October 4, 2020

Dutch designer Jan des Bouvrie dies, aged 78

Filed under: Design by Orangemaster @ 9:03 pm

Famous Dutch designer Jan des Bouvrie has passed away at age 78 after a battle with prostate cancer.

As an interior and product designer, he was probably best known for his 1969 ‘kubusbank sofa’, easily considered a design classic and still being sold today. In fact, it is said that his sofa is a symbol of modern Dutch interior design and can be found in the collections of both the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. As well, the Jan des Bouvrie Academy in Deventer, Overijssel was named after him. Last year, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a designer at his studio Het Arsenaal in Naarden.

We wrote about him quite a while back: Des Bouvrie designs a mobile chalet.

(Link: parool.nl, Photo of Jan des Bouvrie by Erwin Olaf Springveld, some rights reserved)

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June 8, 2019

Amsterdam to get a drugs museum

Filed under: Dutch first,General,Health by Orangemaster @ 8:46 pm

Poppi is slated to be the first-ever drugs museum of The Netherlands in Amsterdam.

According to the founders, the country does not have a public institution which offers low-threshold education on drug policy and addiction. Misconceptions about drugs are widespread, and the story of drugs is not black and white.

Poppi plans to engage visitors and inform them from different perspectives. They want people to form an opinion about drugs based on knowledge and facts, and not just on emotions as is often the case.

For anyone in Amsterdam this month, you can find out more Poppi and donate all while having drinks at www.denieuweanita.nl on June 16 where Poppi will be presenting its project.

Find out more about Poppi in this video:

(Link: poppi.amsterdam, Photo: DEA)

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July 15, 2018

Game console museum gets 200 new items

Filed under: Gaming,History,IT by Orangemaster @ 2:07 pm

According to Bright.nl, the Bonami game console museum in Zwolle has received 200 items in one go for its collection, the biggest extension in the museum’s history. The items are said to be from the 1980s or earlier. All I can think about now is my very first Atari Super Pong for the mid 1970s.

The museum, started by Naomi and John Groenewold, also showcases many Philips products, such as the mini-cassette and the Philips ADM-3A, one of the first video display terminals used to operate a computer without a display.

There are many Dutch games, computers that use punch cards and newer items with VR, which means there’s something for everyone. And yes, you can apparently try out all kinds of games.

(Link: bright.nl)

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February 22, 2017

Dutchman houses Bible museum at home

Filed under: Literature,Religion by Orangemaster @ 9:32 am

Erik de Kuijper from Breukelen has collected some 600 bibles of all kinds and has decided to start a museum. However, his idea of a starting a museum is just come on over and check them out, although you’ll have to find out where he lives.

De Kuijper apparently has bibles that are very tiny, written in Braille and really old ones. He explained that his wife bought a stack of bibles from the charity shop one day and that’s how he started his collection.

The photo above is my Metal Bible, handed out at the entrance of the Into The Grave metal festival in a few years’ back.

(Link: rtvutrecht)

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June 2, 2015

Museum in Zaandam pays record amount for a Monet

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 1:58 pm

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The Zaans Museum in Zaandam near Amsterdam has acquired a painting from French painter Claude Monet, entitled ‘The Voorzaan and the Westerhem’ for a record amount of 1,160,000 euro. The Zaans Museum is the third Dutch museum to own a Monet from the Zaandam period, the other two are in more well-known museums, the Van Gogh in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. Fans will be able to admire the painting as of this fall.

In May 1871 Monet left London to live in Zaandam where he made 25 paintings. His main attraction was the landscape, windmills, the river Zaan, and the typical wooden houses of the area. “Zaandam is quite remarkable and there is enough to paint for a lifetime,” Monet wrote to his friend and colleague Camille Pissarro. “Houses in all colours, hundreds of mills and delightful boats.”

(Links: www.trouw.nl, www.monetinzaandam.nl)

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November 24, 2014

The art and science of locked letters on video

Filed under: History,Science by Orangemaster @ 5:57 pm

The Historical Museum of The Hague is currently holding an exhibition entitled ‘Courtly Rivals: Elizabeth Stuart and Amalia van Solms’ that features locked letters of the 17th century. The letters have been brought to life thanks to some videos made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT Libraries’ conservator, Jana Dambrogio and others helped film six videos on the science of 17th century letterlocking.

‘Courtly Rivals’ is based on Dutch professor Nadine Akkerman’s publication by the same name, exploring the tense relationship between two of the most influential women in the Dutch Republic during the 17th century – Elizabeth Stuart, sometime Queen of Bohemia and her former lady-in-waiting Amalia von Solms, who became Princess of Orange in 1625. Elizabeth’s corpus of over 2,000 letters shows she was an astute politician, with a vast network of kings, queens, generals, ministers, church leaders, courtiers, and spies. Amalia’s correspondence has just come to light, but it appears she was no different. Both ladies, their secretaries, and their correspondents resorted to intricate methods to lock their letters shut.

(Links: www.haagshistorischmuseum.nl, libraries.mit.edu)

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December 19, 2012

Many Amsterdam museums open on 1 January 2013

Filed under: Art,Film,Photography by Orangemaster @ 11:32 am

Everybody has some sort of party on New Year’s Eve, but what to do on New Year’s Day when you live in the capital and the town gets too quiet? Make going to a museum with friends and family a New Year’s resolution. Or there’s also the zoo, catching a film and some other tourist attractions.

The year 2013 will be a special year for Amsterdam as the city celebrates several milestones. The refurbished Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum will reopen, the Artis Royal Zoo will celebrate its 175th anniversary and the Amsterdam Canal Ring will celebrate its 400th jubilee.

Rijksmuseum (11 am – 5 pm)
Hermitage Amsterdam (including Van Gogh Museum exhibition) (11 am – 5 pm)
Foam (noon – 6 pm)
Stedelijk Museum (11 am – 5 pm)
Museum of the Canals (10 am – 5 pm)
Anne Frank House (noon – 7 pm)
Jewish Historical Museum (opens at noon)
EYE Film Institute Netherlands (opens at 1 pm)
Artis Royal Zoo (10 am – 8 pm)
Madame Tussauds (opens at noon)

(Link: www.dutchdailynews.com, Illustration: the Van Gogh that was ‘discovered’ last year)

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December 20, 2007

“Dead bus shelter” promotes funeral museum

Filed under: Art,Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 11:12 am
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A “dead bus shelter” has been buried on Amsterdam’s Museumplein (Museum square) to draw attention to the new Dutch Funeral Museum, which “due to circumstances” opens today. Although there’s frost on the ground today, the advertising people had time to bury something yesterday without damaging the grass permanently (the main reason why events aren’t held there any more).

The sign reads “for now”.

(Link and photo: reclamewereld.blog.nl)

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July 12, 2007

New fashion museum in Amsterdam

Filed under: Art,Design,Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 10:57 am
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Yes, it was opened a month ago, but sometimes good news travels slowly. The Museum of Bags and Purses opened its doors on 9 June 2007 and features a collection ranging from the 16th century to the present. The museum’s collection is very diverse and consists of more than 3,500 bags, pouches, suitcases, purses and accessories. The museum is recognized as one of the eight most important fashion museums in the world, so they say.

(Link: Tassenmuseum, via LA Times)

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