his hands. Okay cool anyway, let's walk further. Into a big room with multiple people hanging from the roof. Where the fuck am I??’. I started walking through the exposition and came into a black room with tv’s that played short clips of brain scans, hostages being kicked on the ground, and American soldiers posing with bombs. All the while the sound of a voice was playing, echoing saying things like, you know you're dreaming… right?? And creepy slowed-down music. It made me feel fear, it made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't know what was going on or how I got into this situation. I felt like I was in an Indie horror game like my boyfriend sometimes shows me. I didn't like it.

But the further I walked, the more interesting it got, weird ‘’edgy’’ drawing like that you would see in a high school notebook. I started thinking to myself, what in the ‘’nice guy’’ incel collection is this?? Statues of mutilated dead bodies, and all kinds of colours and textures. As the artist describes, he makes these things from what he has ‘’lying around’’. Looking a bit closer at these characters, I noticed these hands were too detailed to be a mannequin, the wrinkles, and pores and all. It started to scare me, how do I know this guy doesn't just have real humans ‘’lying around’’ based on what I saw earlier I would have believed it.

When you see his work, you already start making a picture in your mind of what this deranged, mentally ill human could look like. But then I saw the interview, a friendly-looking man, a friendly teacher or neighbour vibe to him. Wearing his sweater with soft pink, blue, and yellows. I had judged too quickly, I had made a stereotype and judged the book by its cover. 

Really inspiring

I hated it at first because ‘’these drawings are so stupid, I could make them!’’ ‘’This is not art! He just wants to be edgy’’. I have not made art for myself in a long time, because these are the comments I would get. But this man just does what he wants, he makes great art, and you can see the great skill in his work. He's just having fun, making things up as you go. Doing what he wants or just for the shock value.

In the interview, he talks about how he grew up around bunkers, and his parents always talked about war stories. How he would go to the video store and always rented American horror movies. How he grew up being proud of his country, but the more he learned, the more disappointed he got. How he feels like his mind is an isolation cell he desperately wants to escape. To see what more there is. it suddenly all made sense. And walking thou it a second time with a new view inspired me.

The KAdEStudio

In the studio you can make your own art. The activities you can do here are connected to the art exposition, so it also changes. This time, you could draw your own character/mannequin with crayons and markers. Next to that, you could make clay faces, or I guess clay anything. After you finished with it, there was a display where you can put it. And write your name and age. It was fun to see the different artworks from the ‘’normal people’’ and to see all different ages on this display, from 4 to 80! Sadly, they only had 2 tables to make the clay on, and there were already people sitting there. So I didn't make them. 

TLDR +I would recommend it for Artists and Art students since it's usually not the ‘’mainstream’’ art. + Fun art activities, matching the theme + changing expos making it re-visitable.

- wouldn't recommend it for kids, maybe with a more kid-friendly expo.  - small, Even tho I take my sweet time looking at the art, watching the whole interview, playing at the studio and even looking at the fun things in the gift shop. I was standing outside again in an hour.

Would I pay the price: No, it was too short/small in my opinion Would I revisit it: yes, since the expositions keep changing every so months.

Who do I recommend it to: Artists, Modern Art fans, Art Students of any field. Interactive:         2 Educational: 2 Storytelling: 4 Price: 2 Memorable: 5 Total score: 3

Naturalis

‘’Like a zoo, but all the animals stay very still’’

Location: Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The NetherlandsPrice: 17,- / Students 12,75Duration: 2 - 5 hours

Transport: 10-minute walk from Leiden Central train station Language: Dutch / English Activities: Look at taxidermy animals, skeletons, and fossils. And play interactive games. A T.REX Date of visit: Monday 3rd of April 2023 Expo at that time:  Website *it's recommended to make a reservation on busy days, but it's not mandatory

For Free!

So the first part of the museum is called the LiveScience and is before the ticket scan. So you can walk around for free, and I really recommend doing so if you’re in the era. This first part has a set of taxidermy birds and insects, you can also see all kinds of stones and a meteorite. It also has a bit of a library where you can read books about animals and nature, books for all ages. In the middle is a drawing table where you can try your hand at making anatomically correct animal drawings of the animals in the middle. But the coolest part must be the researchers! In the back is the Dino lab where researchers are working on real dinosaur bones right in front of you, and you can go up to them to ask questions. Underneath that is also a lab of researchers with microscopes, on a screen you can see what they see under the microscope and also ask them questions. 

Blathers Museum

Once you want to go up the massive stairs, you first need to scan your ticket. The building has about 8 floors with different rooms that all tell a different story (there's also a lift ofcourse). To me, it felt like walking thou Blathers museum, like from Animal crossing new Horizons. The way, you got immersed in the storytelling and the animals. It was set up beautifully. Also for kids, it's a sight to see as you are just allowed to touch anything (carefully), in one room you could just pick up and hold bones! There are a lot of fun interactive mini-games, so to say, and in one room where they explained how the layers of the earth move and make mountains using cooking videos. Interesting choice, but very fun to watch and understandable for all ages. And that's really what this museum is, for people of all ages, since you can choose how much you want to learn. You can only play the mini-games and play around, but deeper information can be found when you really look everywhere and even open some drawers. Also, once again the fun parts are not being ‘’gate kept’’ so to say, where in some museums they hide the mini-games and treasure hunts and only make them accessible by kids like I also like fun!!

If you love dinosaurs you came to the right place as they have a full T. rex skeleton and some others. You can even go through the dinosaur experience for an extra 2 euros, but I didn't do that this time as I am not a very big Dino fan, but my boyfriend is, so maybe I will go with him.

A lot closed off

It seemed like there were more rooms also called science labs, but I think you could do fun experiments there, that required the staff’s help. So that was all closed. This is probably because it was a Monday and on Monday most museums are closed. So I assume they just closed half of it. Or it is because it's a school week and those parts might be open during holidays when more people are coming. But I didn't mind, I mean I have a museum card, and I'm definitely planning to come back.

Would I pay the price: Definitely, I think It's actually very cheap for the experience. Would I revisit it: Absolutely! Who do I recommend it to: nature/animal lovers, families, tourists Interactive:         5 Educational: 4 Storytelling: 5 Price: 5 Memorable: 5 Total score: 4,8

Het Mauritshuis

(Maurice House) ‘’Come up close with paintings you definitely know’’

Location: Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands Price: 19,- / Students 12,50 Duration: 1- 2 hours Transport: you can take the train to Den Haag Centraal and walk about 10 minuets Language: Dutch / English Activities: Look at famous historical art, audio tour Date of visit: Monday 27th of March 2023 Expo at that time: Vrel, Forerunner of Vermeer

website

*For this museum you need to make a reservation, I also recommend you take headphones with you.

On Monday I have most free time to travel as I have online lectures on that day, what i can watch just as well in the train as at home. Sadly, Monday is the day that most museums are closed, so I don't have a lot of choice. But today I went to Den Haag and just went to see what was open. Het Mauritshuis was open, well I actually had to wait an hour, but I just walked around a bit. It was very cold and windy outside, and I really recommend visiting this city in the summer, since it wasn't as pretty as I usually remembered it to be now.

Feel like a VIP As i got to the beautiful old building and walked through the gates to the door, I was pointed by a man in a suit towards the stairs going down under the Hofvijver. After that I got to a desk where they took my jacked and bag and i once gain was greeted by people in suit. All this was way more formal than any museum I have been to so far. Then I walked upstairs, and I was inside the beautiful old building. Old painting everywhere. 

It was kinda busy, which I didn't expect. I was there the second it opened, and it’s a random Monday, so maybe it's even buster when tourist will hit the city in the summer. You do need to make a reservation for this museum, luckily since it's not busy, yet I could do that right before it opened.

The peal earring

This museum is known for showing famous Dutch painters like Rembrandt and, most importantly, Vermeer. The highlight is the painting of the girl with the peal earring. However, that wasn’t there today, as they had borrowed the painting to Het Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for some months. To compensate for this, they did have other visions made by people all over the world and stories of people and how important art is to them. The painting will be back in April, so I just missed it, sadly.

Kinda… boring? As you know, I like interactive museums, and this is very much just.. Looking? Like bro, I can also look at the painting for free ON THEIR SITE. But I know this is how historical art museums are. After walking and reading for a bit, a group of students walked in, with a tour guide. And I just kept following them for a bit. They were Ukrainian students here fleeing from the war. I’ve heard from a lot of museums that Ukrainian schools or groups of adult will come by museums often. In the Chicken museum I went to some weeks ago, the man working there told me that these museum visits are mandatory by the state, so they will have a good integration in the Netherlands. I think that's a good thing and very interesting that I get to see it everywhere.

Download the App

This was the first museum that had an app and I really recommend it as that will give you access to the map, audio tour and other things. The museum also has free Wi-Fi with is nice when you require an app. First you choose your language, but after I clicked around some and tested other languages I noticed that if you chose anything other than Dutch or English you won't have access to the audio tour. Like everything in the app will be in your preferred language except the actual information about the paintings????? Which will still show in English. That was kinda weird tbh but okay. In the app, you can also select a tour, like ‘’the highlight tour’’ or ‘’the animal tour’’ and some others. Or you do what I did, and you just type in the numbers of paintings that you want more info off. So I do recommend you take headphones, otherwise you can still hold your phone to your ear, but headphones would just work better.

Would I pay the price: nooooooway, idk maybe I don't get the difference between looking at art in real life, I'm like ‘’hmm I already saw this’’ Would I revisit it: nah Who do I recommend it to: people/tourists who like to see famous painting Interactive:         2 Educational: 1 Storytelling: 1 Price: 2 memorable: 3 Total score: 1,8

Museum Catharijneconvent (St. Catherine's Convent Museum)

‘’The collection tells the art and cultural history of Christianity in the Netherlands.’’ 

Location: Center of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Price: 15,- / students 7,- Duration: 2 - 5 hours Transport: easy to walk to from the central station Language: All text is in Dutch, I didn't ask if the audio tour could change the language Activities: look & read Date of visit: Friday 17 February 2023 Expo at that time: History of Gospel Check out the website

The building was very beautiful from the outside as it was located inside a medieval monastery. You could look in the small garden area for free.

The Children Room The first part of the museum I went to was intended for children and was about all the holidays, this part of the museum even had information on other religions like Judaism and Islam. As these religions and Christianity come from the same set of stories and historical events. The information didn't go very deep since it said things like “the Christmas tree is a part of Christmas because it stays green all year around‘’ instead of explaining it came from pagan religions. I did learn however that we have new year's on the day that we do (8 days after Christmas) because that's when Jesus supposedly got circumcised. Which was a shocking reason to me that I didn't knew. This part did also have some fun interactive elements, such as opening food lockers from a wall to connect 4 kinds of food to the right holiday. Sadly, one of the screens was broken, and the lights were off/broken in that corner, so I couldn’t film it.

Another cool thing there was a built replica of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, with light projections explaining why these 3 religions all want to own this place and fight for it. I was all alone in this part of the museum, probably because it was on a school day

The Treasury The next part of the museum was the treasury, a dim lid room full of shiny objects, I loved it. This is also where the ‘’real’’ museum started, so I got handed an audio tour. I love audio tours. However, on the lowest audio setting, it was still too loud for me. But I simply put the headphones further from my ears, you can also use your own headphones if they have a cord. 

Keeping it real I found it all very interesting, I was a bit disappointed that it was not about other religions anymore, but I went in this blindly and didn't know it was specifically a museum of Christianity. Personally, I don't believe in anything, but love to learn about religions. Next to the normal audio tour that talked about the paintings and the history, they also added some new numbers to the audio tour talking more about controversies about some paintings and people. I liked this since they weren't glorifying the religion and showed more about how it was done back in the day. For instance, in the extra audio tour, they talked about Jesus' skin colour and how everywhere in the museum he's portrayed as a white man with long brown hair, meanwhile, this doesn't have to be the case. They explained that it's easier for people to feel connected to stories if they can see themselves in them. The person being interviewed said that when they visited a church in Surinam they saw the painting of ‘’The Last Supper’’ but with everyone being black. They stated in this interview that they're working on adding more diverse pieces like that to the museum, and assured that they were working on a big new collection of different interpretations of the catholic stories. For now, they had an exposition about the history of gospel in America and told the stories of black artists. I didn't see much of it since I couldn't find the right way to walk thou the exhibition and my legs were already hurting since I had been there for 5 hours.

TLDR + Fun room about holidays, not only about Christianity but also about Muslims and Jewish religion. + In the centre of the city, easy to just pop in and out on a city trip. + inclusive and does not give a blind eye to the bad things of Christianity.

- it was pretty hard to navigate the museum and I kept getting lost, don't know if I missed parts of the museum - I do not recommend it to children/teens since there was not a lot to do

Would I pay the price: No, this would not have my interest Would I revisit it: probably not Who do I recommend it to: Adults interested in Christianity or history Interactive:         2 Educational: 4 Storytelling: 2 Price: 3 Memorable: 4 Total score: 3