Fourth edition of Collecting the City in the Amsterdam Museum
Appeared on:
ma 20 november 2023, 14:00 hour
Collecting the City #4
From February 23, 2024, until January 5, 2025, a new edition of Collecting the City will be on view at the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel. For the fourth time, the museum and the city will join forces to highlight stories from Amsterdam. The participating partners in this edition are Kazerne Reigersbos, Ongekend Zeedijk, and Museum om de Hoek.
Stories from the city
As in previous editions, Collecting the City #4 gathers together different stories and perspectives from the city. At Kazerne Reigersbos, a group of young makers are developing a vision for the future of their neighborhood. In the mini-expo Ongekend Zeedijk (Unknown Zeedijk), the question of who Amsterdam’s city center belongs to is examined through a reflection on the many stories that can be found along the centuries-old Zeedijk. Museum om de Hoek again makes an appearance in this edition as well, presenting local stories from the districts of Noord, West, and Oost.
Kazerne Reigersbos
The Kazerne is a cultural center and creative incubator in Reigersbos, a neighborhood in Amsterdam Zuidoost. It is a place that gives people the opportunity to come together, with a focus on developing talent, entrepreneurship, and being active in the neighborhood. This attracts many young makers and artists, too. Five of them have joined forces under the name Future Tellers. They will introduce themselves and present their own vision of their neighborhood, Reigersbos, in the exhibition by the Kazerne. As part of the presentation and under the guidance of various partners and artists, they will seek out and speak with local residents, collaborating at the museum on an art installation that will continue to grow for the duration of the exhibition.
Unknown Zeedijk
Zeedijk is one of the oldest streets of Amsterdam. Because of its location next to the harbor, it has always been a site of arrival. This makes it a place where different ages and cultures come together. Haring Arie, the Surinamese, Jewish, and Chinese communities, the queer and jazz scenes, creative young entrepreneurs—all these groups feel at home here. Yet here, too, the question arises: Who does the city center actually belong to, and for how long? Co-curator Ravenna Westerhout investigates this in the expo Ongekend Zeedijk (Unknown Zeedijk), together with artists Susan Kooi, Neil Fortune, and Tja Ling Hu. The exhibition is a follow-up to the co-creation project ONGEKEND.ZEEDIJK, which took place in 2021 and 2022 in collaboration with the Municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 750, Aanpak Binnenstad, NV Zeedijk, BIZ Zeedijk, W139, and the almost 100 entrepreneurs, residents, and visitors who were interviewed as part of the project.
Museum om de Hoek
Museum om de Hoek also returns for this fourth edition of Collecting the City. This time, four neighborhood museums introduce themselves and share remarkable stories from their corners of the city. With a warm, neighborly approach, Bellamy BuurtMuseum offers a glimpse into the Bellamy neighborhood, while Atelier Volten presents a number of exemplary works by visual artist André Volten. The Pianola Museum delves into the history of the self-playing piano. These four different stories from Amsterdam Noord, Oost, and West will entice visitors to explore the neighborhoods in search of more themselves.
About Collecting the City
Collecting the City is where the Amsterdam Museum collects and presents this vibrant city, in collaboration with various organizations and groups in the city. As part of this project, neighborhood museums, community networks, local artists, and passionate residents share their objects together with stories about Amsterdam. For each edition, new makers are invited to showcase their ideas—whether it’s a fresh perspective on the past, a beautiful or painful moment in the present, or a new vision of the city for the future. The Museum om de Hoek foundation, comprising 23 local museums throughout Amsterdam, is a permanent partner in this endeavor.