![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_480x609_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)
Tom van der Molen - Curator
Amsterdam
Interview
![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_220x358_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)
Tom van der Molen
Tom van der Molen is a curator at the Amsterdam Museum. His work at the museum concerns Amsterdam in the broadest sense. The subjects he deals with range from his own specialty in seventeenth-century painting to Ajax. He has made exhibitions on old drawings, beer and twentieth-century women.
![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_220x358_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)
Interview
We asked him 5 questions based on the Amsterdam Museum's 5 key words: Amsterdam, Openness, Connecting, Narrative and Relevant.
![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_220x358_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)
What does Amsterdam mean to you?
"Amsterdam means all kinds of things to me. First, it is where I have lived for many years and a place I love to be. Amsterdam is also part of my job, which is why it is perhaps more complex for me than for many others. I see Amsterdam from every nook and cranny, so I see what a complicated city it is."
![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_220x358_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)
What does open mean to you?
"For me, open especially means keeping an open mind and being open to each other. Keep listening, looking around, not taking things for granted. I always hope that this city is open, and often it is, but I see it mainly as a responsibility for yourself to want to be like that in life."
![BC 02420 8](https://assets.amsterdammuseum.nl/images/transforms/story/_220x358_crop_center-center_none/BC_02420-8.jpg)