Art Around: Amsterdam 2.0

AMSTERDAM – Experiencing a new city for the very first time is thrilling. There is an unprecedented sense of excitement in being lost in an unfamiliar place. It is somehow more thrilling than horrifying. This wondrous feeling of loss resonates with all travel junkies and keeps them on the go. While most people experience cities in cabs and trains, Saleem chooses to take his bike as a companion around his current hometown of Amsterdam.

In take two of Art Around: Amsterdam, Salameh takes us on a tour from one art location to another inside one of the world’s most bike-friendly cities:

NDSM Area:

Location: NDSM-Plein 91, 1033 WC Amsterdam

NDSM Area container houses, (flickr.com)

The NDSM area is known to be the area of creative industries. There you can find the Street Art Museum of Amsterdam (SAMA) which contains graffiti work inside and out. The museum is located beside the very famous mural of Anne Frank titled Let Me Be Myself by the Brazillian street artist Eduardo Kobra. A bit further down the area is the new container house compound. This project is a sustainable and cheap solution that turns old shipping containers into low rent houses for artists and students to live in.

Art City NDSM:

Location: NDSM-Plein 21-167, 2012 ZM Amsterdam

Interior view of Art City in NDSM area (evadeklerk.com)

Right next to the SAMA museum is Art City NDSM. It is a non-profit foundation that works to promote the NDSM breeding ground and the artists, artisans and other creative businesses based at the NDSM-wharf. The venue itself is a former shipyard on the waterfront in the north of Amsterdam.

New Dakota Gallery:

Location: Ms. van Riemsdijkweg 41b, 1033 RC Amsterdam

Exterior view of New Dakota Gallery (nieuwdakota.com)

Behind Art City you can find New Dakota Gallery, a contemporary art gallery space. Through their philosophy of collaboration and communication, the gallery hosts many group exhibitions and public art events around Amsterdam.

Tropenmuseum:

Location: Linnaeusstraat 2, 1092 CK Amsterdam

Interior view of the Tropenmuseum (tropenmuseum.nl)

One of Amsterdam’s largest museums, the Tropenmuseum is a museum about world cultures. It accommodates eight permanent exhibitions including Things That Matter, as well as an ongoing series of temporary exhibitions like Longing for Mecca and Afterlives of Slavery. The museum also hosts shows for modern and traditional visual arts and photographic works.

Hermitage Museum – Amsterdam:

Location: Amstel 51, 1018 EJ Amsterdam

Building facade of the Hermitage Museum (ticketbar.eu)

A branch museum of the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The museum is located in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681. The museum houses two permanent exhibitions: one focusing on the Netherlands-Russia relationship, the other narrates the history of the Amstelhof building itself.

Sociëteit SEXYLAND:

Location: Ms. van Riemsdijkweg 39, 1033 RC Amsterdam

Exterior view of Society Sexyland (popupcity.net)

Sociëteit SEXYLAND is a concept club that has a different owner every day. For each of the 365 days a year, the owner of the day decides what kind of club they like want Sexyland to be. This varies from art exhibitions to sport events, from gangster rap to dinners in stroboscopic light. The club holds up a maximum capacity of 200 visitors at a time.

Eye Film Museum:

Location: IJpromenade 1, 1031 KT Amsterdam

Exterior view of Eye Film Museum building (dutchreview.com)

The Eye Film Museum is an exhibition, film and cinema space that hosts shows and screenings for famous filmmakers and sound-based artists year-round. Located by the IJ River, the spectacular museum building also hosts permanent exhibitions and contains a virtual reality room above the main cinema hall. 

Huis Marseille Museum of Photography:

Location: Keizersgracht 401, 1016 EK Amsterdam

Entrance to the Huis Marseille Museum by Eddo Hartmann (huismarseille.nl)

Huis Marseille Museum of Photography is Netherland’s first museum dedicated to photography. It opened its doors in 1999, after which the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, the Fotomuseum Den Haag in The Hague and FOAM all opened in nearby buildings.

Oude Kerk:

Location: Oudekerksplein 23, 1012 GX Amsterdam

Exterior view or Oude Kerk (videoblocks.com) 

The Oude Kerk (Old Church), Amsterdam’s oldest building and oldest Parish church. The church was founded in 1213 and was consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. After the Reformation in 1578, it became a Calvinist church, which it remains today. Although it is a church from the outside but like many other churches in the Netherlands, this one is used for other purposes. The Oude Kerk presents itself in various ways: it holds three or four international and high-profile exhibitions a year, has numerous activities, permanent collection presentations and wonderful near-weekly concerts.

Art Room MINA:

Location: Weteringschans 69, 1017 RX Amsterdam

Exterior view of Art Room MINA (artroommina.nl)

Art Room MINA were two of Saleem‘s experimental films are currently being screened during the Night Watch program, Art Room MINA projects represent Amsterdam’s young art culture and revolves around a wide range of different topics.

Saleem at the Eye Film Museum

About guest writer Saleem: