A-mag – Amsterdam Magazine: Vol 2, No. 3

AMSTERDAM MAGAZINE

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS ART & FASHION DANCING & DINING COMPLETE LISTINGS MAY & JUN 2014

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CITY OF BIKES

BICYCLES ARE SYNONYMOUS WITH AMSTERDAM, BUT IS IT SIMPLY A MATTER OF DUTCH DNA? AND WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF CYCLING IN A CITY WITH MORE BIKES THAN PEOPLE?

Vol 2 NO 3 €2.95

HITB Haxpo May 28th, 29th & 30th 2014

A 3-day IT security exhibition for hackers, makers, builders & breakers in celebration of the 5th anniversary Hack In The Box Security Conference in The Netherlands!

LOCK PICKING VILLAGE

HAXPO // IT SECURITY EXHIBITION // TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE AREA

SOCIAL ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

HACKWEEKDAY

CAPTURE THE FLAG (CTF)

29th of May - HIGHLIGHT SPEAKERS Winning the Security Awareness Game

Jenn Lesser (Director of Security Operations, Facebook)

A Special Presentation by Philip Zimmermann

Philip Zimmermann (Creator of PGP / President, Silent Circle) ANCHOR EXHIBITORS

REGISTER ONLINE NOW - 100% FREE TO ATTEND! Venue: De Beurs van Berlage Website: http://haxpo.nl Follow us: @HITBHaxpo / @HITBSecConf

Supported & Endorsed By

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AMSTERDAM MAGAZINE

VOL 2 N 3 MAY & JUN 2014 0

P.15 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

It is testimony to Amsterdam’s love affair with the bike, that a cycle path runs right through the middle of its most prestigious art institution, the Rijksmuseum. It’s like a red carpet that takes cyclists right to the heart of the city. Last year it came under threat. After the renovation of ‘his’ Rijksmuseum, director Wim Pijbes incurred the wrath of locals by suggesting that it might be a better idea to divert cyclists around it.

Needless to say, he lost the argument. Bicycles – better known as ‘fietsen’ – are the holy cows of Amsterdam. They possess magical qualities. Amsterdammers (though not tourists) who ride them can do almost anything they please: run through red lights at busy crossings; run over a crosswalk at high speed regardless of people crossing it; park their bike on the sidewalk right in front of the Louis Vuitton store or in the middle of any square or park.

But a place where people are practically born on bikes inevitably suffers from the handicap of this head start. Until recently we never bothered to innovate. Bikes were like pinstriped suits: black, sturdy, reliable, humourless.

Those days are over. Ever since the economic slowdown, new models of bikes have flooded the city. Made out of carbon, wood, bamboo, cork and leather; colourful, electric, connected, lightweight or minisized: Amsterdam’s two-wheelers have gone through a right renaissance. Our cover story, starting on page 8, will get you updated on the latest developments.

Meanwhile, Amsterdam is making its mark in producing another indispensible hipster item. Denim producers have flocked to Amsterdam like bees to a hive, making it the denim capital of the world. Dutch brands G-star and Scotch & Soda have seen creatives spin off new boutique brands, setting up shop (and design departments) in or just outside the Canal Ring. Get a taste of indigenous indigo on page 40.

International performing arts extravaganza the Holland Festival, plus our critics’ picks of the best exhibitions, concerts and events.

Bart van Oosterhout editor-in-chief A-mag.

P.29 EAT, DRINK & CHIC

STAY IN TOUCH:

CONTENTS P.04 WHAT’S NEW?

City confidential: exciting new Amsterdam initiatives, events and venues – including your Top 5 must-do things this issue.

P.08 UP CLOSE The city in focus: get on your bike for an exploration of Amsterdam’s pedal power.

Neighbourhood watch: the Oud-West; Amsterdam’s denim DNA; plus the hottest new shops, the tastiest food trends and our selection of the best restaurants and cafés, old and new.

P.62 CLOSING Get out of town with our excursion tips; once upon a time in Amsterdam; top tips from visitors on the way out; colophon.

P.45 THE A-LIST Agendas at the ready: from clubbing to gallery hopping, The A-List is your one-stop, at-a-glance guide to the city’s very best music, theatre (language no problem!), sporting, family and gay & lesbian events and venues.

iamsterdam.com facebook.com/iamsterdam twitter.com/iamsterdam youtube.com/videoiamsterdam

WANT TO ADVERTISE? T: 020 702 6180 E: partner@iamsterdam.com

ROLLING KITCHENS

CYCLE CITY

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may & jun 2014

OPENING

What’s new?

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(in town)

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All the latest cultural news plus the fresh new initiatives, events and venues making Amsterdam the place to be.

‘THESE ARE YOUNG GUYS… THEY DON’T WANT TO SEE THE TULIP FIELDS.’

A DUTCH DRIVER BRIEFS THE PRESS FOLLOWING REVELATIONS THAT THREE SECRET SERVICE AGENTS FROM OBAMA’S SECURITY DETAIL WERE PUT ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER DRINKING IN AMSTERDAM.

LEX REITSMA

text Toby Main

ACCESS ALL ARIAS In a dance-meets-design spectacular, the Stedelijk Museum dedicates an exhibition to two visual artists whose work has shaped the (Dutch) perception of modern opera. Since 1990, graphic designer Lex Reitsma has been in charge of the visual identity of De Nederlandse Opera, including the company’s distinctive, often surreal, posters and programme covers. The late Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka, meanwhile, was responsible for the eye-popping costumes for Wagner’s famous cycle of four epic operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen, as performed to packed houses from 1997 until earlier this year.

20 June-19 October Stedelijk Museum www.stedelijk.nl/en

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WED LITE DISTRICT Eat your heart out, Vegas.

Loved-up visitors to Amsterdam can now trip down the aisle with the ease of buying a takeaway, thanks to the ‘Wed and Walk’ company in De Pijp. Although it’s unlikely that the accompanying paperwork would stand up in court, the ‘wedding for a day’ experience comes with personalised speeches, souvenir rings and wedding snaps. Prices start from €75, and for those nervous of even this short-term commitment, the Bridezilla package (also €75) includes unlimited trying-on of dresses and full slap, as applied by a make-up artist – ceremony optional. www.trouwenvoor1dag.nl

TALKING TRASH From the green rail-mounted ‘Radiant’ to the dimpled, dome-topped ‘Constructo 50’, there are some 25 different designs of waste bin on the streets and park pathways of Amsterdam.

This summer, steps are being taken to unify the face of street furniture in the city, however, and the city council will reveal a preferred design which will then be subject to a period of real-life testing – presumably to establish whether it is rubbish or not.

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‘WAFFLES HANGING FROM THE CEILING, A CARAVAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR AND EVEN A “GINGERBREAD” WALL...’

‘BEST PINGPONG IN AMSTERDAM AT HOTEL DE GOUDFAZANT!’ STAR FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS INEZ AND VINOODH DELIVER A SNAP JUDGEMENT.

THE DAILY MAIL’S ASSESSMENT OF GOOGLE’S NEWLY REFURBISHED AMSTERDAM OFFICE.

SALAD DAYS

LITERARY TASTES As author CS Lewis once said, ‘Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.’ It’s a sentiment that book-loving foodie Chantal Hintze is very much in agreement with. Every few months, Hintze combines her hobbies to host a Bookish Banquet, the ultimate literary supper club. Along with host Jasper Smit, Hintze re-creates the mood of a book – from the imaginative five-course dinner to the napkins, lighting and decor – to take guests down the rabbit hole for a lively evening of great food and stimulating conversation. Past editions have been themed around Sherlock Holmes (including ‘Sherlock’s Vice’, which comprised a shot of chilli and rum hot chocolate, churros and a line of popping candy) and Michael Ende’s Momo (filo cigars with burnt aubergine mousse). The upcoming Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy event promises to be equally imaginative, and guests are encouraged to get their nerd on; no need for a babel fish, as all events are accessible to non-Dutch speakers …

22 & 25 May, Paviljoen van Beuningen www.bookishbanquet.com

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Even if you’ve never set foot in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, chances are you’ll have experienced its cultural legacy. The Manhattan hotel was first in the world to come up with the idea of room service, and its eponymous house salad – a delicious concoction of apples, celery and walnuts invented in 1893 – has become a staple of modern cuisine. The Hilton hotel group, which has been rolling out Waldorf Astoria as a brand since 2007, will bring a slice of the Manhattan mother ship to Amsterdam’s stately Herengracht this May. Featuring 93 luxury guest rooms and suites, the property’s historical exterior comprises six original patrician canal houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. Good news for gastronomes is that acclaimed Dutch restaurateurs Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, owners of three-Michelin star restaurant De Librije in Zwolle and its two-star little sister, Librije’s Zusje, will take responsibility for drinking and dining options.

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Herengracht 542-566 http://waldorfastoria3.hilton.com

MIND MAP Full of hand-drawn images and typography, illustrator Jan Rothuizen’s The Soft Atlas of Amsterdam takes readers on an erratic journey through the city via topographical maps superimposed with the artist’s response to what he sees. As much mind map as conventional atlas, this is part city guide, part travel book, part comic and part novel.

Rothuizen paints an animated, humorous portrait of the city, and of course of the artist himself. ‘For this book,’ says the author, ‘I visited a supermarket, a prison cell, the mayor’s office. I walked with a blind man and local residents trough their neighbourhoods.’ The result is like taking a stroll with a friend, chatting idly as you go.

Now available in English, The Soft Atlas of Amsterdam makes both a delightful guide and a unique souvenir. www.nieuwamsterdam.nl

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may & jun 2014

OPENING WHAT’S NEW?

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‘FOR HIS BIRTHDAY, MY BOYFRIEND WANTS A BAR FIGHT. TO MAKE IT MORE CIVILISED I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR OPINION ON HOW/ WHERE TO ARRANGE SOMETHING LIKE THAT.’

‘BEYONCE VISITS ANNE FRANK HOUSE IN AMSTERDAM, DOES NOT SPARK BIEBER-ESQUE CONTROVERSY.’ THE HUFFINGTON POST SUMMARISES BEY’S LOW-KEY VISIT, IN MARCH.

OUR STRANGEST CORRESPONDENCE TO DATE…

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CONCRETE

FALSTAFF © CATHERINE-ASHMORE

Darth Vader has come out of retirement and is working as a tour guide at Amsterdam’s EYE Film Institute. What’s more, it’s unsuspecting children that the ruthless cyborg and former Jedi is leading around the film museum. It’s all part of EYEwalk, a tablet app developed for the stateof-the-art institution by the Amsterdam-based Godmother Films. The app depicts the museum in real time, with the startling addition of iconic Hollywood characters including the creepy twins from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Sweet dreams, kids!

IJpromenade 1 www.eyefilm.nl

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TOP 5 to do

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PLATON 2012 © RICHARD MOSSE

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WALK OF FAME

If you only do one thing in Amsterdam, make it one of our top picks of must-do events, exhibitions, museums, music and more this issue.

1 HOLLAND FESTIVAL Encompassing all the performing arts – from theatre and dance to music and more – the Holland festival is your one-stop shop for all manner of artistic enlightenment.

1-29 June Various locations www.hollandfestival.nl

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2 RICHARD MOSSE:

military surveillance film to cast a magenta hue over the war-torn Eastern Congo.

Until 1 June Foam, Keizersgracht 609 www.foam.org

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3 LONDON CALLING A showcase for the most promising up-and-coming acts currently taking the UK by storm, London Calling vets include The XX, Blur, The Kooks, Editors, Bloc Party and The Libertines.

9 & 10 May Paradiso, Weteringschans 6-8 www.londoncalling.nl

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THE ENCLAVE

4 REMEMBRANCE &

In a thought-provoking rethinking of war photography, Irish shutterbug Mosse uses

Amsterdam pauses to pay respect to the fallen of World

LIBERATION DAYS

War II and subsequent conflicts, then the following day the city celebrates the end of German occupation with a concert on the Amstel and Het Vrije Westen Festival in Westerpark, with live music, DJs, storytelling, food, drink and more.

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4 May, Dam square www.4en5meiamsterdam.nl 5 May, Westerpark www.hetvrijewesten.eu

5 AMSTERDAM TULIP & OPEN GARDEN DAYS

Two flourishing festivals provide a sneak peak at the secret gardens hidden behind the city’s historic canal houses.

Amsterdam Tulip Days: 3 & 4 May www.tulpendagenamsterdam.nl Open Garden Days: 20-22 June www.opentuinendagen.nl

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‘EATEN SOOO MUCH AMAZING FOOD IN AMSTERDAM, MY FAVOURITE. PANCAKES. PANCAKES. PANCAKES. PASTA. PANCAKES. PANCAKES. WAFFLES. STEAK. ICE CREAM.’ SCOTTISH POP STAR NINA NESBITT LINES HER STOMACH HOURS BEFORE HER MARCH GIG AT BITTERZOET.

CUTTING INSIGHTS MASTER STROKE ‘The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis’, originally Rembrandt’s largest and most prestigious painting, is making a rare return to Amsterdam, for whose city hall it was commissioned. The painting has only left its usual home, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm, twice in 150 years, and does so now in celebration of 400 years of bilateral relations between Sweden and the Netherlands. The Swedish king himself even came to see it in situ in April. Sadly, Rembrandt himself is thought to have cut this once-vast canvas down to its current compact size, destroying nearly 75 per cent of its original surface, less than a year after its completion in 1662. But there’s still plenty to see.

Look out for the mysterious extra sword: there’s one more weapon than Bavarians holding them…

Museumstraat 1 www.rijksmuseum.nl

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TAP IDOL The neighbouring city of Haarlem has wiped the floor with Amsterdam in an annual competition to find the best-tasting tap water in the Netherlands. Judges in March’s hotly-contested battle for the ‘Golden Tap’ award found water from the winning city to be ‘full-bodied, sweet and with a medium-length aftertaste’. Amsterdam’s water came a respectable seventh, but delegates nevertheless felt something akin to that sinking feeling. www.krnwtr-drinkkraanwater.nl

An art-inspired novel by an Amsterdam resident threatens to be this city’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, inspired as it is by the circumstances behind one of the most intriguing Golden Age paintings to be completed in Amsterdam, ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’. The Anatomy Lesson by Nina Siegal unfolds over one eventful day in 1632. Via colourful characters ranging from a coat thief who is about to be hanged to the French philosopher René Descartes, the book seeks to explain how a common criminal came to be the muse for the first painting to which a relatively unknown 26-year-old artist would attach his indelible signature: Rembrandt.

The Anatomy Lesson is published by Random House and available in all good book shops, including the American Book Center. www.abc.nl

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PART I UP CLOSE

city of bikes

CITY OF BIKES

Amsterdam is the ultimate cycling city, but were the Dutch really born to bike? And how is the City tackling the enviable problem of bicycle congestion?

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SANDWICHBIKE AMSTERDAM Inspired by the kind of flatpack furniture made by a certain Swedish interiors behemoth, Basten Leijh of Sandwichbike has re-examined the accepted materials, manufacturing and distribution of the common bike. His innovative solution was to sandwich two wooden plates to make the frame, allowing for almost endless customisation – and minimising shipping costs in the process.

The result is a durable, eco-friendly and distinctive award-winning design that comes flat-packed, costs â‚Ź799 and weighs just 17kg. www.sandwichbikes.com

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They’re cheap, green and ride like a dream: get on your bike with Amsterdam’s most innovative cycle manufacturers. text Lauren Comiteau highlights Megan Roberts

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PEDAL POWER

hen US President Barak Obama descended on Amsterdam in March, it was reported locally that it was with three of his own limousines and another three American helicopters in tow. He couldn’t have chosen a more un-Dutch way to travel in a country where the Prime Minister is often seen cycling to work and even the royal couple include a bakfiets – or cargo bike – in their cycle arsenal to cart around their three little princesses.

Ironic, then, that the American leader’s first stop took place on one of Amsterdam’s most celebrated and controversial bike paths: the red-bricked pavement running through the centre of the Rijksmuseum.

Although temporarily closed for the occasion, its celebrated reopening last year after a decade-long museum renovation was a victory for the city’s bikers and their 4,000-member union, who managed to fight off both museum and city officials to keep the path open to cyclists – as it has been for over a century.

‘When you cycle through there,’ says Gerrit Faber of the Fietsersbond, or Cyclists’ Union, ‘it’s a feeling of, “Ah, I live in Amsterdam, and this is great.” It’s an emotional thing.’

In this city where there are more bicycles than people, you’d be forgiven for thinking Dutch infants roll out of the womb with wheels in lieu of feet. I have seen toddlers, before fully mastering the art of walking, scooting around

on a loopfiets, or walking bike, a peddle-less device on which they learn to balance, securing their two-wheeled future. ‘Cycling is how we walk,’ says Michel Post, also of the Fietsersbond. ‘It’s not special, it’s something everyone does. It’s cheap, fast, easy and fun.’

But in reality, cycling is no more a part of the Dutch genome sequence than it is anyone else’s: the Netherlands’ cycling prowess is a hard-won combination of urban planning, government spending and people power.

‘It’s not what we have because of our genes,’ says Faber of the city’s biking culture. ‘We built it – and other cities can, too.’

HISTORY ON TWO WHEELS To be sure, it helps that Amsterdam is flat, compact and densely populated and the climate mostly moderate. But Faber is referring to the investment in cycling infrastructure that began in earnest in the 1970s, following a post-war boom in auto reliance that led to unacceptably high death rates for cyclists. In 1971, more than 3,000 people were killed by cars, 450 of them children. ‘At that moment, people decide, “We don’t want it”, and we built what we have today,’ says Faber.

Today there are some 400 kilometres of bicycle paths crisscrossing the city, with an estimated third of all city journeys taking place on two wheels – by far the highest percentage in Europe, according to a recent World Health Organisation report.

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PART I UP CLOSE

city of bikes

ROETZ-BIKES A bike made by Dutch manufacturer Roetz is more than the sum of its stylish, sustainable parts – which, coincidentally, include a reconditioned frame, wooden mud guards and cork handle grips. In addition to putting a portion of the 1 million bikes discarded in the Netherlands each year to good use, Roetz-Bikes also provide sheltered employment for people with disabilities and the long-term unemployed. This really is more than just a bike.

Het Zwarte Fietsenplan: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 146 Lijnbaansgracht 282 http://roetz-bikes.com

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BOUGH BIKES With a highly sustainable French oak frame, a Bough Bike is certainly an eye-catcher. As designer Jan Gunneweg attests, ‘If you design from nature it will always bring you something that people feel comfortable with.’ Somewhat counterintuitively, it turns out that wood is both stronger and less pone to deterioration than metal. Also counter-intuitively, the standard model comes in at a flyweight 20kg (44lbs). Not to mention that its innate flexibility acts as a natural shock absorber – a blessing on Amsterdam’s cobblestones. More good news for Amsterdammers who’ve ever lost a beloved bike in the city’s canals: the Bough Bike floats. But such craftsmanship comes at a premium: the basic model is €1,500, available online only. www.boughbikes.nl

CYCLING WITH… A Dutchman and an Irishman meet in a bar.

No, it’s not the start of a bad joke – but it is the beginning of Cyclingwith.com. Irish filmmaker Paddy Cahill and Dutch blogger Philip de Roos are both bike-mad, and together they’ve vowed to make 100 short films of 100 inspirational people riding their bikes around their respective home cities (Dublin and Amsterdam). Take a springtime ride with former Amsterdam mayor and Time magazine’s 2005 ‘European Hero’ Job Cohen, or bike around Amsterdam-Noord with social architect Naomi, or let Max guide you through Amsterdam School architecture in the south of the city. http://cyclingwith.com

11 Despite its beginnings as an ‘elitist pastime’ in the 1890s, cycling was the main mode of transportation in the country’s pre-World War II days and even played a role during the Nazi occupation of the city in the 1940s. ‘The Germans hated Amsterdam cyclists,’ says Pete Jordan, author of In the City of Bikes, with ‘their attitude full of bravado, like it is today – running red lights and being anarchistic.’ As Amsterdam cyclists purposely slowed up convoys and refused to give way to German vehicles, cycling, says Jordan, became ‘the biggest expression of resistance to the Nazis… It gave ordinary people satisfaction that they were hindering the Nazi cause.’

CYCLING FOR CHANGE With the car replacing the bicycle after the war and even the city’s mayor tolling the vélo’s death toll in 1965, urban planners rushed to accommodate four-wheeled vehicles. One thankfully nixed 1960s plan was to pave over the city centre’s historic canals to make way for cars – a single battle in the century-old bike versus car struggle that still rears its head today.

In the south of Amsterdam, conservative council members recently proposed doing away with one very picturesque cycle lane bordering Sarphatipark to create more parking spaces.

‘We strongly oppose it and so do locals,’ says

Faber of the ongoing battle. If recent history prevails, so will the cyclists.

But it’s precisely that kind of people power that begat the counterculture Provo movement, its crowning glory being the 1965 White Bicycle Plan proposed by City Council member Luud Schimmelpennink. He wanted 20,000 free white bicycles available around the city for all to ride. ‘It was a radical and unique idea,’ says Jordan of the plan. Despite putting some white bikes out there (which were invariably confiscated by police), Jordan says the plan became more of an ‘urban myth’ than a reality. Nevertheless, today’s thousands of worldwide urban bike-sharing schemes – despite paid-for and locked cycles– ‘owe their existence to the Amsterdam scheme’.

Today the cars that five decades ago haphazardly filled the city’s most famous squares – Rembrandt- and Leidseplein – are gone. But in their place are thousands of bicycles, leaving urban planners with the seemingly enviable problem of what to do with them all. ‘We are a victim of our own success,’ says Jordan.

The City admits that Central Station is now ‘worse than the average disorganised messy public space’ and will invest €120 million by 2020 to create an additional 14,000 cycle parking spaces around the station. Part of that money will go towards new or improved bike

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BLACKST*R BAMBOO BIKES Yes, you read that right: they’re bikes, and they’re made of bamboo. Specifically, Ghanan bamboo. But it goes further than that: BlackStar Bikes (named for the solitary star on the Ghanan flag) doesn’t just import the raw materials, but commissions its bamboo frames from Sub-Saharan Africa, actively creating employment in a part of the world where it’s sorely needed, and then distributes profits equally along the supply chain. Ecologically sustainable, surprisingly affordable and socially engaged: this is cycling for social change.

Fair + Fair: Herengracht 211 www.blackstarbikes.nl

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‘CYCLING IS HOW WE WALK. IT’S NOT SPECIAL, IT’S SOMETHING EVERYONE DOES. IT’S CHEAP, FAST, EASY AND FUN.’ MICHEL POST, FIETSERSBOND.

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city of bikes

PART I UP CLOSE

Dutch cycling prowess is a hard-won combination of urban planning, government spending and people power. lanes to alleviate rush-hour cycle traffic on Amsterdam’s busiest routes. ‘The most popular mode of transport in Amsterdam,’ reads the City’s Long-Term Bicycle Plan, ‘should be given enough space.’ Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Amsterdam’s cycling infrastructure – a lesson all here say city planners worldwide should take into account when encouraging increased bike use.

REINVENTING THE WHEEL If the Dutch aren’t quite reinventing the wheel, they are certainly realigning it. Amsterdam’s De Fietsfabriek has designed a bicycle to transport disabled people. And award-winning bicycle maker VANMOOF, which wants to be part of the city’s cycling solution, will in June roll out its first e-bike, an electric-assisted urban bicycle complete with a GPS tracking system. (In this case, VANMOOF literally is reinventing the wheel, placing the bike’s motor in its front tyre.)

‘It’s part of our battle against bike theft,’ says VANMOOF’s Niels Bark. ‘They will be more difficult to steal and if stolen, you can find them. It could be the Holy Grail for urban cyclists, a huge game changer.’

The Fietsersbond’s Michel Post has a vision for the Amsterdam of the future: the city’s car traffic will decrease to the point where there won’t be a need for cycle lanes at all, as bicycles move off the curb and claim the streets.

‘Cars will consider themselves guests,’ he says, elevating Amsterdam’s status as the world’s biking capital to new heights.

WHEELS FOR HIRE Bike rentals options in Amsterdam run the rainbow of options, from MacBike’s distinctive ruby hue (http://macbike.nl) through patriotic Orange Bikes (www.orangebike.nl) to the more discrete black of Het Zwarte Fietsenplan (www.hetzwartefietsenplan.nl). For the ultimate customisable cycle route, head to Stayokay City Bikes, attached to the two locations of the international hostel company. Located on Zeeburg  and right next to the Vondelpark , both hostels make the perfect starting point for your bike adventure. For €80 per person, you get two nights’ accommodation, two days of bike hire and packed lunches. www.stayokay.com

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CITY CYCLING AMSTERDAM Quintessentially British cycling brand Rapha has released a boxed set of eight guides to cycle-friendly European cities – and of courses, Amsterdam is at the top of the pile. Featuring local cycling etiquette, suggested routes (from country lanes to city centres), refuelling stops and the places cyclists are always welcome – in Amsterdam, Antwerp & Ghent, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Milan & Paris – each pocket-sized guide is beautifully illustrated by a local artist. Get the Amsterdam guide for €4 – or the set for just €30 and plan your next saddle-based getaway.

Published By Thames & Hudson

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 VANMOOF Serious cyclists, like keen runners, have long used GPS tracking to chart their daily biking progress via smartphone. Now Amsterdam-based bike company VANMOOF has become the first manufacturer to harness satellite technology to counter bike theft. The firm’s just-released ‘Electrified’ model communicates with a smartphone app to establish its exact location, particularly useful should it ever be ‘borrowed’ by undesirables.

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Mauritskade 55 www.vanmoof.nl

13 VELORETTI Fearlessly pronouncing ‘Our bicycles aren’t mass-produced and we would like to keep it that way’, new kids on the online-only bike block Veloretti balance performance and aesthetics to create simple, clean, affordable city bikes. The men’s BLCKBRD model is a modern street racer with classy style quirks – think handlebars like horns and subtly curved frame posts – that bely its €379 price tag. The fuss-free CAFÉRACERs, for men or women, come in a Pantone colour palette (Dakota Red, Gunmetal Grey, Screamin’ Olive) and boast ‘moustache’ handlebars, which can be flipped upside down for a cool courier look. http://veloretti.com

MINUTE BIKES Big isn’t always better – most especially in the case of bikes.

Minute, with their shrunken wheels, may look like folding bikes but are in fact mini commuters born out of a quest for the ultimate city ride. As designer Elian Veltman says, ‘A smaller size wheel is stronger, lighter, more agile and at least as fast as a large wheel. And something you will really appreciate when you have to take your bike to your thirdfloor apartment…’ www.minutecycles.com

THE UPCYCLE Talk about reinventing the wheel. Some 40,000 ‘orphan’ bicycles are collected by the municipality of Amsterdam every year, and only a very small percentage are ever collected by their rightful owners, while the remainder are scrapped. Taking creative inspiration from this waste, The Upcycle create brand new bikes out of the best of the leftovers, scrupulously sourcing all the components to make new bikes that are distinctly more than the sum of their parts. And if you’re not in the market for a complete bicycle, the industrial-chic bikelight lamps, chain jewellery and bike-tyre belts and wallets are a little more hand-luggage friendly…

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FAIR + FAIR : Herengracht 211 Thinking of Holland: Piet Heinkade 23 Amsterdam Roest: Czaar Peter Straat 213 www.theupcycle.nl

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A little more room, a lot more comfort You’ll be amazed what extra legroom and a seat that reclines more can do for your journey. Get comfortable with Economy Comfort, available on all KLM flights.

Visit klm.com/economycomfort for more information.

may & jun 2014 16 20 25 26 27

ENTERTAINMENT

HIGH CULTURE MEETS EVERYDAY LIFE, IN POP-PSYCHOLOGIST ALAIN DE BOTTON’S SURPRISING APPROACH TO CURATORSHIP AT THE RIJKSMUSEUM. Cure what ails you at the Art as Therapy exhibition.

‘YOU GET TO LIVE IN A CITY THAT FEELS LIKE A LARGE TOWN. THE HUMAN SCALE OF AMSTERDAM IS WHAT I APPRECIATE MOST.’ Frank Nas, managing director of international brand design agency Design Bridge Amsterdam, tells us the best thing about the city he’s called home for 25 years.

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HOLLAND FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS 13 QUESTIONS FILM NIGHTLIFE ESSENTIALS

EXPEDITION SILK ROAD Providing a glimpse into the long-lost civilisations that flourished along the legendary pre-Christian 4,000-mile trading route stretching from China to the Mediterranean Sea, Expedition Silk Road comprises 250 exceptional objects drawn from the St Petersburg mother ship’s collection. Murals, Buddhas, precious silks, silver, glass, gold and terracotta ware that were unearthed by Russian expeditions in the 18th and 20th centuries tell the story of the world’s most important trading route, frequented by monarchs and merchants alike.

UNTIL 5 SEPTEMBER HERMITAGE AMSTERDAM Amstel 51 www.hermitage.nl

ELEVEN-FACED BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESHVARA KHARA-KHOTO, INNER MONGOLIA, 12TH–13TH CENTURY THANGKA (PAINTING OR EMBROIDERY) ON CANVAS © STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG

PART II

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PART II ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

All the city’s a stage

holland festival

The city becomes a stage in June, when top-flight performers from all over the globe descend on Amsterdam for Holland Festival, a spectacular month of culture.

VORTEX TEMPORUM © ANNE VAN AERSCHOT

text Toby Main

A 1-29 JUNE Various locations www.hollandfestival.nl

fter a decade with the French-Lebanese artistic director Pierre Audi at its helm, this year the Holland Festival – one of Europe’s biggest and most prestigious performing arts festivals – bids farewell to the man whose stated aim has been to lavish the Dutch public with ‘a kaleidoscopic window on the world’, an annual binge of live entertainment the likes of which simply cannot be experienced throughout the rest of the calendar year.

Surveying the list of internationally renowned directors, performers, choreographers and even film stars that throng this year’s festival

programme, Mr Audi has called in the artistic big guns and is going out with an almighty bang. The festival begins at the National Opera & Ballet with the Dutch premiere of Vortex Temporum, an hour-long dance performance, conceived by Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, that seeks to explore the nature of time, no less. Like several other big-name participants in this year’s Holland Festival, De Keersmaeker will participate in a ‘Meet The Artist’ Q&A session afterwards, so brave attendees will be able to enjoy a live Stephen Hawking moment by pondering the finer points of a performance

that contemplates whether time is extremely dense or endlessly expanding.

Elsewhere amid the genre-hopping melee, in a Dexter-ish twist, Handel’s operatic hero Orlando is reimagined by Audi himself as a pyromaniac firefighter.

The legendary director Peter Brook presents The Valley of Astonishment, a play based partly on research into a rare neurological condition, that dares to imagine a world where every sound has a colour, a taste.

As ever, Amsterdam’s unique cityscape plays a central role.

In 2010, the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid provided a (literally) loopy pavilion

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festival highlights

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 BESTIAIRE D’AMOUR

© Mario del Curto

© Yann Mingard

© Robert Millard

The worm’s favourite position, what a female duck can do with her reproductive equipment and how the dolphin avails itself of every available orifice: these and other saucy details concerning the sex lives of animals are explored in Bestiaire d’amour, the astonishing one-woman proposition by Isabella Rossellini that’s an extension of the Green Porno series she made for TV. The legendary actress delivers her theatrical seminar with rare flair and charm, touching on the big issues of love, lust, parenthood and procreation whilst revelling in the surreal details. From flashy mating dances to moments of great intimacy: it’s easy to forget that she’s talking about animals.

19-21 June, Stadsschouwburg

ORLANDO © BERND UHLIG DE MUNT

FALSTAFF © ROH CATHERINE ASHMORE

 THE WASP FACTORY

for classical music performances in the post-industrial Westerpark. This year, a new state-of-the-art music venue, the Ziggo Dome, is the epic canvas for an ambitious project resurrecting Napoleon by Abel Gance, one of the great masterpieces of the silent movie genre. A previously unseen, digitally restored version of the film will be screened at the 17,000seat arena, set to a newly conceived score. Performed live by the Gelders Orkest, it incorporates snatches of Mozart and Beethoven. The four-part spectacle can be supplemented with a dinner buffet. Whether that includes The Little Corporal’s

favoured Chicken Marengo remains to be seen.

There’s more foodie fun to be had at Roysten Abel’s The Kitchen, a performance at the Stadsschouwburg during which the protagonists prepare a traditional South-Indian dessert for the audience to enjoy afterwards.

But if your wallet’s on a diet, or you find that your firstchoice performances are booked up, panic not. Free concerts are something of a Holland Festival hallmark. A performance of Verdi’s Falstaff – the scintillating comic opera about Shakespeare’s obese creation – will be beamed live to a huge screen in the Oosterpark for an un-

ticketed, picnic performance.

Organisers are also reprising the famous busker-friendly underpass of the newly reopened Rijksmuseum as a venue for live music. Every Thursday afternoon during the festival, students from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague will perform music by Luigi Nono, the Venetian avant-garde composer whose work will be represented ‘spatially’ using electroacoustic wizardry.

The slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ (progress through technology) may already have been popularised by his automotive namesake, but it might just as well apply to Mr Audi’s final curtain call.

By combining a bleak stage design – an articulated sheet of glass covered in soil, which slowly tilts towards the audience – with an eclectic sonic landscape that takes in classical, minimalist and pop, composer and director Ben Frost has successfully transformed Iain Banks’ chilling cult novel into gripping music theatre. Like the book, it recounts the disturbing acts of Frank Couldhame, a troubled 16-year-old teenager living on a remote Scottish island who has retreated into a self-invented universe of obsessions and rituals, in which he acts like a cruel and destructive deity. When his brother Eric escapes from a psychiatric institution, however, Frank is confronted with an astounding truth.

22 & 23 June, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ

 GEORGE BENJAMIN’S HORIZON The English conductor/composer described by The Guardian ‘as bristling with compact energy’ returns to the Holland Festival to lead the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra once more. Benjamin has devised a far-reaching programme that combines his own compositions with pieces by Ravel, Ligeti and the young Scot Helen Grime, whose 2010 composition Everyone Sang is followed by Benjamin’s first orchestral work, Ringed by the Flat Horizon. György Ligeti’s Double Concerto features two RCO soloists, Kersten McCall and Lucas Macías Navarro, and the concert concludes with Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole.

20 June, Concertgebouw

Foto: Michiel van Nieuwkerk

We are happy to welcome our Sunowers home as of 1 May, after a 3 month stay at The National Gallery in London.

Your fastest ticket to the Sunowers is purchased online at tickets.vangoghmuseum.com

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may & jun 2014

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Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (ca. 14751533) is the first Dutch painter that we know by name. In this first retrospective of Van Oostsanen, the seminal Dutch master’s principal works are brought together. The exhibition comprises 30 surviving paintings – both portraits and religious pictures – and 200 woodcuts.

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VAN GOGH MUSEUM

FÉLIX VALLOTTON: FIRE BENEATH THE ICE Until 1 June

Around 60 paintings – many on loan – are displayed alongside some 40 prints from the Van Gogh Museum’s collection to provide an overview of every facet of Franco-Swiss artist Félix Vallotton’s oeuvre. During the 1890s, Vallotton (1865-1928) belonged to the group of artists known as Les Nabis (the prophets), who embarked on a new creative path.

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RIJKSMUSEUM

SCULPTURE GARDEN

The Rijksmuseum’s internationally revered collection features some of the nation’s most famous works. The free Sculpture Garden hosts a series of annual international sculpture displays, which will be presented over the next four years. This summer, around 20 monumental art works and mobiles by American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) will be displayed (21 June-5 October). €2.50 DISCOUNT with your I amsterdam City Card

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PART II ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

highlights

Art for life’s sake

High culture meets everyday life, in pop-psychologist Alain de Botton’s surprising approach to curatorship at the Rijksmuseum. text Megan Roberts

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rom New York’s MoMA to the Louvre in Paris, no matter where you go in the world, you’ll likely see the same choreography at an art museum: streams of visitors drift somnolently along in line, stop sporadically to lean in and scrutinise the wall texts, then shuffle on. According to British-Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton, ‘most people leave highly respected museums and exhibitions feeling underwhelmed.’ Fundamentally, we just don’t know how to behave in such rarefied places – or how to interact with the art they display. But that, insists De Botton, is not our fault.

Art’s greatest purpose, he claims, is to act as therapy for the soul, and art museums are more effective at facilitating this when they encourage a personal reaction. They should never, therefore, have taken the chronological framework of art history as a guiding principle. Imagine, for a moment, if your local library arranged its books by year of publication, with poetry, biography, self-help and business titles arbitrarily lined up next to one another.

For De Botton, a gallery dedicated to Dutch Golden Age artists, for example, or the Impressionists is just as perverse. Instead, he suggests, paintings should be grouped according to human-scale themes such as love, aging and grief.

And those wall texts espousing dates, dimensions and provenance should be replaced with prompts for self-reflection. In essence, De Botton argues, curators should think less like academics and more like therapists.

Known for his practical application of lofty aesthetics to the quotidian, De Botton has already turned his hand to literature (How Proust Can THE SCHOOL OF LIFE Devoted to developing emotional intelligence through culture, De Botton’s School of Life is the physical manifestation of his philosophy. Headquarted in London, there are now branches across the world, with the Amsterdam chapter set to open at the end of April. Via classes and therapies – How to be more creative; How to find a job you love; How to have better conversations – The School of Life assists individuals in the quest for a more fulfilled life.

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Herengracht 215 www.theschooloflife.com

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UNTIL 4 SEPTEMBER RIJKSMUSEUM Museumstraat 1 www.rijksmuseum.nl

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ROSA HEEROMA

Change Your Life), religion (Religion for Atheists) and architecture (The Architecture of Happiness). But perhaps not surprisingly, when he applied his instrumentalist approach to art for his latest book, Art is Therapy (co-authored with art historian John Armstrong), many of the art world’s most prestigious cultural gatekeepers hitched up their skirts and ran for the hills, outraged and offended in equal measure that art should be asked to perform a function.

Yet Rijksmusuem director Wim Pijbes saw only an opportunity for a fresh approach.

The result is a spring exhibition at the Dutch national museum in which De Botton and Armstrong have re-captioned 150 works, dating from the Middle Ages through to the 20th century, as well as objects in the shop, café, cloakroom and entrance. A map, multimedia tour and app will complement the exhibition.

‘Art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide, comfort, expand and reawaken us,’ says De Botton. ‘A walk through a museum of art should amount to a structured encounter with a few of the things which are easiest for us to forget and most essential and life-enhancing to remember.’

So when we look at Vermeer’s luminescent ‘The Milkmaid’ (circa 1658; pictured left), a depiction of a mundane reality very few painters of the period sought to capture, we too can aspire to see the beauty in the everyday. Likewise, ‘At the Linen Closet’ (1663) by genre painter Pieter de Hooch can urge us to recognise the value of ordinary routine. In doing so, perhaps, suggests De Botton, the burden of daily existence can be eased, however slightly or temporarily.

On this ‘off’ year of the biannual international sculpture walk Artzuid, art fans get the chance to see the work of the next generation during a special junior edition. Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Vondelpark, 160 students from 32 different schools were invited to submit sculpture proposals that were voted for by experts and the public. The winning 20 – all taking inspiration from Amsterdam’s largest park – will be displayed throughout the anniversary celebrations, bringing some serious eye candy to proceedings. With a statue by Picasso already gracing the park nearby, they’re in good company...

15 JUNE-24 AUGUST, VONDELPARK www.artzuid.nl

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INTERNATIONAL THEATRE SCHOOL FESTIVAL Every year at the end of June, the latest crop of performing arts graduates from across Europe descends on Amsterdam to prove they’ve got what it takes to merit a long-lasting career. Comprising more than 50 unique performances from some 200 graduates, it’s a boxfresh opportunity to catch a glimpse of what’s on the horizon in the fields of acting, dance, mime and even film directing. As well as performances, the programme includes debates and workshops in all things theatrical – and no doubt some suitably dramatic after-parties…

CAMPAIGN: STUDIO JONA (PHOTOGRAPHY: RE:DESIGN STUDIO)

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20-27 JUNE, VARIOUS LOCATIONS www.itsfestivalamsterdam.com

VAN OOSTSANEN, THE FIRST DUTCH MASTER The first artist that we know by name, Cornelisz van Oostsanen (ca. 1475-1533) is one of the great masters from the northern Netherlands who, from his studio on Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat in the 16th century, laid the foundation for the Golden Age of Dutch art that followed.

Five centuries after his death, Van Oostsanen is returning to Amsterdam, the city in which he lived and worked, for the first ever retrospective of his seminal works. From the late Gothic works showing the influence of the Haarlem school to the simpler lines, elongated proportions and looser strokes of has last works, this exhibition traces the artistic journey of the first Dutch master.

SALOME WITH THE HEAD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, 1524

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ARTZUID JUNIOR

UNTIL 29 JUNE, AMSTERDAM MUSEUM Kalverstraat 92 www.amsterdammuseum.nl

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PART II ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

highlights

‘A terrible beauty is born’ Richard Mosse’s candyfloss-hued images of conflict in the eastern Congo blur the once-strict boundaries between art and reportage.

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text Megan Roberts

FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN, 2012 © RICHARD MOSSE. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY, NEW YORK

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human skull nestles in ruby-red vegetation. Undulating hills are rendered a saturated fuchsia; AK47-weilding militiamen in foliage headdresses stare defiantly into the camera lens, their camouflage a sickly mauve. The feverish, hallucinatory colour palette of Irish photographer Richard Mosse’s The Enclave project is achieved with infrared film formerly deployed by the military to reveal camouflaged targets. The landscape is eastern Congo, where an estimated 5.4 million people died between 1998 and 2008, caught up in conflicts between militia, rebel forces and the Congolese National Army. Today, that figure is much higher.

This is something of a hidden war, rarely seen in the international media in spite of its scale and duration, and Mosse – no stranger to conflict zones having worked in Iran, Pakistan, Haiti and the former Yugoslavia over the past decade – was drawn to the forgotten nature of the conflict. The Enclave is a six-screen multimedia installation of film and stills with a field soundtrack by minimalist composer du jour Ben Frost that premiered at the Venice Biennale last year.

‘War in the Congo is so overlooked, largely

because it’s such a complicated, convoluted conflict,’ Mosse says. ‘You have about 30 armed groups – and none are really “the good guys”, so there’s nobody to be stopped and for the media, no perfect sound bite. It’s much more opaque than other humanitarian crises. There’s a state of near anarchy – a near Hobbesian state of war, the power vacuum filled with atrocities. The conflict resists communication, so this project became about the grapple with communicating.’

The medium – that discontinued Kodak Aerochrome film that reveals invisible infrared light – is a perfect match for this hidden war. ‘It makes visible the invisible,’ says Mosse, who spent large portions of 2012 and 2013 filming in rebel-held regions where the UN has no presence. ‘It shows the conflict – literally – in a new light.’ With its references to psychedelic 1970s album covers, the film has plenty of cultural baggage – as, of course, does the Congo.

What is perhaps most discomfiting about The Enclave is the terrible beauty that casts the familiar as strange, the real as absurd. The lush perfection of the landscape is counterpoised by those confrontational,

posturing soldiers. ‘There are no traces of war on the landscape of Congo – unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan,’ Mosse explains. ‘The conflict itself is essentially complicated, more abstract than concrete, and the jungle swallows traces really quickly.’

Challenging received conventions of documentary photography, which has conventionally been black and white and off-thecuff since Robert Capa’s images of the Spanish Civil War, Mosse makes no apologies for the aesthetic quality of his work.

‘Beauty is one of the sharpest tools in the box to make people feel something,’ he says. ‘In this context, it pushes the viewer into an uncomfortable place, initially seducing and then repelling them. It’s a step of self-realisation where viewers step outside themselves to negotiate the content.

Photojournalism spoon feeds people narratives; I want to find another space where people find the story themselves.’

Depicting the ‘Heart of Darkness’ in disturbing Technicolor, this is war photography but not as we know it – and all the more effective for it.

UNTIL 1 JUNE Foam, Keizersgracht 609 www.foam.org

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featured artist

don’t miss these It’s the 30th edition of this popular but challenging contemporary art fair – the longest-running in the Netherlands – which is expected to attract some 60 gallerists from around the country. Those on the hunt for the art world’s next big thing could do a lot worse than the RawEdges sidebar, which offers space to emerging young talents on favourable terms. And if you’re wondering about the striking poster you’ve no doubt seen around town, graphic designer Anthon Beeke created the image, disguising artist Daan Roosegaarde with references to his own art; his ‘mask’ references Roosegaarde‘s famous Smart Highway project.

‘Aspiring dancers should keep their eyes open and learn, learn and learn. Watch other dancers, and then learn some more.’

JEFF KOONS, BALLOON DOG RED

KUNSTRAI

4-9 JUNE, AMSTERDAM RAI Europaplein www.kunstrai.nl

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LONDON CALLING When a man is tired of London... it’s time for a move to Amsterdam. And why not, when the UK’s most promising up-and-coming musical talent is served up twice yearly at the London Calling festival, where Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and Florence & The Machine all made their Dutch debuts? Cram your playlist in advance with tracks from The Bohicas, four young men from Essex who are crafting ambitious and arresting rock’n’roll. For the impatient, a pre-festival taster takes place at Amsterdam-Noord’s Tolhuistuin venue on 7 & 8 May, featuring a turn from Casual Sex (pictured), of whom The Guardian recently enthused: ‘they might be the best Scottish indie band since Franz Ferdinand’.

JURGITA DRONINA, PRINCIPAL DANCER, DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET Born: 27 March 1986, Russia Talent: In 2011, Dronina was

awarded the coveted ‘Zwaan’ by the Dutch Association of Theatres and Concert Halls for her performance as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty.

Performs: Jurgita stars in Ballerina (14-20 May) and The Tempest (18-29 June), both at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet

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THE ART OF THE BRICK

© ANGELA STERLING

‘I didn’t always know I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember. I started ballroom dancing first, and then I did hip hop. Then one day I went to see a ballet performance – Snow White – and I fell in love with the ballet world. I don’t really have a favourite role. I enjoy every role I dance. That’s maybe not what people want to hear, but that’s the truth [Laughs]. Every role I’m playing at that moment is my favourite. But I do prefer story ballet. It doesn’t have to be a classical ballet – although I really do like classical ballet – but as long as it has a story, depth, drama or something artistic in it, I love performing it. I like creating.’

9 & 10 MAY, PARADISO Weteringschans 6 www.londoncalling.nl

Dubbed a ‘must-see’ by CNN, artist Nathan Sawaya’s 70 extraordinary sculptures comprise more than a million LEGO® bricks. A re-creation of Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ uses 4,573 bricks, Rodin’s ‘Thinker‘ 4,332 and Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring 1,694 pieces. All the sculptures – both the homages to other artists and Sawaya’s originals – are made using standard-issue blocks in commercially available colours. Narrow your eyes and the geometric edges of the smaller sculptures disappear, while the larger ones – the gargantuan Moai figure from Easter Island included – are of so great a scale, no optical illusions are necessary.

FROM 28 MAY, AMSTERDAM EXPO Gustav Mahlerlaan 24 www.amsterdamexpo.nl

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highlights

PART II ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Gardener’s world

Two flourishing festivals are providing colourful new insights into the city’s horticultural capital. text Toby Main

Back in the frame Cultural centre Felix Meritis gets a second life courtesy of Foam photography museum. text Megan Roberts

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t was with heavy hearts that Amsterdammers heard earlier this year of the bankruptcy of Felix Meritis, the Keizersgracht bastion of cultural enlightenment, intellectual freedom and tolerance that celebrated its 225th anniversary last year amid much flourish and fanfare.

But scarcely had the cultural condolences begun before Amsterdam’s forward-thinking Alderwoman for Art & Culture, Carolien Gehrels, announced that the City would buy the building – whose classical temple façade, with its colossal Corinthian pilasters and pediment, dates from 1789 when it was built by affluent citizens to create a place for the arts and sciences – and sell it on six months later. In the interim, Gehrels turned to Foam, Amsterdam’s pre-eminent photography museum, to devise a programme in keeping with the building’s original purpose.

And so, from 17 April until 30 September, from the foyer

– housing the appropriately named ‘Foyer’ restaurant – to the Golden Age Observatory, Felix Meritis will be full to the brim with box-fresh talent.

The inaugural exhibition, The Space Between Us, comprises work by nine contemporary Dutch photographers, each engaged in exploring and portraying the human body. But of course there’s more than just photography. Film screenings, fashion and design will be focused on emerging talent, while twice a week there’ll be evening events, including theatre and debate. Foam’s gallery, Foam Editions, is presenting a series of special limited-edition prints, and the Foam bookshop is also given a prominent place.

While the long-term future of the building and all it stands for may remain uncertain, for the next six months, Felix Meritis is in exceptionally good hands.

FELIX &FOAM Keizersgracht 324 www.felixandfoam.org

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‘secret’ gardens around the city that would otherwise be hidden from view. Unlike the famous Keukenhof gardens near Lisse, famous for its carpets of uniform colour, the emphasis here is on seeing carefully-chosen bursts of tulips in a thoughtful context: ‘For example, at the Van Loon we’ve paired the Orange Princess double tulip with the rare Black Knight, which has an aristocratic, arrogant allure.’

Open Garden Days, too, isn’t without its questions of ego.

Grever says that the idea of an annual ‘theme’ for the event is as much about managing the expectations of green-fingered would-be exhibitors as it is keeping the festival fresh. ‘We want a maximum of 30 gardens because we don’t want the tour to become unwieldy,’ he confides, ‘so we have to be selective.’ This year’s motif, according to Grever, is all about the balance between purpose and pleasure that exists within all gardens: ‘It’s especially relevant now that more people are returning to the idea of the productive garden,’ he says.

AMSTERDAM TULIP DAYS 3 & 4 May www.tulpendagenamsterdam.nl AMSTERDAM OPEN GARDEN DAYS 20-22 June www.opentuinendagen.nl PETER KOOIJMAN

MYSELF AS A MANDRILL, ELZA JO

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arch 2014 was the warmest since formal records began in 1901. Great news for dog-walkers, but potentially not so good for Tonko Grever, curator of the Van Loon canal-house museum and organiser of the festival in early May that seeks to bring Tulip Mania back to the streets of Amsterdam (albeit without the cataclysmic economic crash that followed the original, Golden-Age version).

If the weather is too fine, it could accelerate the arrival of the tulip, spelling disaster for his Amsterdam Tulip Days.

‘Fortunately, I understand it’s going to be cloudy at the weekend, so that should slow things down,’ says Grever, relieved that precocious blooming seems to have been averted, for now.

Grever, already at the helm of another annual horticultural festival, June’s Open Garden Days, started Amsterdam Tulip Days out of frustration that the iconic flower so closely associated with this city was barely to be glimpsed here, even in spring. ‘You didn’t really see them outside of the Flower Market, partly because they tend to go missing when planted in public spaces.’

As with Open Garden Days, Tulip Days provides visitors with access to a number of

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13 questions Frank Nas, managing director of international brand design agency Design Bridge Amsterdam, gives his take on the city he’s called home for the last 25 years. text Megan Roberts

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‘I was just blown away by the vibrancy of the city’ 

1. WHAT’S YOUR FIRST AMSTERDAM MEMORY?

3. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE AMSTERDAM WORK OF ART?

I first got really excited about Amsterdam on a school trip to Artis Zoo (www.artis.nl ). I don’t remember anything about the zoo, but I do remember being on the coach, and I was glued to the window, just blown away by the vibrancy of the city. We stopped at Waterlooplein, and it was so bright, so busy. I decided that day that I wanted to move here.

I’m a big fan of street art and graffiti. One of the largest legal outdoor graffiti walls in Amsterdam is in Flevopark, at the end of tram line 7 . It’s like a free exhibition.

2. WHAT SHOULD SOMEONE DO WITH A SINGLE DAY? Rent a sloop and make a trip to the Java and KNSM Islands to see the new face of Amsterdam . You get to see the contemporary side of Amsterdam. I’d stop at Wilhelmina Dok (www.wil helmina-dok.nl ), opposite the cruise terminal, for a coffee. The size of the cruise ships makes you feel tiny, but it also gives you a ‘big city’ feel. In the afternoon I’d go to the Nine Streets for some shopping, then jump on Tram 3 to the Conservatorium Hotel (www.conservatoriumhotel.com ) for a G&T or two. Then I’d decide if I wanted to stay and spend the money on dinner there or go somewhere more affordable. The outcome would be directly affected by how many G&Ts I’d had!

4. AMSTERDAM TRANSPORT? My BMW motorbike. It combines the speed of a car with the flexibility of a bike. And no parking fees!

You never get stuck in traffic on a motorbike.

5. FAVOURITE STATUE? At the Leidsebos near Leidseplein there’s a statue of a tiny tree cutter in one of the tree branches. The artist is unknown, and technically it’s an illegal statue, but it’s been there since 1989. It’s not easy to spot, but once you know it’s there, you feel like you’ve made a discovery for yourself .

6. TELL US SOMETHING WE DON’T ALREADY KNOW ABOUT AMSTERDAM. Behind the canal houses are amazing secret gardens. You can’t see them from the street – although sometimes you can see them from a plane if you fly over the city. For one weekend in June, 30 of them are open to the public (www.opentuinendagen.nl). You go through the houses to get to

 them, and once you’re outside you realise how much space there is between buildings in this apparently compact city.

7. WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SPEND THE NIGHT? I think it’d be great to feel like a king for the night, so it’d have to be in the Royal Palace on the Dam (www.paleisamsterdam.nl ).

8. WHERE’S THE BEST VIEW OF AMSTERDAM? At first I thought of the rooftop of NEMO, then I remembered being in the offices of Philips, one of our clients at Design Bridge. They have offices in the Rembrandt Tower, the highest building in Amsterdam. Looking at the city from down near Amstel Station, it’s a much more surprising view than if you’re in the city centre .

9. FAVOURITE AMSTERDAM DELICACY? I’m a chocoholic, and one of my favourite dealers is Puccini Bomboni (www.puccinibomboni.com ).

10. TOP RESTAURANT? The most consistently well-rounded dining experience I’ve had us at De Kas (www.restaurantdekas.nl) in an old greenhouse . It’s slightly out of the centre, but well worth the journey. They have a

 fixed daily menu – which I like, because you don’t have to choose.

It’s a great combination: really fresh ingredients, some grown onsite; really thought-through menu; great building; great service.

11. FAVOURITE BUILDING? I really like the Design Bridge offices on Overtoom. They were the horse stables of the first horsedrawn tram in Amsterdam. But my favourite building is De Waag on Nieuwmarkt . My first student room was almost directly opposite it, and from there I started really discovering Amsterdam.

12. BEST THING ABOUT A’DAM?

You get to live in a city that feels like a large town. The human scale of Amsterdam is what I appreciate most. And as everybody says, it’s very relaxed here – although that doesn’t always feel good in a business context!

13. AND THE WORST?

Getting stuck behind a moving van or delivery truck on the canals. When I used to drive my car to our old offices on Keizersgracht I would get stuck for hours. I’ve even walked away from my car before and left a note on the windscreen saying, ‘Call me when you’re done!’ www.designbridge.com

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PART II ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

film

Taking you through Amsterdam’s movie scene, one cinema at a time.

Rialto

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World-class world cinema

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text Bregtje Schudel photo Zlatka Siljdedic

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RIALTO Ceintuurbaan 338 www.rialtofilm.nl

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CINÉMA ARABE Until 11 May www.cinemaarabe.nl

f you’re up for a short bike ride, and a little gamble – many movies are foreign language, with only Dutch subtitles – Rialto is a cinema well worth a visit. Located at about a five-minute walk from the Albert Cuyp Market, it serves up quality world-cinema fare.

Rialto started life as a local theatre (and children’s cinema) in 1921, built, set-up and run by entrepreneur AP du Mée. Even then it had an independent – and sometimes even dangerous – streak.

When the theatre showed an anti-Soviet documentary in late 1921, for example, some local Soviet supporters were not amused (who would’ve thought?) and left Du Mée two active hand grenades in lieu of a review. Mostly, the gambles paid off: the screen-

ings of De bewaarschool (La maternelle, 1933) about poor children in a Montmartre kindergarten, were sold out for months. Rialto quickly became a household name – with even it’s own theme music, the cheerful ‘Rialto March’.

After the Second World War, attendance dropped and the theatre fell on hard times. In the early Eighties it looked like Rialto would close its doors for ever, but luckily for Amsterdam’s film community, some bright young things thought otherwise. They were members of Stichting Amsterdams Filmhuis, a youth movement interested in non-standard film fare. One, Raymond Walravens, is the current director of Rialto. These young upstarts gratefully exchanged their old chapel on the Max

Euweplein for the dusty theatre at Ceintuurbaan in 1982.

Rialto – with three screens and a modest bar – became a film theatre for ‘all the world citizens of Amsterdam’, with its main focus on recent European and non-Western films.

From smaller movies to sleeper hits (Oscar winners Slumdog Millionaire, Le grande bellezza), if it’s quality, it’ll find its way to Rialto.

Every summer there’s the World Cinema Festival, with open-air screenings on the nearby Marie Heinekenplein.

In May the theatre will play host to the sixth edition of Festival Cinéma Arabe, a celebration of Arabic film. Better yet: most movies at this festival will have subtitles. World citizens of Amsterdam, eat your cinematic hearts out!

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highlight

nightlife essentials

Our must-see film pick this issue…

I LOVE VINYL

9-11 MAY Westergasfabriek www.foodfilmfestival.nl

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Fri 2 May DOKA, Wibautstraat 150 www.doka-amsterdam.nl

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WËRELDBÄND – PLAYGROUND Part theatre troupe, part band, all fun: Wëreldbänd have been touting their highly entertaining brand of absurdism since 1997. Playing more than 100 instruments between them, expect to see everything from artists tap-dancing on skis to guitar players jumping rope and musicians making music out of plastic coffee cups.

They promise to bring crates full of instruments, bouncing balls and trampolines.

Mon 12 May Royal Theater Carré Amstel 115-125 http://carre.nl

ARTIS ZOOMERAVONDEN On Saturday evenings throughout the summer, party animals in Artis gather expectantly in their enclosures. Yip, Summer Evenings at Artis Royal Zoo lets visitors learn what the animals get up to after hours by staying open until sunset on every Saturday in June, July and August. There’s plenty of activities for families and live music performances for the grown-ups.

Every Sat June-August Artis Royal Zoo Plantage Kerklaan 38-40 www.artis.nl

DANCE4LIFE 10 YEARS Amsterdam-based non-profit dance4life has spent a decade educating millions of young people all around the world about the AIDS crisis under the message ‘start dancing, stop AIDS’. They’ll celebrate their tenth anniversary with a special event at Amsterdam’s concert hall, when Tchaikovsky and Bach give way to leading Dutch DJs Hardwell, Fedde le Grand and Dannic.

Fri 6 June Royal Concertgebouw, Concertgebouwplein 10 www.dance4life.nl

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YOU US WE ALL Love, Death, Hope and Virtue: what do they mean in today’s world? Multitalented artist Andrew Ondrejcak presents these allegorical characters in a contemporary form of the masque, an early 17th-century British precursor of the opera. Within it, the music of Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), who also plays Hope in the piece, combines baroque with pop and soul and is performed by Belgian baroque-rock outfit BOX. Wed 18 & Thur 19 June Theater Bellevue Leidsekade 90 www.theaterbellevue.nl

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KERSTIN BEHRENDT

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peaking of eating, visitors to the Food Film Festival had better bring an appetite (there’s a reason the ‘food’ comes first in the name). After three sold-out editions in cosy Studio/K, the festival that celebrates food in cinema (and beyond) had to find a bigger venue. Westergasfabriek’s Pazzanistraat will be turned into a food market, with the festival restaurant overseen by chef Joris Bijdendijk (of the Michelin-starred Bridges at The Grand).

Overall, the festival will screen about 40 films (almost all are either in English or have English subtitles), one of which will win the first ever Food Film Festival Award. But, in the end, the thing that really makes FFF stand out from other, ‘normal’ festivals are the specials on the menu. A ‘Golden Ticket’ will buy you an exceptional lunch and a similarly themed film – for instance, a documentary on late gourmand and Amsterdam food critic Johannes van Dam coupled with a lunch prepared by some of his highest scoring chefs.

Want to get your hands dirty? There are a dozen workshops where you can learn to make a rustic pâté, debone a leg of lamb or do a salt tasting and combine it with a movie or two.

There’s also ample room for serious talk, as with the Big Fishery Debate. This year’s keynote speaker will be Joel Salatin, ‘the most innovative farmer of the world’ (Time magazine). This is as close to the Mick Jagger of agrarian culture as you’re probably ever going to get. Entrance is free. Are you hungry yet?

JOS KOTTMAN

Food Film Festival: food, glorious food!

A night of eclectic and highend club music at this lowkey and unpretentious locals’ favourite, with poet/ producer/DJ Rich Medina headlining. Fitting perfectly into the Amsterdam vibe where people like to hear it all mixed up, this man from Philadelphia just doesn’t seem to understand – or care, for that matter – where one genre ends and another one starts. Expect him to effortlessly mix Afrobeat with house, and funk with hip hop and soul.

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BLONDIE The legendary Debbie Harry has fronted this boundarydefying rock band since 1974 and everybody from Madonna to Karen O owes their careers to them. With hits like ‘Heart of Glass’ and ‘One Way or Another’, Blondie have smashed through more glass ceilings than the Kool-Aid Man has brick walls. They’re not done yet, either. Help them celebrate their 40th anniversary during what’s sure to be an unforgettable night at Paradiso.

Wed 18 June, Paradiso Weteringschans 6-8 www.paradiso.nl

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may & jun 2014

PART III

ELISAH JACOBS

EAT DRINK CHIC

‘OUD-WEST IS SO COSY... BUT THERE’S NEVER A DULL MOMENT. SHOPPING HERE IS GREAT, TOO – ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WALK TOWARDS THE KINKERSTRAAT. Nail artist Electra Manuputty, on why west is best.

ROLLING KITCHENS If you like your meals on wheels, prepare to pig out. From London to Chicago, much has been made of the recent so-called ‘food truck revolution’, whereby eating from a van is suddenly a gourmet pastime instead of a drunken guilty pleasure. Amsterdam has long been ahead of this culinary curve; Het Weekend van de Rollende Keukens (‘Weekend of Rolling Kitchens’) invites vanbased vendors from all around the Netherlands to pitch up in the Westerpark and dole out delicacies, from perfect pizza to old-fashioned sweeties served from a VW camper. With vans competing for your custom with colourful awnings and signage, it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the belly.

28 May-I June, Westerpark www.rollendekeukens.nl

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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH: OUD-WEST COLUMN EATING OUT ON THE MENU DUTCH DENIM DNA PRETTY THINGS WHAT’S IN STORE

BERRY With its relaxed vibe and living-room décor, Berry is the perfect (hot)spot for ClubMate or coffee with friends (with sugar-free soya milk, if it floats your boat). Come here also for smoothies, juices and basic sandwiches and pastries. You’ll be tempted to get your laptop out and do a little work – but be warned: there’s no internet.

Bilderdijkkade 27 http://berryamsterdam.nl

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PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

Neighbourhood watch

neighbourhood watch

OUD-WEST ROBIN IJLAND, 24, & JAMAIRO NAWAZ, 19 sales assistant at Moooi & DJ

‘It’s very up-and-coming here. It’s good to see cool shops, restaurants and coffee bars opening up in OudWest. I like the crowd, too – from young families to Amsterdam hipsters. It’s very diverse.’

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Diverse, civilised and surprisingly central, when it comes to life in perfect balance, Amsterdam’s western front is poetry in motion. text Mark Smith photos Elisah Jacobs

West is best.

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ranted, you’ll have to hunt for quite some time before you find a postcard bearing an image of the Oud-West, and the neighbourhood certainly loses out in the Instagram stakes to both the chocolate-box waters of the Canal Belt and the tiny cobbled streets of the Jordaan. But that’s not to say that this leafy yet lively and eminently liveable part of town – home to some 180 nationalities at the last official count – isn’t thoroughly deserving of a visit.

Occupying a roughly triangular area bordered by the stately Vondelpark to the south, the Singelgracht canal to its east and the De Clercqstraat shopping street to the north, the Oud-West is the result of rapid urban expansion in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Prior to that, the semicircular Singelgracht had demarcated Amsterdam’s outer limits, and earlier still, the Overtoom – nowadays a busy arterial road running parallel to the Vondelpark, and the best place in town for furniture shopping – was a footpath connecting Amsterdam with the town of Sloten. As such, it was part of the route that had brought thousands of European pilgrims to Amsterdam following the 1345 ‘Miracle of Amsterdam’, providing the city with its very first tourists.

Owing to the time of construction, a large number of the street names in the Oud-West pay homage to the great and good of 19h-century Dutch society. There’s a discernible literary bent, with streets devoted to beloved children’s verse-writers PA de Génestet and Jan Pieter Heije as well as Charles De Coster, the godfather of native Belgian literature. But this has never been a part of town for intellectual beard-stroking, regardless of what the world-famous philosophythemed Hotel de Filosoof (Anna van den Vondelstraat 6, www.sandton.eu/en/amsterdam ) would have you believe. The vast majority of the neighbourhood’s first inhabitants were working-class, hence the buildings of the Oud-West are mostly four-floor terraced houses split into apartments, with perilously steep staircases and few of the ostentatious flourishes that characterise the grand homes of the Canal Belt. Although it emerged from the same marshland, the Oud-Zuid on the other, pricier, side of the Vondelpark has always been a much more extravagant affair.

WILD WEST As Amsterdam blogger and OudWest fan Theo van Kampen points out, the original rush to accommo-

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neighbourhood watch

PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

‘I’ve lived in other parts of Amsterdam, but the beauty of the Oud-West is that it just won’t be pigeonholed.’

TEN KATEMARKT With more than 100 stands selling fresh produce, flowers, plants, fabric, shoes and more, this amazingly useful, centuryold market simply wipes the floor with any number of the supermarkets that try to lure shoppers under their strip-lit roofs. It’s the throbbing heart of the residential neighbourhood that bisects the commercial Kinkerstraat, worth a visit for the meze van alone, which serves up velvety hummus topped with a thin layer of marinated vegetables and sesame seeds. The €1 loempia stall has been the salvation of many a hung-over local of a Saturday. Nearby you’ll find a number of local cafés, Surinamese restaurants and exotic grocers.

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Ten Katemarkt www.markt-tenkatestraat.nl

DE FIETSKANTINE A newcomer on the near-endless Overtoom, De Fietskantine is a hipster triple threat, managing to combine a bike shop, a coffee house and barbershop under one roof. Owner and bike mechanic Luuk de Leeuw, who quit his former job as a consultant because he wanted to do something with his hands, says that the model makes perfect sense as a pit stop for the modern Amsterdammer about town.

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Overtoom www.defietskantine.nl

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date so many citizens so quickly inevitably resulted in some cut corners and substandard workmanship. Whole swathes of the OudWest – in particular on and around the Kinkerstraat, the midpoint of which is bisected by the daily Ten Katemarkt street market – had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s. It was on these mean streets that a young Willem Holleeder embarked upon his life of crime, earning his stripes as part of a gang of heavies that would forcibly evict squatters on behalf of landlords. Holleeder would go on to be one of the kidnappers of beer magnate Freddy Heineken.

Nowadays, following a period of regeneration – some might say gentrification – things couldn’t be more different. The Overtoom, although still dotted with cheap Chinese massage parlours and kebab joints, was selected as the location for the first ever Marqt, the organic supermarket that has spread like wild quinoa through Amsterdam’s better-heeled enclaves (Overtoom 21, www.marqt.com ).

There’s even a furniture store (Coco-Mat: Overtoom 91, www.coco-mat.com ) that specialises in beds made from natural materials such as horsehair.

AN INDEFINABLE BEAUTY Having shaken off its Wild West reputation, the area has become hugely popular with expats, especially those looking to start a family.

For evidence of child-friendliness, look no further than the picturesque Bosboom Toussaintstraat, which – thanks to its lack of traffic, crop of children-oriented shops and luxury ‘birth hotel’ (check in pregnant; check out pushing a Bugaboo) – is affectionately referred to as the delivery room of Amsterdam.

Proximity to the Vondelpark is, of course, a massive boon for parents and dog-owners

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ELJANY KOPPE, 34, & PAUL EVERREADY, 49 graphic designer & DJ

‘We’ve lived here for ten years and always love to visit the Ten Katemarkt to do some shopping. It’s great to see how the area is evolving into a lively neighbourhood.’

ELECTRA MANUPUTTY, 28 nail artist

‘Oud-West is so cosy. I like the area around the Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat, where there’s never a dull moment. Shopping here is great, too – especially when you walk towards the Kinkerstraat. I live in another neighbourhood, but I’m glad I’m here every day for work.’

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DE EBELING

DOLORES DEL DIA

An old neighbourhood classic given a new lease of life, complete with oak bar, industrial lighting and subway tiles. Located on the Overtoom (which runs from theatre land to the end of Vondelpark), De Ebeling is part hip New York hangout, part Parisian bistro. Food is standard (Dutch) bar fare done well, and you even get ketchup with your burger and chips – a rare treat in this mayo-loving country.

The woman whose name appears in elegant gold lettering on the window of this funky and fabulous vintage trove-for-the-home will already be a familiar face to patrons of the Golden Brown Bar just around the corner, where she’s a frequent and sunny presence behind the bar. Dolores’ shop betrays a keen eye for style and a kitsch sense of humour, and the prices are reasonable.

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Overtoom 50-54 www.de-ebeling.nl

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Overtoom 297 https://www.facebook.com/ DoloresdelDia

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PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

neighbourhood watch

Delores Del Dia betrays a keen eye for style and a kitsch sense of humour.

SCREAMING BEANS Appropriately, given that its very name is something of a mouthful, the Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat is becoming quite the place to eat. This once unlovely street is heaving with foodie newcomers, including French-style café Pastis and hip Cafe Bosco, which is too trendy even for menus. The genteely buzzy Screaming Beans is the sister of the Nine Streets coffee house, and serves wine and food to match the quality of its renowned brews. The small taster plates reek of culinary flare: think pink chunks of veal cheek confit served with salty, crispy bacon, balsamic vinegar and string beans. Lekker!

Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat 35 www.screamingbeans.nl

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alike. Within Vondelpark, the Kinderkookkafé (literally, kids’ kitchen café) has been in a state of organised culinary chaos since 1981. That’s because it’s children, aged between five and 12 years old, who do absolutely everything to help run this red brick park-side restaurant, including cooking, serving, tending bar, tidying up and running the cash register (Vondelpark 6B, www.kinderkookkafe.nl ).

‘I’ve lived in other parts of Amsterdam, and I think that the beauty of the Oud-West is that it just won’t be pigeonholed,’ says 23-year-old British graphic designer Rosie Ashley-Lahiff, who lives near the Bellamyplein, where cavernous tram sheds are being converted into a leisure complex featuring a cinema and library. ‘For every hip start-up like Staring at Jacob (staringatjacob.tumblr.com ) – one of my favourite places in the city for brunch with girlfriends – there’s a not-for-profit cultural centre like OT301 (www.ot301.nl ), or somewhere like Juttersdok, the second-hand shop on Postjeskade, that’s always worth a rummage (www.juttersdok.nl) . Last time I went, we got a wooden chair and two framed cross-stitched pictures for around €10.’

It would seem that, although the place looks nothing like a box of chocolates, in the OudWest you never know what you’re going to get...

FRIDAY NEXT The Overtoom has long been the go-to street for dependable, mid-price furniture, with clusters of homeware stores selling mass-produced variations on a decorative theme.

Friday Next really raised the bar, then, when it opened its doors a few years back to reveal an impossibly chic concept store that combines a gallery space, café and furniture showroom. The switched-on owners balance their collection of big-name international designers with a healthy dose of up-and-coming Dutch talents.

Shop for unique lighting, accessories, gifts and more, then settle into one of Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Series 7 chairs for coffee or lunch in the airy café area, which serves scrumptious BLT sandwiches and wholesome quiche.

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Overtoom 31 www.fridaynext.com

PART III

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EAT, DRINK & CHIC

When in Amsterdam…

After 16 years here, native New Yorker Lauren Comiteau is still working out how to ‘go Dutch’.

COCKTAILS & CANAPÉS

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Lauren Comiteau is a journalist and writer who has been covering the Netherlands for TIME magazine, CBS Radio and others since 1996. She lives in Amsterdam with her two daughters.

s the weather turns warmer and canal-side cocktails become a midsummer’s night rite of passage, it’s their accompaniments that have my attention.

In Amsterdam, the standard bar snacks are block-shaped pieces of worst (sausage) or kaas (cheese). Or if you’re going all-out and leaving carb and cholesterol counts behind, it’s bitterballen – those breaded and fried balls of unidentified meat in a grey-ish cream sauce that are so much better tasting than they sound, although perhaps it’s an acquired taste (or maybe it’s the mustard)…

The healthy option? Olives, more often than not doused in salt and drowning in oil.

But as the Dutch palate catches up to the rest of the health-obsessed Western world, there are now greener options on almost every street corner and non-brown café menu. I’ve even seen bitterballen made of shitake mushrooms (whose health properties I concede are debatable).

Although they were slow in coming, frozen yogurt stores are now as quotidian here as bagel shops are in NYC. Then there’s what I call the Switcheroo trend: a shop that in winter sells one seasonally appropriate item – like the Dutch mashed potato-cabbage-sausage combo stamppot (which, like bitterballen, tastes a lot better than it sounds) – and in spring turns to selling anything that can be served with a scooper (yogurt included).

Look for IJscuypje (www.ijscupje.nl), which is currently in ice-cream mode and has several

branches around the city.

Then there’s the concept store, which sells apparel or home furnishings in one section and usually health-conscious food in another. I confess to not being a big fan of these places: I don’t want a concept served up with my salad.

But you can do worse than enjoy a soy latte at one of Amsterdam’s two Hutspots (www.hutspotamsterdam.com) while posting you vacation selfies courtesy of their free Wi-Fi. Increasingly, there are the unabashedly healthy options, a welcome addition to the traditional shops where locals pick up their broodjes, or sandwiches – the lunch food of Dutch plebeians and royals alike. Sla on the Ceintuurbaan is an upscale salad bar (www. ilovesla.com), while on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, there’s an eatery devoted to all things spelt (restaurantspelt.nl).

Even the broodje has undergone a makeover.

Dedicated lunch spots have opened-faced the sandwich and smothered its dark grainy slices in pumpkin, parmesan and portobellos.

Check out De Wasserette off de Pijp’s Albert Cuyp market, where, if you’re no fan of the health-food craze, you can still gorge yourself on loempias, fresh-off-the-griddle stroopwafels (waffle-like syrup-filled cookies) and various phallic-shaped chocolates.

Health food aside, I still serve up the following: don’t leave town without biting into a bitterbal (albeit slowly, so you won’t burn the roof of your mouth for the duration of your stay). And don’t forget the mustard.

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eating out

PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

EATING OUT

Our top dining options, from firm favourites to precocious newcomers.

text Karin Engelbrecht

DROVERS DOG

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Heemstedestraat 25 Eerste Atjehstraat 62 www.drovers-dog.com

ZLATKA SILJDEDIC

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NEW

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ringing brunch to the ’burbs seems to be the ambition of many an expat entrepreneur in Amsterdam (see also Little Collins in De Pijp and G’s Really Nice Place in de Jordaan, run by an Australian and a South African respectively). Like the forerunners, this new Australian kid on the block with the weird name serves an all-day brunch (from 10.00 to 17.30 – refreshing in a city where sleeping in often means subsisting on sandwiches until dinnertime).

It’s a formula that’s clearly taken off: following a successful launch in Zeeburg last spring, a second branch of Drovers Dog recently opened in OudZuid, which serves dinner several nights a week too. Offering a ‘flavour of Australia’ by way of decadent strawberry-andcream Pavlovas, fluffy lamingtons and beet, macadamia and cranberry cake (a clever take on the classic carrot version), there’s much to like here. On a recent visit we enjoyed ricotta pancakes cooked on banana leaves with cold honey butter and blueberry jam, plus excellent flat whites prepared on a La Marzocco Strada espresso machine. We’ll certainly be back to try one of the three riffs on eggs Benedict or to check out the dinner menu, which promises such delights as coconut-crumbed prawns with lemon myrtle mayo and roasted wild kangaroo loin with sweet potatoes, sugar-snap peas and a red wine sauce.

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37 trendy BAR SPEK West locals – many with beards, Vans and topknots – flock to this buzzy establishment for the weekend newspaper and a (decent) cuppa. The metro-tiled bar-slash-eetcafe serves up a Med-led menu under industrial lights, with house-made mueslis, fruit shakes and fibre-filled salads for the ‘saints’ and bacon-studded egg dishes, pizzettas, pastas and chocolate desserts for the so-called ‘sinners’.

Admiraal de Ruijterweg 1 www.barspek.nl

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critic’s choice A LA FERME

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f it weren’t hidden away on a quiet residential street, this insider’s favourite could easily have been one of Amsterdam’s better-known restaurants. The menu will appeal to fans of French country classics (‘à la ferme’ means ‘on the farm’, after all) and the hands-on service here means that you can expect the chef to come to your table to explain the specials. There’s rich roasted marrow bone topped with crispy bacon and parsley-inflected snails, succulent roast Bresse chicken and velvety chocolate fondant punctuated with passion fruit. For those on a budget, a reasonably priced daily menu de chef (from €33.75 for three courses) is an excellent option.

Govert Flinckstraat 251

 www.alaferme.nl

top tip HEART-HEALTHY HABITS With obesity levels on the rise – including among children – master chef and star of CBS’s Recipe Rehab Rich Rosendale give his top recipe rehab tips. ‘Take dishes you already like and switch out the unhealthy ingredients – like ripe fruit, agave nectar or honey in place of refined sugar – and use leaner proteins, like buffalo or turkey.

Eating fresh and getting in to the kitchen to cook is the first step to good health.’

quick & simple BILDER & DE CLERCQ Beat those daily dinner doldrums at this next-generation supermarket. Large posters advertising 14 daily dishes hang over counters, each fully stocked with recipe cards and ingredients (conveniently measured out for two adults). There’s freshly baked bread, wine, utensils, cookware and dinnerware, too.

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De Clercqstraat 44 ; Ceintuurbaan 334 www.bilderdeclercq.nl

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classic ANNA Named for the infamous St Anne quarter in the oldest part of Amsterdam, this dining theatre of densely packed tables has become the textbook success story of the ongoing Red Light District clean-up project. Stretching from Warmoesstraat to Oudekerksplein, the thrills here are all served on a plate. The menu includes Dutch, Mediterranean and Asian influences with dishes such as king crab-stuffed profiteroles with guacamole and crispy Grevelingen oysters; fillet of venison with hotchpotch of heirloom carrots and sweet onion, blackcurrant vodka sauce; and clove cheese or churros served ‘the Dutch way’.

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Warmoesstraat 111 www.restaurantanna.nl

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PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

ON THE MENU

Three of a kind to suit every taste. text Karin Engelbrecht

cocktail heaven

food with a view

turkish delight

A-BAR

PLLEK

REVAN

In need of pampering? Head straight to A-bar’s waterside terrace, situated on the sunny side of one of the prettiest stretches of the River Amstel.

Boasting the landmark InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam’s famous five-star service, the drinks menu features world-class cocktails made with local liqueurs and spirits.

Professor Tulpplein 1 www.a-bar.nl

This all-organic restaurant has that slapdash charm that’s fast becoming a Noord trademark. It was constructed from recycled shipping containers and there’s little more than a man-made pebble beach and a few picnic tables – so that nothing gets in the way of the breathtaking panorama of the city.

TT Neveritaweg 59 www.pllek.nl

This self-proclaimed ‘culinary embassy of Turkey’, situated on busy Van Woustraat in De Pijp, is most famous for its various hot and cold meze (Turkish tapas), charcoalgrilled fish and deliciously flaky baklava. The waiters are always eager to help those unfamiliar with Turkish cuisine navigate the lengthy menu.

Van Woustraat 206-212 www.restaurantrevan.nl

COLLEGE HOTEL LOUNGE & BAR

MERKELBACH

KOSEBASI

This garden patio with its comfortable armchairs, topiary hedges and olive trees comes as an unexpectedly intimate enclave in the genteel museum district. Located in a restored 19th-century school, the enterprise continues the tradition of developing talent as a training centre for catering students. Our favourite cocktail, El Diablo, combines tequila, lime, crème de cassis and ginger beer to delicious effect.

Roelof Hartstraat 1 www.thecollegehotel.com

Situated in the former coach house of the stately Huize Frankendael, a national monument and Amsterdam’s last manorial estate, this restaurant’s pretty patio overlooks manicured gardens and leafy parklands. Chef Geert Burema’s love of honestly sourced ingredients shines through in dishes such as heirloom beet salad with pumpkin and artisanal Gouda or pike-perch with smoked red gurnard with purslane, black radish and chives.

Middenweg 72 www.restaurantmerkelbach.nl

The house specialty, flamegrilled kebab made with traditional hand-ground lamb marinated in Turkish spices, is hands-down the best we’ve ever tasted (order it extra spicy). It’s served with paper-thin wedges of flatbread, a fluffy mound of ‘wheat rice’, a large blackblistered green pepper and what our server called ‘meat medicine’; a mix of red onions, parsley and lemony sumac, which apparently aids digestion.

Amsteldijk 25 http://kosebasi.nl

VESPER BAR

REM EILAND

ORONTES

Nestled between bustling Haarlemmerdijk and picturesque Brouwersgracht in the Jordaan, this cocktail bar is truly a class act. Settle in to enjoy the Signature Martini, an Old-Fashioned made with local genevers or Beyond the Piñas, a grown-up tropical summer cocktail, featuring house-made orange sherbet, lime, pineapple and absinthe.

Vinkenstraat 57 www.vesperbar.nl

The red-and-white industrial beast that once was a pirate radio station out in the North Sea is now a Med-led restaurant perched on stilt-like legs over the IJ in Amsterdam’s Minerva docks (west of Central Station). With its wraparound views and unique architecture, REM Eiland has become something of a modern Amsterdam icon.

Haparandadam 45-2 www.remeiland.com

Orontes remains popular with local Turkish food lovers who prize its unwavering quality and excellent value for money. We recommend ordering a selection of meze to share (usually five cold and three warm dishes) as well as one of Orontes’ famous charcoal-grilled lamb dishes, bursting with flavour.

Hugo de Grootplein 8; Albert Cuypstraat 40-42 www.orontes.nl

on the menu

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GRAINS & SEEDS

Ancient grains; modern diets. and sandwiches made with organic spelt bread from nearby It-bakery Bbrood. Red quinoa features twice on salad specialist Venkel’s menu, while salad bar Sla serves up red quinoa, barley and spelt.

COTTONCAKE Eerste van der Helststraat 76hs www.cottoncake.nl BBROOD Albert Cuypstraat 22 www.venkelsalades.nl SLA Ceintuurbaan 149; Westerstraat 34 http://ilovesla.com

SLA © MARIA CAVALI

C

rops such as quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, chia seeds, Khorasan wheat, buckwheat and hemp have been consumed, unchanged, for eons. While they may never have left the menus of Amsterdam’s crunchiest eateries, they’re having a mainstream moment thanks to various nutritional plans, including the Ancient Grains Diet (followed by the likes of Angelina Jolie) touting their health benefits. If you can’t tell your quinoa from your elbow, head to boutique-café Cottoncake, where they add chia and hemp seeds to freshly pressed juices and smoothies, and offer quinoa salads

40

PART III EAT, DRINK & CHIC

denim

Jean-etic blueprint: Amsterdam Denim Days Amsterdam denim brands are world-renowned – and a pair of Dutch jeans are the ultimate wearable souvenir… text Elisah Jacobs translation Danitscha van Zijverden

PEPE JEANS LONDON Kalverstraat 88-90  www.pepejeans.com

DENHAM THE JEANMAKER Hobbemastraat 8 

Prinsengracht 495 (M)  Runstraat 17 (F)  Prinsengracht 531  www.denhamthejeanmaker.com

G-STAR

PC Hooftstraat 24-28  www.gstar.com

HILFIGER DENIM STORE PC Hooftstraat 125  nl.tommy.com

AMSTERDAMS BLAUW Huidenstraat 3-5  Heiligeweg 34/36  Berenstraat 15  www.scotch-soda.com

KOI

BLUE BLOOD PC Hooftstraat 142 

Cornelis Schuytstraat 18  www.bluebloodbrand.com

A

sterdam has the highest concentration of jeans brands in the world. Its inhabitants own and wear more jeans than those of any other city, and they’re willing to spend more money on them, too. The denim cluster in Amsterdam is worth an estimated €500 million, but Mariette Hoitink of innovation and creativity platform House of Denim thinks the real number is even higher.

‘Don’t call Amsterdam a fashion capital; it’s a title we can’t live up to yet. But we’re a denim capital for sure. When Dutch fashion designers make it big they go abroad – just look at Viktor&Rolf or Iris van Herpen. The denim industry, on the other hand, comes to us. That’s our strong point. Apparently we’re doing something right.’

BLUE GOLD It all started in the Nineties when Pepe Jeans moved its headquarters from London to Amsterdam and Dutch brand G-Star conquered the international market. It wasn’t long before the two brands were the front runners in the denim industry. In time, their employees started their own denim labels like the eco-conscious K.O.I. and Blue Blood.

Now Tommy Hilfger and Levi’s Vintage Clothes reside here, as well as Dutch brands including Amsterdams Blauw and Scotch & Soda’s jeans label. As one of the founding fathers of Blue Blood, the appropriately named Jason Denham was a pioneer of high-end jeans. He started his own creative label, Denham the Jeanmaker, in 2008. Denham calls Amsterdam ‘the personification of everything jeans stand for’. No

SCOTCH & SODA

de Bijenkorf, Dam 1  www.kingsofindigo.com

wonder the city is home to the world’s first Denim School and this May it will also host Amsterdam Denim Days. It’s the first time that the American Kingpins Show, the world-renowned high-end denim trade fair for professionals, will be held in the Netherlands. See page 40 for the downtown programme of events, exhibitions, markets and more.

GREEN IS THE NEW BLUE Every self-respecting jeans brand has one eye on the environment – and the Amsterdam denim industry is a leader in sustainable production. ‘Consumers are critical and well-informed when it comes to their food; we want them to apply this attitude, starting with denim, to clothing,’ says Hoitink.

In August, G-Star launches a collaboration with singer Pharrell Williams made from recycled materials, and while Swedish brand Nudie may be widely recognised as the most durable denim brand, Dutch company Kuyichi was the first to use 100 per cent organic cotton and wood pulp from eucalyptus trees. Late last year, the brand pioneered the ‘Deposit Denim’ scheme: the first closed-loop lifecycle denim, where you exchange your old jeans – which become new T-shirts – and get a discount on a new pair.

Shopping for the environment? We’re sold…

AMSTERDAM DENIM DAYS 7-10 May, Westergasfabriek www.amsterdamdenimdays.com



41

PRETTY THINGS

 

Purses at the ready: these tempting stores will have you reaching for your credit card. 

text Elisah Jacobs

for him : SIX AND SONS

classic: DIOR

Founder Alexander Six sells the work of his so-called ‘sons’: the craftsmen, artists and designers who he’s collaborating with.

Think unique treasures he’s found all over the world, from Japan to Scandinavia and back. To name but a few: Polar Stuff travel bags, Postalco stationery, retro chewing gum machines and ceramics by the Swedish brand By Mutti. Australian magazine Frankie and the Kinfolk cookbook are also for sale.

Take a seat on the huge vintage chesterfield after your shopping spree and enjoy a hot steaming cup of coffee with a homemade hummingbird cake. And for the ladies who’re feeling left out: Six and Sons is planning to sell womenswear in the near future.

        

Bonjour, Dior! The oh-so-chic French designer brand has finally opened its first store in the Netherlands – about time, too. In the classically styled 170m2 store find the complete prêt-à-porter collection, killer heels and the newest Miss Dior and Lady Dior arm candy divided over two floors including a stunning conservatory.

Don’t get so distracted by the Parisian-chic clothes that you forget to take a moment to marvel at the beautiful interior, inspired by the historical Parisian home of Christian Dior at 20 Avenue Montaigne.

Now we’re waiting for Prada to open up a few doors down...

PC Hooftstraat 100 www.dior.com





Haarlemmerdijk 31 www.sixandsons.com

NICOLINE RODENBURG

fashion & interiors: JOHNNY AT THE SPOT

tax free shopping: GLOBAL BLUE Non-EU residents are eligible for VAT refunds on purchases made within the EU. Shop at retailers affiliated with Global Blue, ask for a Tax Free Form and claim the VAT back at the Global Blue Refund Office, Departures 3 right next to Customs at Schiphol Airport. www.globalblue.com

Johnny at the spot 2.0 is here, a fashion and interior shop in one that recently reopened its doors on the lively JP Heijestraat in Old West – a whopping three times bigger than before. Johnny is divided into two areas, one for men with brands such as Adidas, Hans Ubbink Blue and Burlington; the other for ladies, with fashion and interior tchotchkes such as Seletti ceramics, kilims, framed butterflies and sustainable home accessories including fair trade vases and colourful scarfs from India.

Jan Pieter Heijestraat 90-94 www.johnnyatthespot.com



HOLLAND FESTIVAL

simon stone, belvoir, sydney

PLAYING CARDS: SPADES robert lepage

Mythological horrors in a contemporary play full of love, sex and destruction.

23 – 27 June Theater Bellevue English with Dutch surtitles

Greed and abandon in overwhelming theatre spectacle on 360°-stage.

3 – 5 June Westergasfabriek, Gashouder English and French with Dutch surtitles

AMSTERDAM 1 – 29 JUNE 2014

24 – 25 June Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam Language no problem

Epic film from 1927 with film score live performed by full orchestra.

15 June, 2-10 pm Ziggo Dome English titles

BESTIAIRE D’AMOUR isabella rossellini World famous actress with her light, dry wit on the outrageous love life of animals.

19 – 21 June Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam English with Dutch surtitles

george frideric handel

COUP FATAL

INTERNATIONAL

The Indian director Abel serves up a ritual fusion of sight, sound, smell and taste, in search of the perfect balance.

abel gance het gelders orkest

ORLANDO

THE KITCHEN roysten abel

NAPOLEON

PERFORMING ARTS

THYESTES

alain platel

Bejun Mehta stars in Pierre Audi’s inspired interpretation of Handel’s masterpiece.

9 – 13 June Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam Italian with Dutch surtitles

THE VALLEY OF ASTONISHMENT peter brook, marie-hélène estienne, bouffes du nord Fascinating journey through the capricious landscape of the human brain, by acclaimed theatre director.

Exuberant music theatrical ode to the dandies of Kinshasa.

16 – 18 June Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam Language no problem

5 – 7 June Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ English with Dutch surtitles

FULL PROGRAMME & TICKET SALES WWW.HOLLANDFESTIVAL.NL

43

WHAT’S IN STORE Fashion-forward style – for him (M) and her (F).

     

text Elisah Jacobs

TRASH TO TREASURE

VELOUR (M/F)

In vintage shop Trash to Treasure you can both buy and sell fashion. In edition to an online store you can shop vintage clothing and accessories in person at the concept store, just a few steps from the Museumplein. The minor imperfections of each vintage piece tell the personal story of the previous owner and her love for the item.

One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure, after all…

Inspired by his grandmother’s shop, Swede Per Anderson started Velour in 1997 where he sells brands such as Wood Wood, Ganni and Stutterheim.

You’ll also find the store’s own label, Velour: think pastel-coloured chinos and printed denim shirts for him and perky dresses and shirts for her.



Huidenstraat 14 www.velour.se



Van Baerlestraat 97 www.trash-to-treasure.nl

HUGO BOSS (M/F) NIKE (M/F) Designer Riccardo Tisci has collaborated with Nike to launch the Nike + R.T Air Force 1 collection, a new modern version of the iconic 1982 Air Force sneaker. You can choose from four models, each with a unique coloured swoosh.

Kalverstraat 185 www.nike.com

In the 1,185m2 Amsterdam flagship store of American lifestyle brand Hugo Boss you’ll find the complete Green, Orange and HUGO collection for both him and her, next to shoes and accessories. Eyes up when you enter the huge store for the amazing chandelier.



Leidsestraat 1-3 www.hugoboss.com



TIFFANY’S (M/F)

BY AMFI STORE (M/F) The shop of the students, alumni and teachers of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). See it as a platform for young and established fashion talent where you can shop a selection of work made by young creatives and their teachers. Fittingly, every season the shop has a different look. You’ll never get bored here…

If diamonds are a girl’s best friends, then Tiffany’s is definitely one of the most tempting stores in Amsterdam. Shop here for your future wedding ring, the famous heart necklaces or fancy cufflinks.

Window-shopping is fun too – and infinitely more budget friendly. Don’t forget to bring your breakfast...

PC Hooftstraat 86-88 nl.tiffany.com



FAB. (F)



Spui 23 www.amfi.nl/byamfi

ACNE (M/F) This Swedish fashion brand is well known for its minimalist and contrary looks. The shop in the Nine Street is the very first in the whole Benelux (hurray!). Come here for the popular Acne jeans, tailored suits, spring dresses, shoes and bags.



Oude Spiegelstraat 8 www.acnestudios.com

Dutch designer Fabienne Chapot designs cheerful leather bags, shoes, iPhone cases and wallets, generally adorned with her signature heart-shaped print in bright colours. You’ll also find fancy diaper bags for fashionable mums-to-be, and even heels especially made for stewardesses to make their working day more comfortable. And don’t forget the perfumes and sunglasses too. We’re pretty sure you’ll fall in love with place.

Hartenstraat 7 www.fab.nl



Admire the art of diamondpolishing in Amsterdam Every year Amsterdam welcomes over one million visitors who are particularly interested in the fascinating diamond craftsmanship. The Gassan Group is the combination of the leading diamond-polishing factories in Amsterdam.

Gassan Diamonds, is located in a beautiful restored originally steam driven diamond factory and was built in 1879. In 2013 more than 400.000 visitors had a tour through the magnificent diamond factory and in 2013 Gassan has been declared Best Family Business in the Netherlands by the Family Enterprise Foundation in partnership with KPMG. The company still concentrates primarily on diamond cutting, wholesaling and retailing in set diamonds, loose polished diamonds, gold jewelry and watches. Gassan Diamonds has a unique position within the diamond industry by introducing a new cut, the Gassan 121.

Another patented brand of Gassan is Choices by DL, a revolutionary brand that allows to vary and customize your jewelry daily. Gassan Diamonds offers free guided tours in 27 languages, a own mooring site, coffeeshop and a beautiful boutique with a large collection fashion jewelry and brilliant souvenirs.

Gassan Dam Square is located in the heart of Amsterdam and as the largest jewelry store in Holland they sell an elaborate selection of loose polished diamonds and gold jewelry and watch brands such as Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Chopard, Breguet, Audemars Piquet and many others. A highly trained staff provides customers with personal and expert advice to ensure that the customer can make the perfect choice.

Besides highly sales staff also by Rolex educated watchmakers are available.

In 1967 Gassan Schiphol B.V. started the first Diamond counter at Schiphol Airport. Nowadays this company has thirteen selling locations at the Airside and one at Landside. Gassan is one of the largest concessionaires of the Schiphol Group.

Craftsmanship for over 60 years Gassan Diamonds HQ | Nwe. Uilenburgerstraat 173 - 175 | 1011 LN Amsterdam | P: +31 (0)20 622 5333 Gassan Dam Square | Rokin 1-5 (Dam) | 1012 KK Amsterdam | P: +31 (0)20 624 5787 Gassan Schiphol | Dep. Lounges 1,2,3,4 & Arrivalhall 3 | Schiphol Airport | P: +31 (0)20 405 9951

www.gassan.com

PART IV

THE

may & jun 2014

45

FESTIVALS/MUSIC/ CLUBBING/EXHIBITIONS/ STAGE/FAMILY/SPORTS/ GAY & LESBIAN

>

DOMINIK MENTZOS

For complete listings, see www.iamsterdam.com

THE RETURNS With a clairvoyant Asian manicurist as guide and a lavishly costumed supporting cast of agents, shamans, patrons, parrots and pirates, The Returns takes its audience on a rakish tour of art culture. Art as commodity and fetish, the artist as medium and charlatan, the art market as salon and playing field – William Forsythe’s caustic, ribald parade of archetypes and attitudes grants its audience no quarter.

23-25 JUNE WESTERGASFABRIEK www.hollandfestival.nl

46

PART IV THE A-LIST

FESTIVALS & EVENTS DOEK FESTIVAL dOeK is an Amsterdam-based collective of jazz musicians with a particular penchant for improvisation.

Until Sun 4 May, various locations, www.doek.org.

Various times & prices SPRING SNOW FESTIVAL Every year, Amsterdam’s elm trees scatter the city’s streets with a blanket of blossom. This celebration of spring includes an 8km walking route past the city’s elm highlights, an exhibition and a side programme of events.

Until Wed 21 May, various locations, www.springsnow.nl.

Vvarious times & prices SOUK A delectable blend of Arabian and Western vibes with performances ranging from Arab pop and traditional Arabian tunes to (classical) Western music with smatterings of poetry and dance.

Thur 1 & Fri 2 May, Concertgebouw, www.souk.nl.

Various times & prices AMSTERDAM COFFEE FESTIVAL Featuring over 100 artisan roasters, equipment makers, gourmet food stalls and more, with some of Europe’s best baristas hosting workshops and tastings.

Fri 2 & Sat 3 May, NDSM-werf, www.amsterdamcoffee festival.com. Various times, €8

mentaries, shorts and feature films related to food, nutrition, sustainability and gastronomy.

See page 27.

Fri 9-Sun 11 May, Westergasfabriek, www.foodfilmfestival. nl. Various times & prices

Highlight festivals

HOLLAND FESTIVAL A leading international performance arts festival.

See page 16.

Sun 1-Sun 29 Jun, various locations, www.hollandfestival. nl. Various times & prices

NATIONAL WINDMILL DAY Windmills throughout the country throw open their doors to the public, eight of which are located in and around Amsterdam.

Sat 10 & Sun 11 May, various locations, www.nationale molendag.nl. Various times & prices RIGHTABOUTNOW FESTIVAL An innovative festival with an urban heart, devoted to celebrating tomorrow’s artists today and mixing things up by blending culture and club culture, national and international & rising stars with established pioneers.

Thur 15-Sat 17 May, MC Theater, www.mc-rightaboutnow.nl.

Various times & prices TASTE OF AMSTERDAM Four days of summer eating, drinking and entertainment as top chefs from the city’s leading restaurants present special menus of starter-sized dishes in an unbeatable al fresco gourmet feast. While eating is a fine way to pass the time, don’t forget to drop in on a live cook-off (guests judge the winner!), lecture or wine tasting between dishes.

Thur 15-Sun 18 May, Amstelpark, www.tasteofamsterdam. com. Various times, €9.50

KUNSTRAI 2014 The longest-running art fair in the Netherlands offers art lovers the chance to get their hands on the latest and greatest in the scene. See page 23.

Wed 4-Mon 9 Jun, Amsterdam RAI, www.kunstrai.nl.

Various times, €10/€15 DANCE4LIFE 10 YEARS This Amsterdam non-profit has spent a decade educating people about the AIDS crisis. They’ll celebrate their 10th anniversary with Dutch DJs Hardwell, Fedde le Grand and Dannic.

Fri 6 Jun, Concertgebouw, www. dance4life.nl. 23.00, €65-€85

AMSTERDAM OPEN AIR A collaboration between a host of major names from the city’s clubbing circuit, this festival aims to offer an accurate reflection of the city’s nightlife. The festival mirrors the diversity of today’s electronic music scene and Amsterdam’s nightlife, rather than being limited to just one genre. So expect a versatile festival brimming with deep house, dubstep, electro, tech house and techno. Sat 7 & Sun 8 Jun, Gaasperplas, www.amsterdamopenair.nl. 12.00, €44.50 ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION, 2011

FESTIVALS

AMSTERDAM MAKER FESTIVAL The ultimate hands-on event, this festival is essentially a large, open-plan workplace allowing 21st-century craftspeople to introduce the public to their innovative designs and modern-day solutions.

With workshops, demonstrations, tasting sessions and installations, the festival invites you to let your inner maker flourish. Fri 30 May-Sun 1 Jun, De Overkant, www. amsterdammakerfestival.nl.

Time & prices tbc

PACHA FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM TULIP DAYS The famous flower blooms in the The renowned club brand is back to kick-start the festival season city’s gardens. See page 24. with the third edition of their Sat 3 & Sun 4 May, various spectacular dance music event. locations, www.tulpen Sat 17 May, Java Island, dagenamsterdam.nl. www.pachafestival.com.

10.00, €12.50 13.00, €52.50 VONDELPARK KUNSTVLAAI OPEN AIR THEATRE This alternative art fair-turnedA three-month programme fully-fledged art symposium packed with dance, cabaret, jazz, showcases visual arts and experchildren’s theatre, stand-up imental forms. The organisers comedy and music.

From Mon 5 May, Vondelpark, have gathered together an eclectic mix of 50 different art initiawww.openluchttheater.nl. tives that will present their latest Various times, free (voluntary work throughout the park. donations welcome) Wed 21-Sun 25 May, REMEMBRANCE & Amstelpark, www.kunstvlaai. enormous open-air restaurant.

LIBERATION DAY nl/2014. From 08.00, free Wed 28 May-Sun 1 Jun, Westergasfabriek, www.rollende On 4 May Amsterdam citizens GAF ART FAIR keukens.nl. 13.00, free (various pause to pay their respects to A new addition for 2014, this prices for food & drink) the fallen soldiers of World War modern art fair also features II and since. Then it’s time for a HEMELTJELIEF plenty of fashion, jewellery, furnational party on 5 May, as the This family festival steals the crowds take to the streets to cele- niture and design. It promises a four-day, exclusive-yet-accessible show with an enormous musical brate their freedom. art experience. and theatrical line-up and plenty Sun 4 & Mon 5 May, various Fri 23-Sun 25 May, Endemol of events and activities. locations, www.4en5meiamster Thur 29 May, NDSM-werf, dam.nl, www.hetvrijewesten.eu. Studios, www.gafamsterdam. com. 11.00, €30 www.hemeltjelieffestival.nl.

Various times & prices 11.00, €12.50/€15 HAXPO LONDON CALLING DIYNAMIC FESTIVAL Running alongisde the HITB SeThe spring edition of this twice-yearly music festival helps curity Conference 2014, the Hax- Hamburg-based record label Diynamic packs the park south of give Amsterdam’s indie kids an po (hacker expo) is a paradise for IT and technology fans looking Amsterdam full of pulse-poundinsight into what’s happening to think outside of the box. ing dance beats. Line-up includes across the channel and beyond.

Wed 28-Fri 30 May, Beurs van Solomun, David August and See page 23.

Berlage, www.haxpo.nl.

Kollektiv Turmstrasse.

Wed 7-Sat 10 May, Tolhuistuin/ 11.00, free Fri 30 May, Amsterdamse Bos, Paradiso, www.londoncalling. www.diynamicfestival.com. nl. Various times & prices ROLLING KITCHENS 11.00, €22.50 FOOD FILM FESTIVAL During a (long) weekend, tens of 909 FESTIVAL mobile kitchens descend upon This tasty festival presents an the Westergasfabriek to create an Round up for another year of sun enlightened selection of docu-

WHAT DESIGN CAN DO An international event investigating the power of design as an agent for social renewal, at the heart of What Design Can Do is a two-day conference in the centre of Amsterdam. With a line-up of international speakers from all design disciplines (including Brit designer Paul Smith), it comprises interactive discussions, Q&As and breakout sessions. Thur 8 & Fri 9 May, various locations, www.whatdesigncando.nl.

Various times & prices

AMSTERDAM JAZZ FESTIVAL Ruben Hein, Fatoumata Diawara and Phil Woods are just some of the top artists taking the stage as the entire main building of the Amsterdam ArenA is transformed into a jazz hotspot.

Sat 7 Jun, Amsterdam ArenA, www.amsterdamjazzfestival. info. 14.00, €39 ORIENTALICIOUS This international bellydancing festival features a host of workshops and performances.

Fri 13-Sun 15 Jun, De Meervaart, www.orientalicious. nl. Various times & prices OPEN GARDEN DAYS Visit the city’s secret canal house gardens – open to the public just one weekend a year. See page 24.

Fri 20-Sun 22 Jun, various locations, www.opentuinendagen. nl. 10.00, €15 ITS FESTIVAL The International Theatre School Festival brings the best new theatrical talent. See page 21.

Fri 20-27 Jun, various locations, www.itsfestivalamster dam.com. Various times & prices

MYSTIC GARDEN FESTIVAL and beats! New York DJ Danny With an emphasis on creating an Tenaglia is on the 2014 line-up, interactive experience, this dance which also includes French tech- music fest transports partygoers no maestro Laurent Garnier and to a fairy-tale world teeming with Detroit’s Stacey Pullen. enchanting musica and theatre.

Sat 31 May, Amsterdamse Bos, Sat 21 Jun, Sloterpark, www.909.nl. 11.00, €29 www.mysticgardenfestival.nl.

11.00, €27.50 ARTIS ZOOMERAVONDEN AWAKENINGS FESTIVAL On Saturday evenings throughout summer, visitors learn what Awakenings kicks off its first the animals get up to after hours weekender edition with more when the zoo stays open until than 100 international acts and sunset on every Saturday in June, DJs s representing all aspects of July and August. the techno scene.

Every Sat from June, Artis Sat 28 & Sun 29 Jun, SpaarnRoyal Zoo, www.artis.nl. woude, www.awakenings.nl.

Various times & prices 12.00, various prices AMSTERDAMSE BOS VIVA LAS VEGA’S FESTIVAL FOOD FESTIVAL Celebrate spring with an The largest vegetarian food festienergetic blend of music, val in the country returns. Expect delicious food, sport, activities a day of veggie delights, workand plenty more. shops, music, movies and more.

Sun 1 Jun, Amsterdamse Bos, Sun 29 Jun, Old school, www. www.amsterdamsebos.nl. Times vlvfoodfestival.nl. 11.00, free & prices tbc (except for films & workshops)

47

may & jun 2014

MUSIC/POPULAR & JAZZ POPULAR & JAZZ GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA Led by Wil Salden, this swinging orchestra’s latest show is titled ‘The History of Big Bands’.

Get ready for a whirlwind lesson filled with standards like ‘In the Mood’ and ‘The Saint Louis Blues March’.

Thur 1 May, Royal Theatre Carré, 20.00, €30-€45 SCHOOLBOY Q Schoolboy Q hails from South Central LA and he’s one of the most promising up-and-comers in hip hop. Check out his creative flows and thick beats in these intimate surroundings before he skyrockets to super-stardom.

Thur 1 May, Melkweg, 20.00, €22.50

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES This singer is known for his outrageous antics. Khan once mooned actress Lindsay Lohan and, during a tour of India, he had to flee the country after exposing himself on stage. He’s since mellowed... but only a little bit, so expect a raucous and fun evening with his spirited and loose rock’n’roll tunes.

Sun 4 May, Melkweg, 19.30, €15

Choice pop & jazz

LISA STANSFIELD Stansfield is heading back to Amsterdam after packin’ ’em in during her gig at the North Sea Jazz Club last year. Songs like ‘Around the World’ and ‘People Hold On’ have helped the British recording artist sell roughly two million albums over the course of her three-decadelong career, which is once more back on track thanks to an upbeat soul record called 7.

Wed 14 May, Melkweg, 19.30, €25

JANETTE BECKMAN

SAM SMITH DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS This young singer hasn’t released his first full-length Grab a denim vest and a tin of album yet but he’s already chew ’cause Drive-By Truckers earned a reputation for his verare back on the road again.

NINE INCH NAILS satile vocals. Smith’s solo tunes This Georgia-based band has Trent Reznor has seemingly grown out of the teen angst have been described as soul-pop been servin’ up country-fried that’s shaped his career. Since disbanding NIN in 2009 he’s with a raw edge. He also aprock since 1996. English formed the softer How to Destroy Angels with his wife.

But peared on Disclosure’s hit single Oceans, their latest album, the lure of the big stage was too much of a temptation, and ‘Latch’ and Naughty Boy’s ‘La rolled on to store shelves back along with new album Hesitation Marks this new tour sees La La’ so it’s no surprise he’s alin March.

BIMPOP ready stepping up to Paradiso’s Thur 15 May, Paradiso, the group bringing one of their most elaborate multimeSinger Una Bergin helms this main room.

20.30, €21 dia productions to Europe for the first time. Tue 27 May, ongoing pop-music series at the Sun 4 May, Paradiso, Heineken Music Hall, 20.00, €47 WHITE DENIM typically jazzy Bimhuis. This 20.30, €18 edition features the folk-blues The name of this Austin-based ANTHONY B stylings of The Wood Brothers act might make visions of hair and soul-rock band My Baby.

This Rastafarian singer/DJ metal bands appear in your Keep an eye out for DJ Moonhas recorded over two dozen head. However, White Denim’s shine too. He’ll be spinning albums since his 1996 debut. music bounces from soul to tracks down in the café.

Anthony B has also collaborated blues to psychedelia and back Thur 1 May, Bimhuis, with Wyclef Jean and Snoop again. Their live shows can get 20.30, €12-€15 Dogg. His most recent release, a little crazy so be sure to leave 2013’s Tribute to Legends, is a your favourite pair of stonePOKEY LAFARGE collection of cover songs origiwashed Levi’s at home.

The ‘old timey’ tunes of this nally penned by everybody from Fri 16 May, Melkweg, American folk singer have apJohn Lennon to The Maytals.

19.00, €14 peared on TV show Boardwalk Thur 8 May, Melkweg, CLIFF RICHARD Empire and radio programme 20.00, €24 NEIL FINN 75 YEARS OF BLUE NOTE A Prairie Home Companion.

That’s *Sir* Cliff Richard to THE ELVIS CONCERT 2014 His seventh record as a you. This timeless UK solo He’s best known as the front- Blue Note Records, the bandleader also hit store shelves The king of rock’n’roll’s old artist is still rockin’ and rollman of Crowded House (and infamous American blues last year via Jack White’s Third tunes still pack a wallop. Pay in’ after 55 years in the biz.

Split Enz), so it’s good to label, has a 75th birthday Man Records. your respects to the late/great Richard has a staggering 100 know that an elder statesman coming up and some of Fri 2 May, Paradiso, monarch at this tribute show, albums and 123 hits under his of the pop world can still its best-known talents are 19.30, €16.50 which features a few of his forbelt so come watch the 73 yearbreak out and challenge him- ready to celebrate. The Jazz mer band mates. They’re joined old legend do his thing – and MILEY CYRUS

by Dwight Icenhower, one of hopefully take to roller skates self a bit. Latest album Dizzy Orchestra of the ConcertThe world’s most famous, and the world’s best Elvis impersonwith his Walkman.

Heights brought him togeth- gebouw will lead the party debauched, debutante is twerkators, on lead vocals.

Sat 17 May, Ziggo Dome, er with Dave Fridmann (The in Amsterdam, joined by ing across Europe on the waves Sat 10 May, Melkweg, 20.00, €64-€69 Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, legendary tenor saxophonist of her colossal Bangerz Tour.

18.30, €40 etc), and it sees Finn return Benny Golson and young voRODRIGO Y GABRIELA Cyrus’s catchy sugar-pop is like to the more experimental calist José James (pictured).

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK catnip for anyone under the age These two Mexican guitar virstylings of his earlier solo Together they’re set to cross of 14. She’s also been known to Despite the ravages of time, this tuosos have regaled audiences go wild in the Red Light District ’80s boy band is still ‘Hangin’ all over the world with their work – still effortlessly fun the generation gap and push whenever she’s in Amsterdam.

Tough’. Laugh all you want but slick riffs and spicy tunes. The and catchy but with added the boundaries of classical Parents, lock up your imprestheir most recent album, 10, tracks on their latest album, 9 texture and twists. Fri 9 May, music, jazz and blues. Thur sionable preteens now! debuted at number six on the Dead Alive, carry a cinematic Royal Theatre Carré, 20.00, 5 June, Concertgebouw, Fri 2 May, Ziggo Dome, Billboard Charts. They also sound worthy of one of director €53-€62 20.15, €22-€58 20.00, €42-€55 finally received a star on The Robert Rodriguez’s killer marHollywood Walk of Fame. iachi movies. If you go, be sure DIE! DIE! DIE! Besides, the sun always shines tribute to Iggy Pop and The Sat 10 May, Heineken Music to leave your uzi-filled guitar on TV and whenever we hit the Vaselines, but Dum Dum Girls’ The killer Kiwis in this New Hall, 20.00, €45 case at Paradiso’s coat check. road we end up crying in the bubble-gum rock songs are Zealand punk outfit whip up a Sat 17 May, Paradiso, CODY CHESNUTT rain.’ Thus, Harket was sent much lighter than those of their toxic blend of noise and rock.

20.30, €28.50 packing, out on his own again. punkier muses. Catchy tracks Their live sets are also filled This American soul singer is CLASH OF Sun 11 May, Melkweg, like ‘Bedroom Eyes’ will also with enough raw energy to fuel probably best known for his THE COVER BANDS 19.30, €25 stick in your head like a gooey a nuclear power plant and now guest appearance with hip hopwad of peppermint-flavoured they’ve ventured to Europe to pers The Roots on single ‘The Some will rise and some will TRIBUTE 2 BOB chewing gum. showcase new album SWIM. Seed (2.0)’. It’s now a full decfall. That’s how it goes at this MARLEY 2014 Tue 13 May, Bitterzoet, Sat 3 May, Winston Kingdom, ade on since his solo debut The freewheeling musical compeThe legacy of Jamaica’s most 20.30, €11 21.00, €8 Headphone Masterpiece, but tition that’s been around for famous musician continues he remerged at the end of 2012 several years now. Check out KELIS KELLY JOE PHELPS with the return of the popular with Landing on a Hundred – some of the region’s hottest This vibrant singer, famed for American singer-songwriter an ambitious record that show- Tribute2BobMarley live shows, cover bands as they do battle, Kelly Joe Phelps has been mix- cases his rich Motown-worthy and the 2014 event honours the hits like ‘Milkshake’ and ‘Caught tackling everything from Pearl 35th anniversary of Marley’s Out There’, has held her own in’ ’n’ mashin’ jazz with delta croon in a collection of celebraJam to pop stars. death. Dutch band Roots Riders while opening for the likes of blues since he was in primary tory soul songs.

Sun 18 May, Melkweg, are set to perform some of his U2. Kelis is especially big over school. Phelps was recently Sun 11 May, North Sea 14.00, €12.50 greatest hits, like ‘Could You Be in the UK, where she’s won tons sidelined with an arm injury Jazz Club, 21.00, €29 TUNE-YARDS Loved’ and ‘Everything’s Gonna of awards. However, the Harbut now this fingerpicking guiMORTEN HARKET Be Alright’. lem native has also netted two tarist is back out on the road.

Indie-popster Merrill Garbus Sun 11 May, Melkweg, Grammies back home in the His latest record, Brother ‘Take on me? Take me on?’ said has fronted this musical pro19.30, €13.50 States. Her new album, Food, is ject since 2009. tUnE-yArDs’ Sinner and the Whale, was Harket to the rest of A-Ha. ‘No!’ getting served up this spring. released in 2012. they replied. ‘We’re done. We live shows involve her mixing DUM DUM GIRLS Tue 13 May, MC Theater, Sun 4 May, Paradiso, told you we were retiring to a drum loops on the spot while Their name is a double-dipped 20.30, €18 15.30, €11.50 life of curling and ice fishing. her collaborator Nate Brenner

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PART IV THE A-LIST

MUSIC/POPULAR & JAZZ drenches them in splashes of strings and vocals – occasionally with the addition of a full band.

Sure, it’s all a bit odd but her tunes will be looping in your head for days.

Sun 18 May, Bitterzoet, 20.00, €15

didn’t warn you. Let’s just hope Bitterzoet’s insurance premiums are all paid up, even if the band says they’ve calmed down recently.

Sun 25 May, 20.00, Bitterzoet, €12.50

SON LUX EMMYLOU HARRIS New York-based songwriter Miley Cyrus may have claimed Ryan Lott has made a name for a certain piece of construction himself with electronic-driven equipment as her own but pop that connects in a similar this iconic singer/songwriter way as the music of Grizzly Bear is ready to take it back. At this and Sufjan Stevens – blending show, Harris is celebrating the together pop purity with comre-release of her seminal 1995 plex and thoughtful structures. album, Wrecking Ball. She’ll Sun 25 May, Tolhuistuin, share the stage with Daniel 20.30, €15 Lanois, a musician and producBOBBY MCFERRIN er who’s worked with everybody from U2 to Willie Nelson.

Most people know this NYC Mon 19 May, Royal Theatre native for ‘Don’t Worry, Be HapCarré, 20.00, €58-€69 py’, his impossibly catchy ’80s mega-hit. However, McFerrin MICHAEL FRANTI has some serious musical chops.

California’s own Michael Franti The ten-time Grammy winner is and his fruitful backing band one of the world’s best vocalists.

Spearhead have a reputation for At this show, he’ll appear alongtheir socially-conscious tunes side Slix and Friends, a choir of that feel like a ray of sunshine 18 singers that can also perform on a clear day in Malibu. Their in 18 different languages. music mixes hip hop and rock Tue 27 May, Concertgebouw, with folk and reggae. Come feel 20.15, €34-€61 the love but watch out for FranMAN OR ASTROMAN? ti’s toes, as this Earth lover often goes barefoot during live shows. Band members Birdstuff, WizMon 19 May, Paradiso, ard, Star Crunch and Coco the 20.30, €30 Electronic Monkey (yeah, that’s what they call themselves) have EAGLES been exploring the outer limits If your parents are Baby Boom- of surf rock since the early ’90s. ers, there’s a good chance you Now Man or Astroman? are were conceived while ‘Desper- blasting off back to Amsterdam. ado’ was playing in the backDefcon 5 4 3 2 1, their latest alground. So you kinda, sorta owe bum, also fell to Earth last year. your entire existence to these Tue 27 May, Melkweg, guys. Come watch them per19.30, €15 form hits like ‘Hotel California’ EMA and ‘One of These Nights’ while all the 60-somethings around Aka Erika M Anderson, this you swoon like teenagers. young American singer’s Thur 22 & Fri 23 May, Ziggo influences include Cat Power Dome, 20.00, €74-€95 and Marnie Stern. She fuses pathos with noise rock and ROBERT CRAY psychedelia. The Future’s Void, Cray has been called one of her most recent album, is due the greatest guitarists of his later this year. generation. He’s performed Fri 30 May, Paradiso, alongside everybody from Eric 20.00, €12 Clapton and Bonnie Raitt to STEVE AOKI Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Lee Hooker. Oh, and he’s also Aoki has thrilled crowds all over a five-time Grammy Award the world with his wild stage winner. His next album, In My antics, which include tossing Soul, is due in 2014. cakes, breaking out gigantic Fri 23 May, 20.30, Paradiso, bottles of Champagne and sold out riding rafts across dance floors.

The electro house DJ sure is THE SISTERS OF MERCY busy these days but his next alYou can thank (or blame) this bum, Neon Future, is due within groundbreaking British band a year or so. for everything from drum maSat 31 May, Heineken Music chines to new wave and goth Hall, 22.00, €45 music. Well, kinda. They were JACK PARROW at the forefront of all that stuff back in the early ’80s. Track This South African rapper’s cradown a black trench coat along zy contemporaries include Die with a crucifix or two and head Antwoord and Fokofpolisiekar. over to Melkweg to watch them Parrow likes to wear big hats roll out black-dyed in the wool while he drops fat rhymes in hits like ‘Temple of Love’ and Afrikaans. His latest release, ‘The Corrosion’. double album Nag van die Lang Sun 25 May, 19.00, Pette, is said to show off his softMelkweg, €39 er, romantic side. Awww...

Sun 1 June, Melkweg, BLACK LIPS 19.30, €15 These American garage punk SHARON VAN ETTEN rockers have been known to work everything from chickens TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and fireworks to public urinaencouraged Sharon to give the tion and flaming guitars into music biz a try after she moved their live shows. Don’t say we to Brooklyn in 2008. His advice

paid off. Six years later, the singer-songwriter is cruising along on four full-length albums of mesmeric melancholia and now on her latest European tour.

Tue 3 June, Bitterzoet, 20.00, €12.50

gerpicking on this African harp in’ hits like ‘Gimmie All Your simply dazzling no matter what Lovin’’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ style of music it’s paired with, for nearly five decades. from upbeat Afropop to his Producer Rick Rubin, himself soul-baring collaborations with a hairy dude, helped them with the late Ali Farka Touré. On this 2012’s La Futura, their most tour he’s performing with his recent album. son Sidiki, having just released Tue 24 June, Heineken Music TRUST a very pretty father-and-son Hall, 20.00, €54 Back in 2010, Robert Alrecord together.

THE WAILERS fons founded this Canadian Sat 14 June, Paradiso, synth-pop outfit with Austra’s 20.30, €22.50 Bob Marley’s former band is keyboardist Maya Postepski. still going strong. These reggae BLONDIE She later departed to focus on legends have also performed her day job but he kept going.

The legendary Debbie Harry with plenty of other big acts Alfons says Trust’s most recent has fronted this boundary-delike The Fugees, Stevie Wonder album, Joyland, was inspired fying rock band since 1974 and and Sting over the years. At this by a heady mix of video game everybody from Madonna to show, they’ll perform Legend in soundtracks, Lee Hazlewood Karen O owes their careers to its entirety, the biggest-selling and Kate Bush. Sounds trippy. them. With hits like ‘Heart of reggae album of all time.

Sun 8 June, Melkweg, Glass’ and ‘One Way or AnWed 25 June, Melkweg, 19.30, €11 other’, Blondie has smashed 19.30, €25 through more glass ceilings LOS VAN VAN ONE DIRECTION than the Kool-Aid Man has Bassist Juan Formell founded brick walls. They’re not done Tweets: OMG! One Direction Los Van Van in the ’60s. Since yet, either. Help them celebrate is, like, the best band evah! then, the Cuban band has retheir 40th anniversary during WAY better than those Beatles corded rock music, funk, disco what’s sure to be an unforgettaweirdos. LOL! Which boy is and more. Their current line-up ble night at Paradiso. your favourite? Zayn? Liam? features no less than four vocalWed 18 June, Paradiso, It’s soooo hard to choose, huh? ists and 13 band members. La 20.30, €50 <3 <3 <3 We’re gonna go listen Maquinaria, the band’s latest to Midnight Memories, their EXTREME album, came out in 2011.

2013 album, 15 more times!

Mon 9 June, Paradiso, The most famous band to ever Squuuuueeeee!@!!!! YOLO! 20.30, €25 come out of Malden, MasTue 24 & Wed 25 June, Amstersachusetts is ready to relive dam ArenA, 18.00, €35-€65 MOBB DEEP their funk metal heyday and EELS Survivors of the old East Coast at this show, they’ll play Porvs West Coast wars in the ’90s, nograffitti in its entirety. The Mark Oliver Everett, better New York duo Mobb Deep are 1990 album was Extreme’s known by his diminutive stage still dropping heavy rap sounds biggest seller and included hit name ‘E’, has fronted this rock having recently reunited. Old- singles like ‘Decadence Dance’ act since the ’90s. Their music school hip hop fans can check and guitar-tapping croon fest widely deviates from tender balout their new record, The ‘More Than Words’. lads to explosive anthems like Infamous Mobb Deep.

Thur 19 June, Melkweg, ‘Fresh Blood’ and ‘Dog Faced Sat 14 June, Melkweg, 19.30, €25 Boy’. Eels’ live performances, 20.00, €25 known for their multiple (someZZ TOP times secret) encores, are never TOUMANI DIABATÉ & SIDIKI These raucous, riffin’ Texans boring. The band’s run of shows This star from Mali is one of have beards and they know at Paradiso last year nearly the finest players of the kora in how to use them. ZZ Top has shook the former church to the world today – his fast finbeen cranking out hard-rockthe ground so we’re even more curious to see how this lauded classical concert hall handles them.

Wed 25 & Thur 26 June, Concertgebouw, 20.00, €35-€45

Choice classical

GAMES IN CONCERT Believe it or not, there’s more than a few gamers with day jobs in the world of classical music. That’s why the Metropole Orchestra and Royal Theatre Carré are hosting this concert, which features some of gaming’s greatest hits. This line-up includes ditties from popular franchises like Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda and Bioshock. So find yourself a pair of Power Gloves and get ready to rock out like Link and his pixelated pals. Wed 14 May, Royal Theatre Carré, 20.00, €19-€37

MEET THE ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA If you’ve never been to a major classical performance or seen one of the world’s best symphony orchestras, this is the night for you! This concert is geared towards audiences that aren’t too familiar with classical music.

The line-up features Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla’s tango inspired The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Violinist Liviu Prunaru (pictured) guests.

Fri 27 June, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €15-€25

JURASSIC 5 This act has roamed the frontier of alternative hip hop since the early ’90s. Since then, they’ve bagged hits like ‘Improvise’ and ‘What’s Golden’. Bickering among the group’s various components led to a premature breakup in 2007. But now they’re back together again and out on the road for the return of the J-U-R-A-capital S, another S-I-C 5 MCs in the flesh!

Sat 28 June, Paradiso, 20.00, €25 ADDRESSES Amsterdam ArenA Arena boulevard 1 www.amsterdamarena.nl Bimhuis Piet Heinkade 3 http://bimhuis.nl Bitterzoet Spuistraat 2 www.bitterzoet.com Heineken Music Hall ArenA boulevard 590 www.heineken-music-hall.nl MC Theater Polonceaukade 5 www.mconline.nl Melkweg Lijnbaansgracht 234A www.melkweg.nl

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may & jun 2014

MUSIC/CLASSICAL Choice classical

FRANCES CAPATELLA

North Sea Jazz Club formances, this local chamber I Once Played Ophelia’, one of Pazzanistraat 1 ensemble, along with special his most recent works. www.northseajazzclub.com guests, will tackle some of Thur 8 May, Concertgebouw, Paradiso Beethoven’s best-known works.

21.00, €23-€36 Weteringschans 6-8 The composer’s First, Fourth ALEXANDRA MASSALEVA www.paradiso.nl and Fifth symphonies are Royal Concertgebouw slated for 2 May. His Sixth She’s only 18 but this St PetersConcertgebouwplein 10 and Eighth follow the next burg pianist is already considwww.concertgebouw.nl afternoon, concluding with ered a major talent on the keys.

Royal Theater Carré his Third and Seventh on the She’s a former student of comAmstel 115-125, www.carre.nl evening of 3 May. poser Michel Sogny and has Tolhuistuin Fri 2 & Sat 3 May, Muziekgenetted several major awards Tolhuisweg 5, www.tolhuistuin.nl bouw aan ’t IJ, various times, back home in Russia. MassaleWinston Kingdom €10-€27 va makes her Concertgebouw Warmoesstraat 131 debut with works by TchaikOPERA PER TUTTI www.winston.nl ovsky, Chopin and Liszt.

Ziggo Dome Regular opera sessions in the Fri 9 May, Concertgebouw, ArenA Boulevard 61 beautiful Vondelkerk. Each 20.15, €30 www.ziggodome.nl performance typically includes CALEFAX REED QUINTET five or six operatic fragments or arias – some you’ll know inside The Times described this out, others may be new to you. Amsterdam-based minimalist Sun 4 May & 1 June, ensemble as ‘five extremely CLASSICAL Vondelkerk, €10-€20 gifted Dutch gents’. At this show, they’ll perform works REMEMBRANCE ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ranging from the hallucinatory ORCHESTRA Soprano Barbara Kozel leads arrangements of Estonian this interpretation of some of composer Arvo Pärt to Kevin Weekly series in the National the best-known works of AntoVolans’ atmospheric music Opera & Ballet, presenting a nio Vivaldi. The 18th-century from South Africa. diverse range of operatic, chocomposer was a violin virtuoso Sat 10 May, Muziekgebouw ral and classical works every who received many accolades aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €27 Tuesday in the venue’s foyer. for his religious concertos.

Every Tue, National Opera & CONCERTO KÖLN Kozel is joined by violinist Ballet, 12.30, free and acclaimed concertmaster Leonardo Vinci, not to be conLUNCHTIME CONCERTS Gordan Nikolic along with the fused with that guy who paintNetherlands Chamber ed the ‘Mona Lisa’, was an ItalWho said there’s no such thing Orchestra. ian composer who specialised as a free lunch (concert)?

Sun 4 May, Muziekgebouw in operas back in the 18th cenThe Royal Concertgebouw’s aan ’t IJ, 20.45, €38 tury. His life was cut short at lunchtime concerts are exactly the age of 40 when, according that, showcasing everything ELINA GARANCA to rumour, he was killed by the from young, upcoming talent She’s graced stages in theatres jealous husband of his mistress. to chamber music and public all around the world. Now the This afternoon’s performance, rehearsals by the Royal ConLatvian singer extraordinaire hosted by Concerto Köln, is a certgebouw Orchestra. It’s is coming to Amsterdam for celebration of Artaserse, one of advisable to show up at least this recital with pianist Roger Vinci’s best-known works. half an hour in advance to Vignoles. Together, they’ll fire Sat 10 May, Concertgebouw, guarantee entry. up a full line-up of passionate 13.00, €36-€42 Every Wed, Concertgebouw, songs written by German com12.30, free GRIGORY SOKOLOV posers Richard Strauss and NOORDERKERK CONCERTS Robert Schumann.

He’s widely considered one Tue 6 May, Concertgebouw, of the world’s greatest living From September through May, 20.15, €32-€80 pianists. Critics have compared Amsterdam’s Noorderkerk Sokolov’s debonair playing style hosts a one-hour classical conINSOMNIO AND to an eagle soaring through the cert every Saturday afternoon.

SYNERGY VOCALS sky. Now the master returns to Situated in one of the oldest These local acts are tackling the Concertgebouw for a spelland most charming parts of ‘Tehillim’, one of minimalist binding recital devoted to the the city, the Noorderkerk is an composer Steve Reich’s most works of Chopin. idyllic setting for a matinee ambitious works. He originally Sun 11 May, Concertgebouw, classical performance.

Every Sat, Noorderkerk, 14.00 penned the hypnotic piece back 20.15, €55-€69.50 in 1981 and it explores both his LUNCH CONCERT MARC ALBRECHT musical roots and his Jewish An authentic Mozart festive upbringing.

This German conductor has spectacle featuring the likes Wed 7 May, Muziekgebouw worked with greats like Italian of Vado, ma dove?, Krönungaan ’t IJ, 20.15, €27 maestro Claudio Abbado and smesse and ending on his final cellist Sol Gabetta. At this ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW composition: Requiem. concert, he’s taking the reigns ORCHESTRA Sun 2 & Sun 9 Mar, Royal of no less than three choirs and Concertgebouw, 14.15, €50-€75 One of the world’s best orches- the Netherlands Philharmonic tras is celebrating the 150th Orchestra. With their powers LUNCH CONCERT & TOUR birthday of Richard Strauss combined, they’ll tackle BerFree monthly performance with these two performanclioz’s 1837 masterpiece ‘Grande in collaboration with the Naes. They’re led by conductor Messe de Morts’. tionaal Muziekinstrumenten Andris Nelsons and feature Tue 13 May, Concertgebouw, Fonds. Tours of the concert hall selections by both Strauss and 20.15, €22-€58 take place before the perforhis fellow composer Johannes LISA JACOBS mance (11.00/price: €8.50).

Brahms.

Tue 20 May, Muziekgebouw Wed 7 & Thur 8 May, ConcertTop violinist Jacobs presents aan ’t IJ, 12.30, free gebouw, 20.15, €30-€120 her own concert series in Amsterdam, through which WELTKLASSIK BRITTEN SINFONIA she’ll showcase great music and Every second Friday of the This ensemble got its start in musicians. In this evening’s month the Amsterdam City 1992. Some critics considered solo recital the focus is on the Archives presents a classical it one of most adventurous history of the violin and its inrecital. on the planet. For this perfluence on classical Every second Friday of the formance, they’ve picked out masterworks. month, Amsterdam City selections by Igor Stravinsky Thur 13 Mar, Vondelkerk, Archives, 17.00 and Schönberg. The multi-tal20.15, €15 ented Australian composer VAN SWIETEN SOCIETY NEW EUROPEAN ENSEMBLE Brett Dean will also be on hand Over the course of three perfor the Dutch premiere of ‘And This Hague-based company

LOUIS ANDRIESSEN 75 Join an array of local musicians and singers while they celebrate Andriessen’s 75th birthday and his music. Over the course of two nights, they’ll roll through selections like 1981’s ‘Dances’ and 2010’s ‘Anaïs Nin’, Andriessen’s tribute to the alluring mysteries of femininity. In turn, you can enjoy a remarkable overview of his musical development – from the uncompromising contemporary works of the beginning of his career to the lyrical dramas that have inspired him recently. Thur 8 & Fri 9 May, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, 20.30, €26.50-€33 has been around for five years now and it features young musicians from all over Europe. Here in the Netherlands, the ensemble has practically become synonymous with contemporary classical music.

At this show, they’ll be joined on stage by vocalist Keren Motseri.

Thu 15 May, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €10-€27

AMSTERDAMS GEMENGD KOOR This lively afternoon concert by the Amsterdam-based mixed choir is focused on the world of French opera. The programme includes selections from Bizet’s world-famous Carmen, Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes de Hoffmann and more.

Sun 18 May, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, 14.15, €33

WENDE SINGS VILDE FRANG AND NILS WINTERREISE MÖNKEMEYER Dutch diva Wende Snijders and Frang plays the violin but pianist Gerard Bouwhuis are Mönkemeyer prefers the viola. teaming up for this show.

Together with kammerorchesTogether, they’re giving terbasel they’ll roll through ‘Winterreise’, Schubert’s Mozart’s ‘Sinfonia Concertante’ infamous 19th-century song and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Serenade for cycle, an infusion of contemStrings’. The latter, composed porary flavour via the musical in 1880, is considered one of mind of Boudewijn the musical highlights of the Tarenskeen. late Romantic era.

Fri 16 May, Muziekgebouw Sun 18 May, Concertgebouw, aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €27 11.00, €19-€25 NETHERLANDS RISING STARS CHAMBER CHOIR The European Concert Hall This performance by the AmOrganisation hosts this ongosterdam-based chamber choir ing project to celebrate some begins with a lecture by classi- of the continent’s best up-andcal scholar Philip Westbroek. coming classical musicians.

He’ll discuss the historical This edition stars Quatuor impact of the West on Russian Voce, a group of young violinculture. Then the choir plans to ists that a writer for The Strad dive into selections penned by recently called ‘one of the best some of the foreign composers French quartets that I’ve heard who hit the big time after enin years’. tertaining the court of CatheWed 21 May, Concertgebouw, rine the Great.

20.15, €24-€38 Sat 17 May, Muziekgebouw ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW aan ’t IJ, 19.30, €27 ORCHESTRA NETHERLANDS British Magazine Gramophone PHILHARMONIC declared them ‘The World’s ORCHESTRA Greatest Orchestra’ back in Conductor Carlo Rizzi leads 2008. Come and see what all the orchestra during these the fuss is about. For this show, three nights of performances. they’ll perform three sizzling The symphonic set list includes 20th-century classics: works by Beethoven, Mussorg- Rachmaninoff ’s ‘Second Piano sky and Rachmaninoff.

Concerto’, Scriabin’s ‘Le Poème Sat 17, Mon 19 & Tue 20 May, de l’extase’ and Debussy’s Concertgebouw, 20.15, €18-€48 dreamy ‘Prelude’.

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A-LIST. PART IV THE A-LIST

CLUBBING

MUSIC/CLASSICAL Wed 21-Fri 23 May, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €22.50-€75

that the Austrian composer wrote it as a proclamation of love for his wife, the enchanting socialite Alma Mahler.

Sun 25 May, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €32-€40

THE SIXTEEN Conductor Harry Christophers leads this UK-based choir and orchestra. They’re heading to JENNIFER LARMORE Amsterdam to crank up the heavenly sounds of 16th-centu- This American mezzo-soprano ry Italian composer Giovanni has performed on both sides Pierluigi da Palestrina along of the Atlantic. The New York with a few more songs that Metropolitan Opera vet accomwere hits long before your panies pianist Antoine Palloc at mother was born. this concert devoted to music Wed 21 May, Muziekgebouw written by some of Europe’s aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €33 finest composers. Among them: Alban Berg, Charles Ives AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA and Gioachino Rossini.

AND SLAGWERK Tue 27 May, Concertgebouw, DEN HAAG 20.15, €31-€50 Star violinist Simone Lamsma RADIO PHILHARMONIC and some of the Netherlands’ ORCHESTRA best classical ensembles are joining forces to perform ‘SerConductor Jukka-Pekka Sarenade’, a concerto written by aste and three soloists from the Leonard Bernstein of West Side St Florianer Boys Choir unite Story fame. The two-night with the orchestra for this programme also features afternoon performance. The selections composed by Ton de programme includes RachLeeuw and Kate Moore. maninoff ’s ‘Symphonic Dances’, Thu 22 & Fri 23 May, MuzStravinsky’s ‘Symphony of iekgebouw aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €35 Psalms’ and Henri Dutilleux’s ‘Shadows of Time.’ The latter NETHERLANDS TO was written in 1995 to comAMERICA memorate World War II. Led by conductor Reinbert Sat 31 May, Concertgebouw, de Leeuw, this show shines a 14.15, €30 light on the impact of 20th COLLEGIUM VOCALE GENT century American music on contemporary Dutch comThis vocal choir, along with posers. It features works by conductor Philippe HerreweAmerica’s John Adams and the ghe, are taking on a few of JoNetherlands’ Reza Namavar, in hann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas addition to the world premiere for a programme titled ‘Die of ‘Tapdance’, the latest compo- Liebe Zeit’. They’ll dive into the sition by local favourite Louis master composer’s ‘HimmelAndriessen. fahrts Oratorio’, ‘Gott mit auf Sat 24 May, Concertgebouw, fähret Jauchzen’ and others.

14.15, €30-€35 Sat 7 June, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €35-€79.50 NETHERLANDS PHILHARMONIC HET GELDERS ORKEST ORCHESTRA This huge symphony orchestra ‘Giro Musicalé’ is the title of hails from Gelderland. Led by this programme. It includes a conductor Antonello Manacorfull musical meal with some da, they’ll accompany cellist well-known and much loved Maximilian Hornung for an dishes. Composers Dvorák and evening of symphonies origiBeethoven originally created nally composed by Hector Berthe symphonic recipes featured lioz and Antonín Dvorák. in these two performances, Fri 13 June, Concertgebouw, but they’ll be prepared by 20.15, €32-€40 conductor Hugh Wolff. Pianist NETHERLANDS Stephen Hough will also be on PHILHARMONIC hand to fry up some solos.

ORCHESTRA Sat 24 & Sun 25 May, Concertgebouw, various times, These two concerts by the €18-€48 world famous orchestra promise to offer a series of contrasts.

ORCHESTRA OF The programme, which inTHE 18TH CENTURY cludes selections by Joseph Pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout Haydn, Richard Strauss and and this orchestra are planning Gustav Mahler, is filled with to play some closet classics soaring symphonies that evoke penned by a certain Wolfgang romanticism, passionate exuAmadeus Mozart. Won’t you berance and even fantasy. Sojoin them? The programme prano Elizabeth Watts appears includes the composer’s ‘Linz’ as a special guest.

Symphony. Back in 1783, MoSat 14 & Mon 16 June, zart whipped this symphony Concertgebouw, 20.15, €18-€48 together in just four days to apKRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN pease his insatiable fans in the Austrian city of the same name.

British newspaper The TeleSat 24 May, Muziekgebouw graph once dubbed him ‘The aan ’t IJ, 20.15, €33 King of the Master Pianists’.

Now the volcanic musician, AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA who has made waves by interPhenomenal violinist Simone rupting his own performances Lamsma joins the Sinfonietta to criticise everything from for this performance, which American politics to YouTube, features Gustav Mahler’s 1901 is heading back to Amsterdam. masterpiece ‘Adagietto’. It’s said If he blows his top, what will he

rant about during this show?

Buy a ticket and find out for yourself.

Sun 15 June, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €58-€72.50 ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW CONCOURS This competition began with a special YouTube contest earlier this year. Now comes the final round. It will pit some of the country’s finest tween-aged musicians against one another in a battle for supremacy. Who among these youngsters will go on to become the masters of tomorrow? Who knows, but only one of them will go home with the Royal Concertgebouw Concours Trophy.

Sat 21 June, Concertgebouw, 15.00, €12.50 BACH PROMS CONCERT Do the immortal works of one of history’s finest composers deserve a tribute? The organisers of this concert seem to think so. The Bach Orchestra of the Netherlands, along with plenty of authentic 18thcentury instruments in tow, will team up with a group of powerful vocalists to blast through some of ol’ Johann’s greatest hits.

Sun 22 June, Concertgebouw, 14.15, €50-€55 EVGENY KISSIN This Russian is considered a master pianist and his playing is fuelled by a passionate desire for the unattainable. Or at least that’s what his fans say. Come see for yourself at this recital, which features compositions

by Franz Schubert and Alexander Scriabin.

Sun 22 June, Concertgebouw, 20.15, €66-€82.50 RADIO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA At the dawn of the 20th century, composer Gustav Mahler wrote his Fourth Symphony and dedicated it to the beauty of his native Austria. In this concert, the orchestra will play both it and Franz Schubert’s famous, and possibly unfinished, Eighth Symphony. Scholars still quibble over whether or not the composer was planning to add more to it. Soprano Aga Mikolaj guests.

Sun 29 June, Concertgebouw, 20.00, €24-€42 ADDRESSES Amstedam City Aarchives Vijzelstraat 32 www.stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl Dutch National Opera & Ballet Waterlooplein 22 www.operaballet.nl Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ Piet Heinkade 1 www.muziekgebouw.nl Noorderkerk Noordermarkt 44 www.noorderkerkconcerten.nl Royal Concertgebouw Concertgebouwplein 10 www.concertgebouw.nl Vondelkerk Vondelstraat 120 www.vondelkerk.nl

REGULAR PARTIES ONE-OFF EVENTS CHEEKY MONDAY Weekly cult drum & bass feast that sees international turntablists mingle with Warmoestraat’s regular drum freaks.

Every Mon, Winston Kingdom, from 21.00 BLACK BOX Diverse dance sounds from cutting edge guests every week.

Every Wed, Studio 80, from 23.00 PARDI GRAS Get over that midweek slump with a Wednesday night party without pretentions.

Every Wed, Paradiso, from 23.30

I LOVE VINYL A night of eclectic and high-end club music, with poet/producer/ DJ Rich Medina headlining.

Fitting perfectly into the Amsterdam vibe where people like to hear it all mixed up, this man from Philadelphia just doesn’t seem to understand – or care, for that matter – where one genre ends and another one starts: he seems to effortlessly mix Afrobeat with house and funk with hip hop and soul. You’ll have to boogie in lots of different ways tonight. No better muscle ache than the kind contracted at the dance floor, though, so that’s okay.

Fri 2 May, DOKA, 23.00-04.00, €10

NOODLANDING DIMITRI ALL NIGHT LONG One of the city’s most famous pop parties where just about The most well-known and possianything goes – music, fashion or bly also still best-appreciated DJ behaviour. Expect indie, electro, from the Netherlands gets to mix hip hop and cheesy pop. his beats and melodies all night Every Thur, Paradiso, long. See if you can find his semfrom 23.30 inal Static Tracks mix album; it’s incredible. Expect Dimitri to play RHYTHM the most beautiful and best of Weekly house night that prom- house, techno and euphoric acid. ises a journey through the full Sat 3 May, Trouw, 23.00, spectrum of the genre, from deep €15, €8 before midnight soulful house vibes to hard-hitDOOR! ting electro basslines.

Every Thur, Winston The wonderful location of this Kingdom, from 23.00 rave is well worth a detour on your (rental) bike: the setting SUPER SOCIAL for this minimal techno rave is Practice your social skills at this the hippie village of Ruigoord, Leidseplein haunt. The dance kind of a Dutch equivalent music is suitably varied, from of Copenhagen’s Christiania. pop to nu-disco, classics to acid.

Ruigoord’s location is odd, right Every Thur, Chicago Social in the middle of Amsterdam’s Club, from 23.00 massive commercial harbour.

The locality was squatted in OFFSET 1973, which explains why this Weekly night with DJ Mickster party takes place in a church: no & Ldopa playing diverse tunes one needs to ask the priest for back to back. permission. The line-up is an Every Fri, Winston Kingdom, international bunch with Claudio from 23.00 PRC from Italy and France’s Octave playing a live set. Other DJs MC NACHT include Jocely Abell, Miss Fuzzy Each week promises an uncomand Sub Division. promising blend of live perforSat 3 May, Ruigoord (Church), mances and DJs. www.ruigoord.nl, 23.00, €18 Every Sat, MC Theater, PSYCHEDELIC ROMANCE from 23.00 The meanest beats in ENCORE forward-thinking club music Amsterdam’s home of hip hop come from the UK these days and R&B. Expect big beats, clasand one of the most exciting sic hits and new songs, names of the last few years is exploring the spectrum of hip Bournemouth’s David Kennedy, hop and R&B. aka Pearson Sound. Like his Every Sat, Melkweg, from pal Ben UFO from the Hessle midnight Audio camp, Kennedy plays anything clubby as long as it’s PAYBACK cutting edge and stompin’. AmBudget-conscious beats. Musisterdam’s Jean Pierre Enfant cally, anything is possible.

(Les Enfants Terrible) supports.

Every Sat, Winston Kingdom, Fri 9 May, Trouw, 23.00, €15 from 23.00 CRYSTAL CASTLES DJ SET SNEEKY SUNDAY Noisy Canadian electro-pop duo Skull-crushing bass rules at this Crystal Castles, consisting of weekly celebration of dubstep, Toronto’s Ethan Kath and Alice dub and jungle.

Glass, play a rare DJ set where Every Sun, Winston Kingdom, you should be able to hear the from 22.00 group’s influences. We are guessing their playlist includes WICKED JAZZ SOUNDS stompers by the likes of ThrobJazzy classics, nu-soul and live bing Gristle, Les Liaisons players collide in this swinging Dangereuses, Kraftwerk, The party that’s never the same.

Cure, John Maus and Cybotron.

Every Sun, Sugar Factory, Thur 8 May, DOKA, from 23.00 22.00-04.00, €10

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TROUW OP ZONDAG BORDELLO A PARIGI Chicago’s Seth Troxler is not only The Hague’s super-camp italo an in-demand house and techno disco night leaves its home base jock, he’s also known for his aver- De Pip for this occasion. Expect sion to Avicii, the biggest man in an overload of Italian wannabe EDM music, ‘If Avicii was here, chart tunes from 1983 made with I’d definitely light dog shit in synthesizers that look like spacefront of his door’ being his most ships and finished off by lyrics frequently quoted phrase. Grow sung through cheesy vocoders to up, Seth, we hear you think. cover up the artists’ heavy MedNow let’s forget about the man’s iterranean accents. Boogie like imperfections, we say, because you’re at a beach in outer space.

Seth is bound to bring Trouw’s Sat 17 May, Canvas, 22.00, €10 walls down like you’ll see few other people do it. Clarian (Trox- MUZIEKGEBOUW AT TROUW ler’s label mate at Visionquest) The Australian minimalist and will warm you up tonight with experimental composer Ben Frost a live set. will play his new album, Aurora, Fri 9 May, Trouw, 22.00, live tonight, which should make €20, €10 before 23.00 for a pretty extraordinary sonic experience – and on a Tuesday HARDCORE CLASSICS night. Tokyo’s experimental dance 1992/2002 three-piece will also perform a Both the UK variety of hardcore live set, while the artists are supand the Dutch species are pretty ported by DJ Luc Mast. aggressive branches of electronic Tue 20 May, Trouw, 21.30, €19 dance music. The two genres HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR thrived throughout the mid1990s and musicians and DJs on The classic club music project by both sides of the ditch terrorised New York’s Andy Butler comes their audiences with distorted with a new album called Feast of ‘hoover’ sounds. But whereas UK the Broken Heart and it’s that rehardcore was centered around cord that the four-piece ensemfast breakbeats, its counterpart ble will play tonight. Sounds like from the Rhine delta kept it a bit classic late 1980s to mid-1990s more straightforward by focus- vocal club house from the United ing on bass-heavy and super-fast States; a classic love it or hate it kick drums (up to 200 beats per kind of thing. minute). As the Netherlands was Wed 21 May, Trouw, 19.30, €17 the centre of the scene, it wasn’t STEFFI & MARTYN difficult to get an ace line-up ALL NIGHT LONG together for this evening – some famous DJs may arrive on their A surprising back-to-back duo bicycles. A selection: Pavo, The tonight with two Dutch DJs who Dreamteam, Yves, Buzz Fuzz, now live abroad. Techno/electro Gizmo and Human Resource, jock Steffi has now been part of all hired to let the bass kick.

Berlin’s hard partying Panorama Sat 10 May, The Sand, Bar crew for several years while 22.00, €25 Low End Theory- & Hyperdub-associated artist Martyn has RESIST: THE a background in drum & bass WAREHOUSE EDITION and dubstep. It may have been Resist is a bass-, grime-, dubstep- his move to Washington DC that and drum’n’bass-centered ware- made his sound more and more house rave. The most interesting housey and four-to-the floor in name on the bill from an artistic recent times. We bet this will be point of view is probably Swingood, especially for the slightly dle, one of the people behind more informed club heads.

London’s club night and record Fri 23 May, Trouw, 23.00, label Butterz – alongside Elijah, €18, €8 before midnight Skilliam and Terror Danjah. The MARK E crew is currently one of the main platforms for the release and Wolverhampton’s Mark E may consumption of (instrumental) well be the UK’s best-known grime music. Also spinning are king of the disco edit. Where dubstep veteran Plastician, Trolly many disco edits sound wonky, Snatcha, local bass head Gomes organic and unpolished, Mark and Aussie drum’n’bass / pop E’s sound is a bit closer to house outfit Pendulum. and suitable for the big room.

Sat 10 May, Elementenstraat Smaller rooms, like the newly 25, 22.00, €25 re-opened Canvas, fit his music fine as well, though.

KING SHILOH Fri 23 May, Canvas, 22.00, €10 Amsterdam’s one and only JaLIVE AT ROBERT JOHNSON maica-inspired sound system & PLANET DELSIN spins everything from the island of reggae plus plenty of regA night of quality techno with gae-derived styles, so count on Frankfurt’s Ata and Oliver shaking your funky bum to roots, Hafenbauer from the Live At dub, lovers rock, dubstep and Robert Johnson record label jungle. Jah man! hosting the main room.

Fri 16 May, DOKA, 22.00, €10 Aroy Dee and Delta Funktionen from Amsterdam and SALT MUSIC Liverpool’s John Heckle (live) A proper urban house party with will represent Delsin Records.

Austen and Scott Smart, better Sat 24 May, Trouw, 23.00, known as Brodanse, playing €18, €8 before midnight bass- and techno-infected house JUNCTION with L’Atelier, Life on Mars and Wouter S supporting.

This is a bit of a quirky edition Fri 16 May, Club Up, of Junction, as the night is 23.00, €7.50 headlined by Detroit Grand

Choice clubbing

some cosmic Sun Ra material.

With such a man behind the wheels, this promises to be an evening of both leisure and education.

Sat 7 June, Canvas, 22.00, €10 TROUW OP ZONDAG Even though we can’t say anything about the line-up yet, we can assure you Trouw’s Sunday nights are a feast of underground house and techno music.

Sun 8 June, Trouw, 22.00, €18

RAVEN VOOR JE LEVEN A spectacular night of ragga, breakcore and cheeky, bombastic acid. The undisputed headliner of the night is Aaron Funk, aka Venetian Snares (pictured), a man who throws his chaotically organised ‘amen’ break beats – often accompanied by melodies influenced by classical composers – into the crowd at an incredible speed. Also DJ-ing is Funk’s Dutch counterpart Jason Kohnen, better known as Bong-Ra, who has excelled in releasing hyper-aggressive ragga-jungle. Thur 5 June, Melkweg, 23.30, €14

HARVEY’S DISCOTHÈQUE Dubbed by some as the best DJ in the world, Harvey has a background in punk but is now mostly known for his edits of underground disco beats. When facing a dance floor, Harvey likes to play loads of soulful and banging house music around his own edits. Harvey brings a few likeminded mates tonight: London’s Daniel Avery and Dr Dunks from New York.

Sun 4 May, Trouw, 18.00, €20, €10 before 19.00 Pubahs, a group that emerged around the turn of the century with their sexy camp electro hit ‘Sandwiches’. Support DJs Sandrien, Kevin Arnemann, Paul Cairo and Drum Tone serve you some more serious beats.

Wed 28 May, Canvas, 22.00, €10 IMPRINT X GROUNDED THEORY & PROPER’S CULT Two floors, two different sounds, with the banging Berlin-style technoid stuff upstairs (Henning Baer, Sandrien and TR-101, aka DJ Pete & Sleeparchive, live) while the club-soul freaks will have their hearts warmed downstairs. The line-up here is a killer, with Chicago’s Rahaan spinning a mix of house, electro and oldschool 1970s and 1980s club beats, German Amsterdammer Marcel Vogel playing nothing but

FIELD DAY & RUSH HOUR Representing Field Day, Jamie Smith, aka Jamie xx (pictured), is one of the most exciting figures in the no man’s land between pop and dance music. Smith joined indie-pop band The xx in 2009, while also remixing for big pop names such as Adele. Local support comes from Awanto 3, aka Steven de Peven, and Boye from the Rush Hour/Kindred Spirits camp. Fri 2 May, Trouw, midnight, €20

HORIZON – MANO LE TOUGH SPECIAL Irish-born, Berlin resident Niall Mannion is a rising star on the international house scene – so much so, that Kristian Beyer of Âme claimed recently in an interview that: ‘Thanks to Mano Le Tough, I have no fears for the future of house’.

High praise indeed.

Sun 15 Jun, Woodstock ’69, Zeeweg 94, Bloemendaal aan Zee, 15.00, €15 MYSTIC GARDEN FESTIVAL With its emphasis on creating an interactive experience, this dance music fest transports partygoers to a fairy-tale world teeming with enchanting music and theatre.

On the line-up: Stefano Noferini, Eric Sneo, Juan Sanchez, Nakadia Feat. Symphonics, Mike Vale, Zwaan (live) and Masro.

Sat 21 Jun, Sloterpark, www.mysticgardenfestival.nl.

Various times & prices AWAKENING FESTIVAL Awakenings kicks off its first weekender edition with more than 100 international acts and DJs representing all aspects of the techno scene.

Sar 28 & Sun 29 Jun, Spaarnewoude, www.awakenings.nl.

Various times & prices

ADDRESSES Canvas Wibautstraat 150, www.canvas7.nl Chicago Social Club Leidseplein 12 www.boomchicago.nl Club Up Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 26 www.clubup.nl DOKA Wibautstraat 150 www.doka-amsterdam.nl Eelementenstraat Elementenstraat 25 the finest disco, and San Proper www.facebook.com/ spinning anything he feels like.

ResistOFFICIAL Sat 31 May, Trouw, 23.00, €18 MC Theater Polonceaukade 5 MAJOR LEAGUE INVITES www.mconline.nl RAM RECORDS Melkweg You can’t get a bigger name in Lijnbaansgracht 234A contemporary drum’n’bass than www.melkweg.nl Andy C, so head down, lovers Paradiso of smooth and energetic breakWeteringschans 6-8 beats. Also part of this excellent www.paradiso.nl line-up are Loadstar, Rene LavThe Sand ice, June Miller and Mekongweg 5, www.thesand.nl Pamb & Harsh.

Studio 80 Fri 6 June, Melkweg, 23.00, €19 Rembrandtplein 17 www.studio-80.nl FULL GLASS Sugar Factory Mike Huckaby is a big name Lijnbaansgracht 238 among DJs. While his own www.sugarfactory.nl productions fall into the leftfield Trouw electronic dance music category, Wibautstraat 127 as a DJ, Huckaby is known to not www.trouwamsterdam.nl be afraid of spinning some more Winston Kingdom obscure stuff. Don’t be surprised Warmoesstraat 131 – for example – to hear him play www.winston.nl

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PART IV THE A-LIST.

EXHIBITIONS & MUSEUMS FÉLIX VALLOTTON: FIRE BENEATH THE ICE Exploring the work of Franco-Swiss artist Félix Vallotton KAVEH GOLESTAN: (1865-1928), a leading figure in THE CITADEL the Nabis (Prophets) movement.

Exhibition featuring 45 vintage Around 60 of Vallotton’s paintphotographs of women pictured ings – many on loan – are disbetween 1975 and 1977 in the Cit- played alongside some 40 prints adel of Shahr-e No: the Red Light from the Van Gogh Museum’s District of Tehran. collection to provide an overview Foam, until 4 May of every facet of Vallotton’s oeuvre Van Gogh Museum, THE LOTUS DOME until 1 Jun Daan Roosegaarde’s acclaimed CINEMA REMAKE: ART & FILM ‘living’ work of art, consisting of hundreds of aluminium foils that A film doesn’t necessarily have to unfold in response to body heat. be original to be a hit, and that’s Unlike many museum exhibits, exactly what this exhibition sets MARCEL WANDERS: visitors are actually invited to out to prove. Featuring work by PINNED UP interact with The Lotus Dome. filmmakers and artists who draw The largest ever exhibition In response to their presence, on existing films to create new hundreds of aluminium flowers cinematic offerings, video installaof work by revered Dutch unfold, a deep bass sound fills the tions and soundtracks. designer Marcel Wanders, room and the lotus flowers are EYE Filmmuseum, until 1 Jun acclaimed for his contempoprojected on to the walls. rary furniture, interior designs RICHARD MOSSE: THE Rijksmuseum, until 5 May and art direction. The museENCLAVE um becomes the first to cover FOAM 3H: OLA LANKO: First displayed at the Venice ALL YEAR ROUND the entire oeuvre of Wanders’ Biennale, this monumental multiNew project taking an unconmedia installation is constructed work with an exhibition feaventional look at the notion of of six large projections showing turing objects, photographs, time. Ola Lanko presents a literal images of the civil war in Congo. design drawings, prototypes, reflection of a year using 365 phoSee page 22. sculptural objects and virtual tographs, inviting the audience to Foam, until 1 Jun interiors. Stedelijk Museum, experience the momentum of the until 15 Jun APARTHEID & AFTER passing of time in combination with the continuous, repetitive Twelve photographers present process of day turning to night frank visual dossiers of the period examine how the symbolic threat of fire shapes the production and and back to day. during and after South African presentation of contemporary Foam, until 7 May Apartheid. The exhibition focuses art today. on examining where photograTITANIC: THE ARTEFACT de Appel arts centre, phers whose earlier work opposed EXHIBITION until 15 Jun the Apartheid regime pointed This spellbinding exhibition their cameras after 1980 and MEMORIA HISTÓRICA devoted to the ‘unsinkable ship’ whether South African democracy Comic-strip art by artist Jehanne takes visitors back in time with has ultimately been given a face. van Woerkom addressing the authentic artefacts from the Featuring work by David Goldbitter legacy of the Franco doomed cruise liner that sailed blatt, Paul Alberts, Pieter Hugo, dictatorship. into history on a fateful night in Santu Mofokeng and others.

Dutch Resistance Museum, April of 1912.

Huis Marseille, until 8 Jun until 22 Jun Amsterdam Expo, PAULIEN OLTHETEN & until 11 May SAM DRUKKER – MINYEN ANOUK KRUITHOF TAIYO ONORATO & Two young artists present a fresh For this installation, Dutch artist NICO KREBS Sam Drukker created portraits of interpretation of (street) phoExhibition of works by the tography. Oltheton’s work reveals ten Jewish men who consciously winners of the acclaimed Foam a distinct fascination for people experienced World War Two. This very personal work is a tribute to Paul Huf Award 2013, featuring on the street: in recording them Jewish tradition and ‘surviving’. a combination of photography, going about their daily business, Jewish Historical Museum, site-specific work and film. she uncovers meaning in the most until 22 Jun Since teaming up more than a mundane of human routines. decade ago, the duo have built Kruithof uses her camera to acVAN OOSTSANEN up a solid reputation for their cess the outside world, drawing Nearly five centuries after Jacob intelligent, ironic commentary on on her photographs to create Cornelisz van Oostsanen lived and subjects including the history of sculptures, installations, pamworked in the city, work by the photography and the role of the phlets and books. celebrated 16th-century Dutch artphotographer.

Stedelijk Museum, ist is headed to Amsterdam. The Foam, until 11 May until 9 Jun earliest Amsterdam artist known HEINEKEN’S AMSTERDAM 400 YEARS OF CHILDREN’S by name, Van Oostsanen created PORTRAITS prints and oil paintings with a Exhibition exploring how the focus on portraits and religious famous founder of one of the The Van Loon family has a strong depictions. See page 21. world’s most successful beer tradition of commissioning porAmsterdam Museum, brands also played an important traits of their children running until 29 Jun role in the development of the back nearly four centuries, with city. Using a choice selection of works being produced by a hit-list BLACK & WHITE archive material, the exhibition of renowned artists. This exhibiUsing personal stories, photos, illustrates Heineken’s pivotal role tion brings all of the portraits of videos, contemporary art and as both builder and brewer in the Van Loon children together for historical documents, this capital of the Netherlands. the first time, celebrating the varAmsterdam City Archives, ious styles and sizes, ranging from exhibition aims to present a true picture of how black and white until 11 May miniature to monumental. people live together and view each Museum Van Loon, LINA BO BARDI: TOGETHER other in the Netherlands. The exuntil 9 Jun hibition also reveals a monument Featuring drawings, design FATHER, CAN’T YOU SEE to freedom, carrying the names of sketches, poetry, photos and films, I’M BURNING? 11,000 freed slaves. this unique exhibition delves into Tropenmuseum, until 1 Jul the life and times of Italian-BraThis multifaceted exhibition is zilian modernist architect and de- driven by the central question of 10 YEARS OF signer Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992). what would happen if an art instiVLIEGER & VANDAM Arcam, until 25 May tution went up in flames. Newly commissioned artworks and texts Acclaimed for their provocative,

Choice exhibits JEFF WALL OVERPASS, 2001

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS

JEFF WALL: TABLEAUX, PICTURES, PHOTOGRAPHS 1996-2013 An extraordinary selection of nearly 40 works delving into the oeuvre of Canadian photographer Jeff Wall, acclaimed for his light boxbased work exploring themes such as male-female relationships and the boundary between metropolis and nature. Includes the previously unseen 2013 diptych Summer Afternoons. Stedelijk Museum, until 3 Aug

from the Herzogenbusch concentration camp to the Sobibor extermination camp on 6 & 7 June 1943. A major element of the exhibition is a wall of remembrance displaying the names of the 1,296 children, 160 of them accompanied by photographs.

Dutch Resistance Museum, until 31 Aug THE DARK CHAPTER Family-oriented exhibition looking at the history of the slave trade from a maritime perspective, focusing on the dramatic story of a slave ship called the Leusden – a boat which sank without a trace in Suriname in 1738 with many slaves trapped on board.

Het Scheepvaartmuseum, until 31 Aug WELCOME ABOARD Travel the world from the comfort of the canal-side museum as they explore the history of travel and the development of suitcases and travel bags.

Museum of Bags & Purses, until 31 Aug

ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHS AND CONTEMPORARY VISUAL CULTURE An impressive selection of defining photographs from throughout history, examining their symbolic impact and graphically innovative handbags, addressing the stories concealed Vlieger & Vandam started life within the images. Featuring reas an art project. The runaway success of their ‘Guardian Angel’ nowned images including that of the ‘Napalm Girl’ from the handbag led to the foundation of their company in 2004 and a dec- Vietnam War, the ‘Tank Man’ and ade later, their bags are adorning images of the 2001 attack on the WTC in New York. the arms of celebrities including Dutch Press Museum, Rihanna, Fergie and Rita Ora. until 31 Aug Museum of Bags & Purses, until 6 Jul EXPEDITION SILK ROAD BARNETT NEWMAN Major new exhibition providing a glimpse into the long-lost civiliThe Stedelijk present an impressive collection of works by sations that flourished along the legendary Silk Road.

American abstract impressionist Hermitage Amsterdam, artist Barnett Newman, including until 5 Sep the renowned work ‘Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III’. The DAISUKE YOKOTA work hit the headlines almost 20 During the 2013 Unseen Photo years ago when it was slashed by Fair, Daisuke Yokota was recoga museum visitor allegedly disnised by an international jury as tressed by its abstract nature.

Stedelijk Museum, the most promising photographer until 20 Jul and awarded her own exhibition at Foam. Part of the young generTHE GIJS+EMMY SPECTACLE ation of Japanese photographers Survey exhibition of fashion and with a distinct approach to phojewellery created by renowned tography, Yokota adds various husband and wife design team layers to his mysterious blackGijs Bakker and Emmy van Leerand-white photos using several sum between 1967 and 1972. techniques to lend them a tactile, Stedelijk Museum, poetic quality. until 24 Aug Foam, 8 May-6 Jul ROMAN VISHNIAC: MASTER OF MELANCHOLY: (RE)DISCOVERED ETCHINGS BY LIVIO CESCHIN Extensive retrospective of work by Rembrandt played a Russian-American photographer major role in the development Roman Vishniac, best known for of etching and is renowned for his pre-war depictions of East Euhis influence on printmakers ropean Jews. The exhibition feawho followed in his illustrious tures recently discovered prints, footsteps. The Rembrandt House film images, personal correspondMuseum celebrates this legacy ence and photos that have been by hosting exhibitions of work developed for the first time using by modern printmakers and this recently digitised negatives. time around, Italian artist Livio Jewish Historical Museum, Ceschin takes centre stage. until 24 Aug Rembrandt House Museum, 10 May-29 Jun THEY’VE TAKEN ALL THE CHILDREN AWAY REFLECTED: WORKS FROM THE FOAM COLLECTION Harrowing exhibition delving into the stories of nearly 1,300 Jewish In a first for the photography children who were transported museum, Foam presents a selec-

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EXHIBITIONS & MUSEUMS tion of works drawn from its own extensive collection. Foam has been collecting works since 2007 and the collection has now blossomed to include more than 300 photographs alongside films and installations linked to the field.

Foam, 16 May-2 Jul THE ART OF THE BRICK American artist Nathan Sawaya is the creative force behind these unique LEGO® structures, which prove that the popular toy isn’t purely child’s play. Look out for impressive LEGO® versions of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ and Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ as well as a six-metre-high Tyrannosaurus rex. And if you’re feeling inspired, get hands-on and have a crack at building your own LEGO® masterpiece in the Interactive Zone. See page 23.

Amsterdam EXPO, from 29 May

MUSEUM VAN LOON ROYAL PALACE The Van Loons belonged to the The Koninklijk Paleis (Royal city’s governing elite, and were Palace) on Amsterdam’s Dam among the founders of the mighty Square is one of three palaces still Dutch East India Company back in use by the Dutch royal family.

ARTZUID JUNIOR in 1602. With much of its original It is used for state visits, award Organised as part of the Vondelinterior intact, the collection ceremonies and other official repark’s 150th jubilee celebrations, comprises paintings, antique fur- ceptions. When the palace is not this free outdoor sculpture exhinishings and objects d’art. being used by the royal family, it bition sees 20 works designed by is open to the public. Visitors can ONS’ LIEVE HEER OP children installed at various locaexplore the magnificent interior SOLDER (OUR LORD IN tions throughout the Vondelpark. and discover the rich history of THE ATTIC) See page 21. the building.

Vondelpark, 15 Jun-24 Aug This clandestine church in a STEDELIJK MUSEUM 17th-century canal house attic CALDER AT dates back to the Reformation, The museum’s permanent collecTHE RIJKSMUSEUM The second in a series of annual international sculpture displays presented in the Rijksmuseum’s gardens sees 14 monumental sculptures by American artist Alexander Calder take up residence in the museum’s free ‘outdoor gallery’.

Rijksmuseum, 21 Jun-5 Oct concerns in which they feel the government is either inactive or ineffective.

Huis Marseille, 14 Jun-7 Sep

AMSTERDAM!

BY ED VAN DER ELSKEN PERMANENT Coinciding with a reprint of Van EXHIBITIONS der Elsken’s legendary photography publication, Amsterdam!, ANNE FRANK HOUSE this exhibition features in excess of 100 of the original prints used Prinsengracht 263 is where Anne for the book. With images shot Frank lived in hiding with her between 1947 and 1980, the exfamily for more than two years hibition provides an enthralling during World War II. Now consnapshot of a lively period of verted into a museum, it contains Dutch history. The dogged revolt a sobering exhibition about the against the authorities is captured persecution of the Jews and perin many photos, as is day-to-day secution in a wider context. life on the Amsterdam streets, BODY WORLDS post-war poverty and on the flip side, increasing prosperity in the After captivating visitors the ’60s and ’70s. This exhibition is world over, the oft-controversial complemented by an exhibition exhibition of human specimens of recent street photography by including whole-body plastinates, Hans Eijkelboom, Reinier Gerrit- organs and translucent body slicsen and Theo Niekus, offering a es takes up permanent residence contemporary contrast to Van der in central Amsterdam. Featuring Elsken’s work. an extensive selection of authentic Amsterdam City Archives, human specimens, the emphasis 6 Jun-14 Sep of this exhibition is on the various aspects of life and love.

LARRY CLARK, TULSA Damrak 66, ongoing & TEENAGE LUST EYE FILM INSTITUTE Two celebrated but also controversial projects by photographer Cinematography museum home and filmmaker Larry Clarke. Tulto an internationally renowned sa (1971) and Teenage Lust (1983) collection of films covering the are based on Clark’s first publiwhole history of cinema, from cations, which explored his fasci- the first silent movies to the latest nation with youth culture. Tulsa contemporary productions. was primarily autobiographical GEELVINCK HINLOPEN but the later work saw him follow HOUSE a group of youngsters whose lives were dominated by sex, drugs A decadent canal-side mansion and rock’n’roll. showcasing 17th-century patriFoam, 13 Jun-12 Sep cian wealth, located on the Golden Bend of the grandest canal of GUIDO GUIDI: VERAMENTE all, the Herengracht. Highlights Awarding Italian photographer include ornamental gardens as Guido Guidi this year’s Pixsea well as sumptuous themed salons.

Oeuvre Award, the jury named HET GRACHTENHUIS him ‘a genuine black pearl (MUSEUM OF THE CANALS) of contemporary photography’ in light of the fact that this work A tribute to the Canal District, is yet to gain widespread interwith multimedia exhibitits shownational recognition. Renowned ing how the engineering marvel as a pioneer of new Italian landwas built on swampland during scape photography, his works are the 17th-century expansion. characterised by an astonishingly HORTUS BOTANICUS strong and poetic power.

Huis Marseille, 14 Jun-7 Sep For nearly four centuries, Amsterdam’s Hortus Botanicus has TACO ANEMA: regaled visitors with its lush IN CONFERENCE greenhouses and exotic plants.

Subtitled ‘Portraits of Dutch Originally founded in 1638 to Administrative Boards’, this phoserve as a herb garden for the tography exhibition examines a city’s doctors and pharmacists, it’s peculiarly Dutch phenomenon of one of the oldest botanical gargroups of people working volundens in the world. tarily in associations to address

Choice exhibits

JOHN STANMEYER

WORLD PRESS PHOTO The winning images from the world’s largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest begin their world tour in Amsterdam. Each year, professional press photographers, photo agencies, newspapers and magazines from all over the world are invited to submit their top news-related pictures from the previous year. The best works are assembled into a travelling exhibition of over 200 images, creating an overview of how press photographers tackle their work around the globe and how the press relates news through images. Nieuwe Kerk, until 22 Jun when Catholics were not permitted to practice their faith in public. Today, it’s one of the city’s most unique attractions.

REMBRANDTHUIS The house that Rembrandt called home for nearly 20 years boasts an impressive collection of drawings and paintings by the Old Master himself as well as by his contemporaries. The Rembrandthuis is also home to 290 of Rembrandt’s etchings – a near complete collection – and an alternating selection is on permanent display.

RIJKSMUSEUM After a decade of unprecedented renovation, the Rijksmuseum finally showed off its new (and old) look in April 2013. Visit the state museum and embark on a journey through Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages and Renaissance right up until the 20th century.

HET SCHEEPVAART MUSEUM (NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM) The National Maritime Museum comprises a series of small exhibitions exploring various elements of maritime life. Moored outside is the Amsterdam, an exact replica of a famous Dutch East India Company ship.

tion is now on display in the beautifully restored historical building, with fixed spots for highlights such as ‘The Beanery’ by Edward Kienholz and works by Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol. Half of the ground floor is reserved for the best pieces from the design collection.

TROPENMUSEUM The ‘Museum of the Tropics’ has eight geographically themed permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of temporary presentations, including both modern and traditional visual arts and photographic work.

WILLET-HOLTHUYSEN MUSEUM The only completely period furnished canal-side house in Amsterdam open daily to the public, with a remarkable collection of Golden Age art and silverware.

ADDRESSES Allard Pierson Museum Oude Turfmarkt 127 www.allardpiersonmuseum.nl Amsterdam City Archives Vijzelstraat 32 http://stadsarchief. amsterdam.nl Amsterdam Expo Gustav Mahlerlaan 24 www.amsterdamexpo.nl Amsterdam Museum

Kalverstraat 92 http://amsterdammuseum.nl Anne Frank House Prinsengracht 263-267 www.annefrank.org de Appel arts centre Prins Hendrikkade 142 www.deappel.nl Museum of Bags & Purses Herengracht 573 www.tassenmuseum.nl Biblical Museum Herengracht 366-368 www.bijbelsmuseum.nl De Brakke Grond Nes 45, www.brakkegrond.nl Cobra Museum Sandbergplein 1, Amstelveen www.cobra-museum.nl Dutch Press Museum Zeeburgerkade 10 http://persmuseum.nl Dutch Resistance Museum Plantage Kerklaan 61 www.verzetsmuseum.org EYE Film Institute IJpromenade 1 www.eyefilm.nl Foam Keizersgracht 609 http://foam.org Geelvinck Hinlopen House Keizersgracht 633 http://geelvinck.nl Van Gogh Museum Paulus Potterstraat 7 www.vangoghmuseum.nl Het Grachtenhuis (Museum of the Canals) Herengracht 386 http://hetgrachtenhuis.nl Hermitage Amsterdam Amstel 51, www.hermitage.nl Hollandse Schouwburg Plantage Middenlaan 24 www.hollandscheschouwburg.nl Hortus Botanicus Plantage Middenlaan 2a http://dehortus.nl Huis Marseille Keizersgracht 401 www.huismarseille.nl Imagine IC Frankemaheerd 2 www.imagineic.nl Jewish Historical Museum Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1 www.jhm.nl Museum Van Loon Keizersgracht 672 www.museumvanloon.nl Mediamatic Fabriek VOC-kade 10 www.mediamatic.net De Nieuwe Kerk Dam square www.nieuwekerk.nl Ons’ Lieve Heer Op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic) Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40 www.opsolder.nl Rembrandthuis Jodenbreestraat 4 www.rembrandthuis.nl Rijksmuseum Jan Luijkenstraat 1 www.rijksmuseum.nl Royal Palace Dam square www.paleisamsterdam.nl Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Musuem) Kattenburgerplein 1 www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.nl Stedelijk Museum Museumplein 10 http://stedelijk.nl Tropenmuseum Linnaeusstraat 2 www.tropenmuseum.nl Willet-Holthuysen Museum Herengracht 605 www.willetholthuysen.nl

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PART IV THE A-LIST

STAGE COMEDY: GREG PROOPS musical director Marc Minkowski named Robert decides to trade who will perform existing and and stage director Àlex Ollé will his career for a boyhood dream, new work by the composer Philip This American stand-up made remain faithful to the work, the Glass. Resident choreographers his name on improv show Whose he’s contacted by a Soviet cosmoduo are famed for their modern naut and history’s most famous Sol León and Paul Lightfoot Line Is It Anyway? before ability to successfully incorporate interstellar pooch. This surreal designed the gripping, unpredictmoving on to other sitcom and COMEDY: SMART PHONES, video and technology. able physical language of these TV work. But now he’s back doing modern opera, written by Dutch DUMB PEOPLE! Sat 10-Tue 27 May, Dutch composer Martijn Padding, performances. what he does best: sitting in front National Opera & Ballet, follows the unusual trio as they Sat 7-Mon 9 June, Food Centre A new collection of Boom of an audience and just letting the various times, €15-€150 explore the outer reaches of space Amsterdam, 20.30, €30 Chicago’s favourite scenes plus conversation flow. brand new improvisations with a Thur 22 May, Comedy Theatre and eternity. The production is in DANCE: BALLERINA COMEDY: ARIES SPEARS Dutch with English surtitles. focus on high-tech comedy. The in de Nes, 20.30, €20 In Ballerina, the Dutch National Tue 3-Sun 8 June, Stadsschouw- A long-running star of American show traces life from the Nokia THEATRE: VOLTS burg, various times, €60 sketch show MADtv, Spears made 3310 to the iPhone 5, from Snake Ballet turns the spotlight on the a name for himself lampooning to Candy Crush, from MySpace to virtuosity, elegance and personal Volts is a psychological thriller THEATRE: THE VALLEY OF artistry of its male and female stars such as Puff Daddy, 50 Cent, Instagram. that delves into the mind of ASTONISHMENT principals. An important part of Stanley Milgram, celebrated psyBill Cosby, Mike Tyson and more.

Every Wed & Sun, Boom the programme will be formed by chologist and the man behind the Peter Brook’s The Valley of Mon 9 June, Meervaart, Chicago, €22.50 Astonishment explores the 20.15, €27.50 COMEDY: WHAT’S UP fascinating experiences of real THEATRE: TIS PITY WITH THOSE BEARDS? people who see the world in a radSHE’S A WHORE ically different way. It’s inspired by The Boom Chicago crew go looktrue stories of these experiences Cheek by Jowl’s modern adaptaing for the answer in their latest and the results of neurological tion of the play of the same title by show that’s filled with improv, research, alongside the epic the 17th-century playwright John sketches, music and video.

Persian poem ‘The Conference of Ford. Written around 1630, it reEvery Thur & Sat (also Tue in the Birds’. mains one of the most controverJune), Boom Chicago, €26.50 Thur 5-Sat 7 June, Muziekgesial pieces in English theatre.

COMEDY: EASYLAUGHS bouw aan’t IJ, 20.30, €25-32.50 Sun 15 & Mon 16 June, Theater Bellevue, 20.30, €20-€25 This international comedy group OPERA: FALSTAFF performs a hilarious, hi-octane, COMEDY: SUPERBURGER For his last opera, Verdi chose a completely improvised show comic figure distilled from two In his new solo show, Ameriat the CREA Café every Friday Shakespeare plays: the fat old can-Amsterdam comedian Greg night. There’s also an early bird knight Sir John Falstaff, whose Shapiro takes on the issue of show, guest performers from life revolves around eating, double nationality – or as he calls around the world, various drinking and flirting. The work’s it, ‘MND: Multiple Nationality formats and open podiums. comic subject sets it apart from Disorder’.

Every Fri, Crea Café, 20.00 & the rest of Verdi’s operatic oeuvre Mon 16 June, MC Theater, 21.00, €5-€10 (with the exception of Un giorno 20.00, €13.50 OPERA: ARABELLA di regno). This production is BILL BAILEY PERFORMANCE: COUP FATAL directed by Robert Carsen, with Following on from Der RosenkaBritish comedian Bailey is one of those few comic examDaniele Gatti conducting the Countertenor Serge Kakudji, valier, Arabella was to become Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. along with 13 musicians from the second Viennese comedy by ples to have made their name mixing music and laughs The performance on Saturday, 28 Kinshasa, are joining forces with Richard Strauss and Hugo von without the humour quickly drying up. In part, that’s June will also be broadcast live director Alain Platel for this proHofmannsthal. It premiered in thanks to his witty look at the modern world – be it scion to a big screen in Oosterpark, duction. Through pop, rock, jazz 1933, in the crisis years, when the ence, nature or just plain silliness – but also because he’s where you can picnic and enjoy and a substantial dose of vitality, rise of National Socialism could much more musically diverse and weaves a whole host of it for free. it examines the joys and struggles no longer be checked, so despite weird and wonderful instruments into his shows.

Sat 7-Mon 30 June, Dutch of modern life in the Democratic all the humour, the opera is about Mon 12 & Wed 14 May, Meervaart, 20.15, €30.25 National Opera & Ballet, Republic of Congo. a society in times of decline. In various times, €15-€140 Mon 16-Wed 18 June, the title role, the famous German Stadsschouwburg, 20.30, soprano Annette Dasch is making one of its newest productions, the infamous ‘obedience experiments’ DANCE: PROGRAMME V Grand Pas Classique from Paqui€17.50-€32.50 her debut with De Nederlandse of the 1960s. The performance ta, in which not only the main Nederlands Dans Theater conOpera. is by Orange Tea Theatre, a local DANCE: THE TEMPEST couple, but also soloists and princludes its season with Programme Fri 2 May, Dutch National group specialising in Englishcipals will get a chance to shine V. For the occasion of the Holland This new, full-length production Opera & Ballet, 19.00, €15-€150 language theatre. amongst the corps de ballet.

Festival, the star dancers of the by the Dutch National Ballet Thur 22-Sat 23 May, Melkweg, THEATRE: HAMLET Wed 14-Tue 20 May, Dutch company are accompanied live and its resident choreographer various times, €15 VS HAMLET National Opera & Ballet, by the renowned Kronos Quartet, Krzysztof Pastor is freely inspired COMEDY: JIM GAFFIGAN 20.15, €15-€48 An interesting character study, Hamlet vs Hamlet digs into the American stand-up Gaffigan is COMEDY: AMSTERDAM psyche of the adolescent mind of middle-aged, a bit overweight and ENGLISH COMEDY NIGHTS one of Shakespeare’s most famous unapologetically loves his bacon This monthly feature presented characters. Like the original, the – a fact that is at the very core of by the Boom Chicago crew brings one of his most famous sketches. title character is riddled with the best international stand-up self-doubt and over-confidence.

Fri 23 May, Meervaart, Performance is in Dutch but with comics to the city. Each show will 20.15, €25 include four or five sets and be English surtitles.

COMEDY: MICHAEL CHE entirely in English.

Thur 8 May, Stadsschouwburg, Fri 16 May, Boom Chicago, 20.00, €20-€32.50 NY-based writer and stand-up co22.45, €12-€15 median Michael Che is a star on DANCE: DE JUNIOR the rise. He’s been named one of THEATRE: THE ENTERTAINER Rolling Stone’s ‘50 Funniest PeoCOMPANY The Entertainer is a portrayal The National Ballet’s Junior ple’, Buzzfeed’s ‘50 Hottest Men of three generations of the Rice Company consists of 12 young in Comedy’ and Variety’s ‘Top 10 family, vaudeville artists finding Comics To Watch’, and he’s a writand highly talented dancers. The it increasingly difficult to find group presents an appealing proer on Saturday Night Live. parts during England’s declining gramme of excerpts from classic Sun 25 May, Toomler, empire. The play shifts between romantic and neoclassic reper19.30, €15 conversations and performances, toires, plus brand new DANCE: VORTEX TEMPORUM with all the expected gags and choreographies.

PLAYING CARDS: SPADES jokes of that era. Writer John Fri 9 May, Meervaart, 19.30, Temporum, which premiered Canadian director Robert Lepage takes us to Las Vegas Osborne paints a grim picture of €14-€19 in 2013 is based on the musical in 2003, at the time of the Iraq invasion. On the famous England’s decline, drawing on the piece of the same title by the OPERA: FAUST music hall tradition of turning French composer Gérard Grisey Las Vegas Strip and in the desert surrounding the city misery into comedy and cynicism Faust tells of the legend of (1946-1998). See page 16. we follow various characters at a crucial moment in their into song. Performances are in the man who sells his soul to Sun 1 & Wed 4 June, Dutch lives, trying their luck. It’s a contemporary myth about Dutch but will be surtitled in the devil – a tale that remains National Opera & Ballet, 20.30, seduction, risk and excess, full of illusions, escape art English on the listed dates. fascinating to this day. Charles €25-€35 and hypnotising choreography, which leave the public Thur 22, Fri 23 & Thur Gounod’s splendid and timeless flabbergasted. All bets are on....

OPERA: LAIKA 29 May, Stadsschouwburg, music makes this a favourite of 3-5 June, Westergasfabriek, 20.00, €37.50 20.30, €10-€35.50 the operatic repertoire. Although When a frustrated TV host

THEATRE, DANCE & COMEDY

Highlight comedy

ÉRICK LABBÉ

Highlight theatre

55

may & jun 2014

STAGE

by Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Pastor worked together with the celebrated Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, primarily known for her work in film, video and photography. The result isn’t a literal representation of Shakespeare’s play – instead he uses elements and characters from the story.

Wed 18-Sun 29 June, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, various times, €15-€51 PERFORMANCE: YOU US WE ALL Love, Death, Hope and Virtue: what do they mean in today’s

FILM FAVOURITES DANCE: THE CRIMSON HOUSE Samoan director and choreographer Lemi Ponifasio turns his gaze to the surveillance state.

Through modern dance and traditional rituals, the cast creates a poetic space where the audience is part of Ponifasio’s critical study of a world dominated by security cameras and social media.

Thur 26 June, Stadsschouwburg, 20.00, €17.50-€32.50 DANCE: DANSERS VAN MORGEN The young talents of the

TRACKS

It’s tempting to compare Tracks – the real-life story of a young woman who crossed the Australian desert with four camels and a dog – with Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, but this movie (and Mia Wasikowska as Robyn Donaldson) stands squarely on her own two feet.

Direction: John Curran Release: 8 May

Highlight dance

STARRED UP

For most of us, prison is a place we’d rather not be. For 19-year-old Eric Love (a terrific Jack O’Connell), however, it’s his natural habitat. Eric gets ‘starred up’, transferred from juvie to normal jail two years early. His dad, also an inmate at the prison, isn’t amused.

ERWIN OLAF

Direction: David Mackenzie Release: 22 May

DUTCH DOUBLES The Dutch National Ballet is bringing together four leading choreographers working in the Netherlands and four world-famous Dutch artists from other disciplines for four world premieres. The special guests challenging the dance experts include harpist Remy van Kesteren, fashion designers Viktor & Rolf, photographer Rineke Dijkstra and visual artist Krijn de Koning. Sat 3-Wed 7 May, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, various times, €15-€48 world? Multitalented artist Andrew Ondrejcak presents these allegorical characters in a contemporary form of the masque, an early 17th-century British precursor of the opera. Within it, the music of Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), who also plays Hope in the piece, combines baroque with pop and soul and is performed by Belgian baroque-rock outfit BOX. Wed 18 & Thur 19 June, Theater Bellevue, 20.30, €25 THEATRE: THE FOUNTAINHEAD Toneelgroep Amsterdam tackles Ayn Rand’s bestseller, a dramatic story of the breath-taking feud between the young and brilliant architect Howard Roark, who pursues his ideals without compromise, and his rival Peter Keating, a man who opts for commercial success and social status.

Performances are in Dutch, but today with English surtitles.

Thur 19 June, Stadsschouwburg, 20.00, €20-€32.50 PERFORMANCE: THE WASP FACTORY David Pountney and Ben Frost’s suitably tense interpretation of Iain Banks’ first novel, The Wasp Factory. See page 17.

Sun 22 & Mon 23 June, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, 20.30, €32.50-€37.50

National Ballet Academy will show off their best moves during this performance. It features excerpts and choreography from both classic ballets and modern works.

Sat 28 & Sun 29 June, Stads schouwburg, various times, €16 ADDRESSES Theater Bellevue Leidsekade 90, 020 530 5301 www.theaterbellevue.nl Boom Chicago Rozentheater, Rozengracht 117 020 423 0101 www.boomchicago.nl Comedy Theater in the Nes Nes 110, 020 422 0033 www.comedytheater.nl Crea Café Nieuwe Achtergracht 170 020 5251 400, www.crea.uva.nl Dutch National Opera & Ballet Amstel 3, 020 625 5455 www.operaballet.nl Meervaart Meer en Vaart 300, 020 410 7777 www.meervaart.nl Melkweg Lijnbaansgracht 234A 020 531 8181, www.melkweg.nl Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ Piet Heinkade 1, 020 788 2000 www.muziekgebouw.nl Stadsschouwburg Leidseplein 26, 020 624 2311 www.stadsschouwburgamsterdam.nl

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

‘You don’t have to be unlucky to die out there.’ This direct quote from Tracks (see above) could serve as a neat counterpoint to the latest Seth McFarlane (Family Guy, Ted) feature. In this Western town, the deaths tend to be multiple – and very, very unlucky.

Direction: Seth MacFarlane Release: 29 May

DOPPELGANGER HELL

Sometimes, films seem to come in pairs (think Armageddon & Deep Impact). This time Hollywood doubles up on doppelgangers. Jean-Paul Satre once wrote ‘Hell is other people’; for Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy) and Jesse Eisenberg (The Double) hell may just be themselves.

Enemy directed by: Dennis Villeneuve. Release: 29 May The Double directed by: Richard Ayoade. Release: 26 June

DEVIL’S KNOT In 1993 the bodies of three young boys were found in the West Memphis woods. Three teenagers were convicted – but did they do it? With Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth.

Direction: Atom Egoyan Release: 5 June

GRACE OF MONACO

One may be forgiven for being a little wary of biopics of iconic blondes after the car

wreck (too soon?) that was Diana. But for now we will give director Olivier Dahan (of the Edith Piaf biography La môme) the benefit of the doubt. With Nicole Kidman in the title role.

Direction: Olivier Dahan Release: 5 June

NIGHT MOVES

Jesse ‘The Social Network’ Eisenberg has found a niche playing sanctimonious assholes. Radical environmentalist John Stamos is no exception.

Night Moves is a slow-burning thriller from the director of Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff. Also with Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard.

Direction: Kelly Reichhardt Release: 5 June

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

A movie about the romance between two kids with cancer… It sounds like an easy recipe for cheap melodrama.

But if the original book (by John Green) and the movie’s tagline (‘One sick love story’) are any indication, this film will be anything but.

Direction: Josh Boone Release: 5 June

NAPOLEON

This is one cinematic event no film- (or music-) lover should miss: the spectacular screening of Abel Gance’s Napoléon (1927), one of the last great epic movies of the silent-movie era, with live orchestral accompaniment. Clocking in at a ‘modest’ five and a half hours (excluding one dinner and two bathroom breaks), it’s majestic in every way.

Direction: Abel Gance Screens: 15 June, Ziggo Dome, De Passage 100, www.ziggodome.nl

DAVID CRONENBERG EXHIBITION

Not much is yet known about the upcoming David Cronenberg exhibition this summer at the EYE Filmmuseum. But the small snippets of information that are (the play consoles from eXistenZ! The typewriters from Naked Lunch! The telepod from The fly!) make us very, very excited. Will also include a retrospective.

From 22 June EYE Filmmuseum, IJpromenade 1, www.eyefilm.nl

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PART IV THE A-LIST

KIDS & FAMILY ATTRACTIONS AMSTERDAM DUNGEON Brings 500 years of history to life with 11 shows, seven actors and one terrifying experience.

Rokin 78, www.thedungeons. com. Open daily 11.00-17.00; €21, ages 5-17 €12.50 AMSTERDAM FOREST Amsterdam’s largest park and recreational area is home to a goat farm, a Pancake House, a climbing park, a vintage tram, a botanical garden and a rowing lake. Bicycle, canoe, kayak and pedal boat rental available. www.amsterdamsebos.nl ANNE FRANK HOUSE This is the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her diary during World War II. Prinsengracht 267, www.anne frank.org. Open Mon-Fri, Sun 09.00-19.00, Sat 09.00-21.00; €9, ages 10-17 €4.50

MADAME TUSSAUDS AMSTERDAM The collection of wax figures includes plenty of pop-culture heroes: pose for photos with the likes of David Beckham, Justin Bieber and Beyoncé.

Dam 20, www.madame tussauds.nl. Open daily 10.0018.30; €22, ages 5-15 €17

advertorial

Highlight Artis

MIRANDABAD POOL Subtropical swimming pool complex with a beach, palm trees, several indoor and outdoor pools and wave machines.

De Mirandalaan 9, www.mirandabad.nl. Various times & prices DISCOVERY CORNER Kids can choose from more than 30 experiments including how to develop photos in a darkroom, make crisps from a potato, construct a sailing boat and make scented soap. For ages four to 14.

Burgemeester Röellstraat 145, www.ontdekhoek.nl. Open WedSun 10.00-17.00 (Tue & Thur by appt only); €8, children €10

WOESTE WESTEN PLAYGROUND Kids can dig, climb, play in the sand, explore and check out the frogs and bugs that call the park home. Most days a supervisor is present, meaning kids can play freely while parents kick back.

Westerpark, www.woestewesten. nl. Playground supervisor is present Mon & Tue 12.00-18.00, Wed-Sun 11.00-18.00

EVENTS

ARTIS IN BLOOM Last year, Artis became the most colourful and exquisitely attractive place in the whole of Amsterdam. Flowers bloomed well into autumn and it was a riot of colour more vibrant than all the parrots, toucans and cockatoos put together. And Artis will continue blooming in the coming years. Take a spring walk among tens of thousands of crocuses, winter aconites, grape hyacinths and large clusters of traditional Dutch stinsenplanten. Enjoy the flowerbeds full of daffodils, fritillaries, crown imperials and tulips. There are more than 200 different types of bulbs and more than 80 different varieties of tulips around the gardens, including the unique Artis tulip (Tulipa Natura Artis Magistra), which was bred specially for the zoo’s 175th anniversary.

ARTIS ROYAL ZOO Admire the tropical fish in the PANCAKE BOAT Aquarium, see giraffes galloping amongst the zebras, springboks A cosy boat, all-you-can-eat panand wildebeests. Surround your- cakes and a view of Amsterdam’s self with hundreds of fluttering canals make the Pancake Boat a butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilgreat activity for all ages. ion or stroll through the park.

Ms van Riemsdijkweg t/o 38, Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, www. www.pannenkoekenboot.nl. artis.nl. Open daily 09.00-17.00 Various times & prices AGENDA (Sat until sunset from Jun); NATIONAL MARITIME GUIDED BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR €19.95, ages 3-9 €16.50 MUSEUM Take an educational stroll through Artis Royal Zoo and see it GLOWGOLF AMSTERDAM Boasts a variety of exhibitions in a different way. The tour guide will take you to the most Presenting ‘Back to the future in designed just for kids. Moored unique places in the zoo and behind the scenes.

15 holes’, this glow-in-the-dark just outside the museum, the every Sat & Sun in May, departs Monkey Island, 12.15pm indoor mini-golf centre makes Dutch East India Company ship for an entertaining day out with Amsterdam is a big hit.

ARTIS DURING THE WAR WALK friends or family. 3D glasses are Kattenburgerplein 1, available for €1.25. www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl.

During the war not only the animals of Artis were affected, Prins Hendrikkade 194, www.

Open daily 09.00-17.00; €15, but the humans as well. Artis was a hiding place for a lot of glowgolf.nl/amsterdam. Various ages 5-17 €7.50 different people during the war. times & prices Mon 5 May, departs Monkey Island, 12.30pm SCIENCE CENTER NEMO HET TWISKE Introduces young and old to the EYE ON ARTIS This nature reserve and recreworld of science and technolHow did visitors experience Artis back in 1838 or in 1945? In ational area is situated to the ogy. Five floors are filled with north of Amsterdam between exhibitions, theatre and more. this exhibition Artis uses its historical collection to show visiZaanstad and Purmerend. In Hear, feel and see how the world tors how things were back in the day. You will also get a little addition to large playgrounds, a works: everything is interactive. taste of the future. beach and plenty of green space, Oosterdok 2, www.e-nemo.nl. opens June you can rent canoes, rowboats, Open daily 10.00-17.00; €13.50 pedal boats and sailboats.

BABY ELEPHANT MUMBA’S BIRTHDAY SOUND GARDEN www.hettwiske.nl Today, 18 June, is Mumba’s third birthday. You are cordially Children between seven and 12 KINDERKOOKKAFE learn how to compose music invited to help the caretakers make a vegetable birthday cake At the ‘Kids Cook Café’, children using all sorts of sound installafor Mumba, her sister Yindee and their mother Thong Tai. (ages five to 12) do absolutely tions and computers during this 18 June, elephant pen, 3.30pm everything to help run the resinteractive workshop. taurant, including cooking, servMuziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Piet www.artis.nl ing, bar-tending and tidying up.

Heinkade 1, www.muziekge Vondelpark 6B, www.kinder bouw.nl. Wed & Sun, 15.00penmuseum.nl. Open Tue-Sun ed junior building shows young kookkafe.nl. Open daily 10.0016.30; €8.50 10.00-17.00; various prices visitors (ages nine-14) how four 17.00; various prices STEDELIJK MUSEUM peers lived during wartime.

TUNFUN DE KLIMMUUR Verzetsmuseum, www.verzets Offers a series of audio tours TunFun is an indoor paradise for museum.org. Various times; Rock climbing in the centre of (in Dutch and English), art children under 12. Under adult adults €8, ages 7-15 €4.50, Amsterdam. Enjoy a fun and workshops for 6-12 year olds (in under-sixs free safe adventure for beginners, Dutch) and also the Family Lab, supervision, kids can enjoy hours of active, creative and advenor a more challenging climb for in which everyone can watch vidWIND ’N WHEELS turous fun in a huge 4,000m2 experienced rock hoppers. eos and create original artworks. indoor playground.

This large-scale urban ‘land Dijksgracht 2, www.deklim Museumplein 10, www.stedelijk.

Mr Visserplein 7, www.tunfun. yachting’ park is set up on Zeemuur.nl. Various times & prices nl. Various times; €15, nl. Open daily 10.00-18.00; burgereiland. Also known as children free LOVERS POWERZONE adults free, ages 1-12 €8.50 land-sailing or blokarting, all it TROPENMUSEUM JUNIOR takes is a sail, three wheels, some Strike it big at one of the six VERZETSMUSEUM JUNIOR wind and loads of adrenaline! glow-in-the-dark bowling alleys Focused on non-Western culThe Dutch Resistance Museum No experience necessary and or pit yourself against the enemy tures, the interactive exhibits details the history of the Dutch lessons are available. on the laser tag battleground. here introduce children to new resistance in World War II durZuiderzeeweg 1, www.windn De Ruyterkade 153, www. cultures in a playful way that ing the country’s occupation by wheels.nl. Various times loverspowerzone.nl. Various sparks their curiosity.

Germany. The museum’s dedicat& prices times & prices Linnaeusstraat 2, www.tro

SCHIPHOL BEHIND THE SCENES In this bus tour, discover what it takes to make all those planes fly and explore parts of the airport you normally wouldn’t see.

Every Wed-Sun, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Terminal 1, www.schipholbehindthescenes. nl. 11.00, 12.30, 14.30 & 16.00; €22.50, children €12.50 HET NEDERLANDS MARIONETTENTHEATER A charming marionette theatre with performances for children aged four to ten (sometimes to 12). Productions are in Dutch but the music and visuals ensure that language is no barrier.

Every Sat & Sun, Jacob Obrechtstraat 28, www.nederlands marionettentheater.nl.

14.00; €7.50 SUNDAY MARKET A great day out for the whole family! Artists, designers and craftspeople flog their wares and delicious food and drink is on offer to fuel your shopping frenzy.

Sun 4 May & 8 Jun, Westergasfabriek, Haarlemmerweg, www.sundaymarket.nl.

12.00-18.00; free ZOOMERAVONDEN On Saturday evenings throughout summer, Artis stays open until sunset, with special guided tours, face painting, scavenger hunts, puppet shows and animal talks. You can even book a picnic to collect at the gate.

Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, www. artis.nl. Every Sat, 17.00-sunset; €19.95, ages 3-9 €16.50 HEMELTJELIEF Returning for the sixth year, this family festival steals the show every Ascension Day with a big musical and theatrical line-up and plenty of unusual events and activities.

NDSM-werf, www.hemeltjelief festival.nl, Thur 29 May, 11.00-23.00; €12.50/€15, under-12s free VONDELPARK OPEN AIR THEATRE Tucked away on the Overtoom-side of the park, this is an especially popular spot on Saturday and Sundays, where you can stop for a juice and snack and catch a performance for free.

Course, it’s more than just pop music: classical, dance, theatre and cabaret share the space, with extra kids’ fun planned on most Wednesday afternoons.

Vondelpark, www.openlucht theater.nl, from 5 May, various times; free

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may & jun 2014

SPORTS EVENTS FRIDAY NIGHT SKATE Get your skates on for the weekly Friday Night Skate, an institution in Amsterdam! Departing from the Vondelpark, the skating routes take in all areas of the city.

Every Friday, Vondelpark Pavilion, www.fridaynightskate. com. 20.30; free

sterdam! Now reaching its 41st edition, the Amsterdam Sevens tournament attracts male and female teams from around the world (both amateur and professional), as well as 7,000 cheering rugby fans up for a sporting feast.

Fri 16-Sun 18 May, Sportpark De Eendracht, Bok de Korverweg 6, www.amsterdamsevens.com.

Various times & prices

COPA AMSTERDAM well as the option to tour areas of a climbing surface of more than SPORT FESTIVAL Noord Holland and Flevoland.

2,300m2 and a bouldering area.

Naritaweg 48, www.klimhal Centred on the Copa Amsterdam Featuring four new routes perfect amsterdam.nl. Various times football competition, this sporting for all ages (45, 75, 100 & 150km).

Sun 15 Jun, The Harbour Club & prices festival sees a long weekend of (start & finish), www.cycletour events come to the city’s famous DE KLIMMUUR amsterdam.nl. Various times Olympic Stadium and surround& prices Rock climbing in the centre of ing area. Events include the AmAmsterdam. Enjoy a fun and safe sterdam Student Games, Street MIDZOMERNACHTCROSS event for beginners, or a more Tennis Cup and the Cruyff Court It’s officially a day early to be a challenging climb for experienced Cup finals, while there’s also plenty of activities on offer for visitors midsummer’s night event, but let’s rock hoppers. Various courses are not get caught up in details when available. not actually competing.

Thur 5-Mon 9 Jun, Olympic Stadium, www.copa-amster dam.nl/ sportfestival.

Various times & prices

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS CLUB CUP AJAX V NEC NIJMEGEN At time of publishing, Ajax were Europe’s top athletes battle it out pushing to retain the Eredivisie at what is essentially the Champititle (for the fourth time running!) on’s League of the athletics world. and whether it’s all decided by the Come along and support the eight WE OWN THE NIGHT female and male teams as they time of this match or not, they’ll clash in 20 different events. be looking to round off the season Last summer, 20,000 female in style. It’s a completely different Sat 24 May, Olympic Stadium, runners lit up five cities across www.ecccamsterdam2014.com. story for NEC, facing demotion Europe as they took on a 10km 11.00; €3 from top-flight football since they course after the sun had set. Now arrived in the league nearly 20 Nike returns with the event, inZUIDAS RUN years ago. viting you to go the distance and The Zuidas may be one of Sat 3 May, Amsterdam ArenA, own the night!

Amsterdam’s densest business ArenA Boulevard, Sat 7 Jun, location tbc, districts but it’s certainly not all www.amsterdamarena.nl. 18.45; www.nike.com. After dark; €20 work and no play. This annual various prices SAMENLOOP VOOR HOOP running event starts and finishes FRIDAY NIGHT RUN amidst the office blocks, but cuts The Dutch version of the Relay Organised by the Phanos athletics through the scenic southern areas for Life stateside, this charity association every second Friday of Amsterdam on the way. Everyevent challenges teams of beone’s invited to take on the 4- and tween ten and 15 participants to of the month, this free group 10-mile courses, and there’s also running event is open to both walk for a total of 24-hours in a kid’s race. recreational and more serious relay form, raising money for the Sun 25 May, Zuidas, www.zui sportsters. Beginners can join in Dutch Cancer Society. dasrun.nl. Various times & prices the 40-minute run at a slower Sat 7 Jun, Jaap Eden ice rink, tempo and there’s also the standwww.samenloopvoorhoop.nl.

FRIDAY NIGHT RUN ard one-hour run.

14.00; €10 (per team member) NIEUW-WEST Fri 9 May, 13 Jun, Olympic StaROCK AND RUN The District of Nieuw-West gets dium, www.fridaynightrun.nl. in on the running action with 19.30; free Acknowledging sporters’ typical their very own Friday Night Run love of energetic music, this event GROENE VAN AMSTERDAM organised by the AAC athletics distinguishes itself from other city association every last Friday of An initiative of Dutch author runs by hosting live music acts (and as you may expect, runner!) the month. The route varies each and other entertainment along its Abdelkader Benali, this new event week and there are two groups to city race course. Run like a rock claims to be the first crowd-fund- join: one departing for a 30-minstar on the 6- and 12-km routes ute run and another that takes on ed marathon ever. The course before celebrating at the closing a one-hour variant. weaves its way through the green concert.

Fri 30 May, 27 Jun, Sportpark heart of the city over in the DisSun 8 Jun, Canal District, Ookmeer, Willinklaan 7, www. trict of Nieuw-West, taking in www.rockandrun.nl. 13.00; varaacamsterdam.nl. 19.30; free parks, polders and meadows. And ious prices if the full marathon seems like a DIRT KINGS OBSTACLE RUN MEN’S HEALTH bridge too far, there’s also a 10km URBANATHLON Certainly one for the die hards, version and a Kids’ Run. this obstacle run will have you Sun 11 May, Amsterdam NieuwSet in and around the racing, clambering, crawling and West (President Allendelaan), Amsterdam ArenA, the www.degroenevanamsterdam.nl. even swimming your way around Urbanathlon involves a the 6- or 12-km course. Starting Various times & prices gruelling obstacle course and finishing at the Olympic covering 5-6kms or 10-12kms.

RONDEHOEPLOOP Stadium, the course heads out Run, climb, clamber and crawl Taking in the beautiful scenery of towards the forest to the south of your way to the finish! the polder to the south of Amster- the city. One thing’s for sure – it’s Sun 15 Jun, Amsterdam Zuidgoing to get dirty! dam, this running event features oost, www.urbanathlon.nl. Time Sun 1 Jun, Olympic Stadium, a shorter 5.5km course as well as tbc; €42.50/50 www.dirtkings.nl. 12.00; a challenging 17km version. For GAASPERPLASRUN various prices under-12s there’s a 2km course.

Sun 11 May, Rondehoep, Another staple event in AmNETHERLAND V WALES www.rondehoeploop.nl. sterdam’s running calendar, this On the eve of their departure for Various times & prices biannual competition features 1, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the 2, 5 and 10km courses around the IRB WOMEN’S SEVENS footballing pride of the NetherGaasperplas Lake in Amsterdam WORLD SERIES lands take on Wales in a preparaZuidoost. Traditionally held in tory friendly match.

This annual tournament is always March, the first Gaasperplasrun Wed 4 Jun, Amsterdam ArenA, popular with male and female of 2014 is being pushed back by a ArenA Boulevard, www.amster players each spring and this year few months to allow it to damarena.nl. 20.30; it’s once again joined by the IRB become the latest addition various prices Women’s Sevens World Series. to the Rondje Mokum This elite women’s competition (Amsterdam Circuit).

AMSTERDAM touches down in Dubai, Atlanta, Sun 15 Jun, Gaasperplas, www.

STUDENT GAMES São Paulo and Guangzhou before gaasperplasrun.nl.

Students of Amsterdam’s univercompleting its tour here.

Various times & prices sities kick off the Copa AmsterFri 16 & Sat 17 May, Sportpark CYCLE TOUR AMSTERDAM dam Sport Festival at this closeDe Eendracht, Bok de Korverweg ly-fought football tournament, 6, wsws.irb.com. Various times Looking to explore Amsterdam battling it out for the title at this & prices and its outskirts by bike? Then historic sporting location. get ready to ride! Now in its AMSTERDAM SEVENS RUGBY Thur 5 June, Olympic fourth edition, this trek leads cyStadium, www.facebook.com/am- clists past many of the highlights Get ready for a ruck as intersterdamstudentgames. 13.00; free of the Netherlands’ capital city, as national rugby returns to Am-

Highlight sports

COPA AMSTERDAM This annual football competition pits eight of the best under-19 club teams in the world against each other. The contest dates back to 1934, when the local amateur outfit Blauw-Wit Amsterdam began hosting teams over the Pentecost holiday weekend. It’s now the youngsters from Ajax that host the event at Amsterdam’s famous Olympic Stadium. Top teams from around the world join for short (50 minutes per match), action-packed games. Sat 7-Mon 9 Jun, Olympic Stadium, www.copa-amsterdam.nl. Various times, €5 (per day) an evening’s running is on the Dijksgracht 2, www.deklimmuur. cards. With 5km, 10km and 16km nl. Various times & prices versions alongside a 2km version KNIJN BOWLING for youngsters, this annual event caters to all running tastes.

Ten-pin bowling for everyone: Fri 20 Jun, Amsterdamse Bos, suitable for family events, 50+, www.midzomernachtcross.nl. beginners or competitive players.

Various times & prices One of its most popular occasions is Disco Bowling.

VU POLDERLOOP Scheldeplein 3, www.knijnbowl After a lengthy absence from ing.nl. Various times & prices the city’s sporting agenda, this LASERCITY AMSTERDAM evening running event made a welcome return last year. It’s back Less painful than paintballing, again in 2014 with the traditional but certainly no less fun, the laser 5km (one round) and 10km (two gaming adventures on offer here rounds) courses taking in the are perfect for large and small sweeping chunks of greenery to group outings. The 600m2 playthe south of Amsterdam. ing area is also the biggest laser Thur 26 Jun, VU Sportcentrum, gaming centre in the region. www.polderloop.wordpress.com.

VOC-kade 14, www.laser 19.30; €5 gamenamsterdam.nl. Various times & prices AEGON KONINKLIJKE – HOLLAND BEKER SKI INN AMSTERDAM Established in 1886, the Whether you’re looking to warm International Rowing Regatta up for a winter vacation or just Amsterdam has a rich history of curious to try your hand at a spot fierce rowing competition. The of skiing or snowboarding, you renowned single skulls event can do just that in the heart of attracts skilled rowers from both Amsterdam. The indoor rolling home and abroad and there are a slopes of the Ski Inn are adapthost of other trophies up for grabs able for all skill levels. throughout the weekend.

WG Plein 281, www.ski-inn.nl.

Sat 28 & Sun 29 Jun, Various times & prices Bosbaan, Amsterdamse Bos, www.

SLOTEN GOLF COURSE hollandbeker.nl. Various times; €5 This nine-hole golf course on the outskirts of Amsterdam features LOCATIONS both wooded and water areas.

Head on to the fairway or practice KLIMHAL AMSTERDAM your swing at the driving range.

Sloterweg 1045, www.golf The perfect place for the beginner baansloten.nl. Open Mon-Fri and the advanced climber. Its 08.30-18.00, various prices main wall is 21 metres high, with

58

PART IV THE A-LIST

GAY & LESBIAN REGULAR EVENTS NAKED SWIMMING The Marnixbad pools contain much less chlorine than most – which is good news since you’ll be exposing your sensitive bits.

Every Tue, Marnixbad, 21.00, various prices

of DJs spin an energetic mix of pop, disco, house and electro.

Every Thur, Club NYX, 23.00, €5, free before midnight

BUBBLES & BITES Free bites from 17.00-1900; cheap bubbles – just €2.50.

Every Sun, Prik, 16.00

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY DOUBLE HAPPY HOUR Celebrate the weekend with Because why wouldn’t you want tunes, nibbles and drinks. After a to start the working week with week of hard work, unwind with a hang-over? a drink, some snacks and tunes Every Sun, Taboo, 18.00 by the resident DJ. TUESDAY BLUESDAY LADY GALORE’S Every Fri, Engel van Amsterdam, DRAG NIGHT 17.00, free Sameplace café hosts a club night with a special focus on blues, soul Come and join Lady Galore and THANK GODDESS, and contemporary music. While her wonderful assistant Annie IT’S FRIDAY there’s no entrance fee, you are Alcohol along with some guest asked to spend at least €10 at the Welcome the weekend with live performers and surprises. bar when you’re a single man, or performances and an open stage.

Every Sun, Amstel Fifty Four, Every Fri, Lellebel, 20.00 the same amount if you’re 20.00 a couple.

ZONDERBROEK SUNDAY CAROUSEL Every Tue, Same Place, 21.00 Drop all your pretences and Be transported to exotic climes DRINK & COCKTAIL EVENING dance without pants. The dress with Arabian and Turkish music code is strictly enforced: briefs Every Thursday, enjoy a courtesy of old and new divas and jocks are welcome; swimmouth-watering cocktail at drag from Lellebel, with Miss Rini show bar Lellebel on the corner ming trunks or going commando leading the charge. are also permitted. Board shorts of Rembrabdtplein.

Every Sun, Lellebel, 22.00 or other streetwear prohibited.

Every Thur, Lellebel, 20.00 Every Fri & Sun, Church, BLUE various times, €10 ONE-OFF EVENTS Kooky clubbing with AmsterGAY PUB CRAWL GAY MOVIE NIGHT dam’s drag supremo Jennifer Does exactly what it says in the Hopelezz. Drinks are €2.50.

Nurse your hang-over in the tin, taking in ‘Gay Street’s finest Every Thur, Church, 22.00, €5 dark, while enjoying a screendrinking establishments. ing of the gems of gay cinema, THE PONY CLUB Every Sat, departs Taboo, 20.00 whether it’s the latest by Pedro If you want to quit horsing Almodovar or a gay classic.

IT’S SHOWTIME FOLKS around and get serious about Wed 7 May & 4 Jun, Pathé de starting the weekend on Thurs- It’s show time almost every night Munt, 21.00, €10 at Lellebel, the most outrageous day (and who doesn’t?), you NETHERBEARS AT THE drag show bar in town. couldn’t ask for a better place QUEEN’S HEAD Every Sat, Lellebel, 20.00 than The Pony Club. Three floors

Candlelight Cruise including cheese and wine • Duration: 2 hours • Departure: daily at 21h00 • Pier: opposite Central Station canal.nl

25% discount with your I amsterdam card

Bi-weekly get-together by Netherbears, the slightly less stocky bear men (in their own words).

Sun 11 & 25 May, 8 & 22 Jun, The Queen’s Head, www. netherbears.nl, 19.00 FURBALL – THE KILT EDITION The amsterdam hairy men dance party for the butch & bears. No dress code.; men only.

Sat 17 May, Church, 22.00, €10 GARBO FOR WOMEN Single ladies strut their stuff at this regular ladies-only meet-up, celebrating its ninth anniversary in 2014.

Sat 17 May & 21 Jun, Strand West, 18.00, €8 HORSEMEN & KNIGHTS Big willy gay sex party. Dress code: naked or underwear. Drop ’em and if you measure up, entrance is free.

Sun 18 May & 15 Jun, The Warehouse, 15.00, €8 LGBTQ OOSTERPART & LGBTQ CAFE Low-key neighbourhood drinks in the east of the city.

Fri 30 May & 27 Jun, Eden Amsterdam Manor Hotel, 21.00, free AMSTERDAM FETISH PRIDE Polish your Pleather and shine your chaps; events across town celebrate all things fetish.

Thur 29 May-Sat 1 Jun, various times & prices

ADDRESSES Amstel Fifty Four Amstel 54 www.amstelfiftyfour.nl Church Kerkstraat 52 www.clubchurch.nl Eden Amsterdam Manor Hotel Linnaeusstraat 89 www.lgbtqoosterpark. blogspot.com Engel van Amsterdam Zeedijk 21 www.engelamsterdam.nl Lellebel Utrechtsestraat 4, www.lellebel.nl Marnixbad Marnixplein 1, www.hetmarnix.nl Club NYX Reguliersdwarsstraat 42 http://clubnyx.nl Pathé de Munt Vijzelstraat 15, www.pathe.nl Prik Spuistraat 109 www.prikamsterdam.nl The Queen’s Head Zeedijk 20 www.queenshead.nl Same Place Nassaukade 120 www.sameplace.nl Strand West Stavangerweg 900 www.garboforwomen.nl Taboo Reguliersdwarsstraat 45 www.taboobar.nl The Warehouse Warmoesstraat 96 www.warehouseamsterdam.com

59 THE FIRST 40 SUBSCRIBERS TO A-MAG THIS ISSUE GET 2 X TICKETS TO THE AMSTERDAM DUNGEON

giveaway WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION SIX G GET A-MA R F U O O ES OY 5 ISSU ERED T T €17.9 S V S I U T DEL FOR J TICKE M R X A DOO GET 2 STERD AND HE AM ON. T E FOR DUNG be at

THE AMSTERDAM DUNGEON The ultimate interactive, theatrical entertainment, the Amsterdam Dungeon takes you on an 80-minute tour of the city’s ultimate scary-fun scenarios, reenacted by a cast of talented actors. Don’t miss the new show, Murder on the Zeedijk, the story of two sisters who fall in love with the same man and who will stop at nothing – including deceit and murder – to get what they want…

scri Sub gservice m a .co m adam ster m a i @

Rokin 78 +31(0)20 530 8500 www.thedungeons.com/amsterdam

Mail & win Email us by 15 June to win either of these great prizes: a-mag-win@iamsterdam.com CANAL BIKE Amsterdam is the number one cycling city in the world – where you can even cycle through the canals. Pedal boats have been the city’s top canal attraction since 1984, and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Canal Bike, five lucky winners will receive a voucher for 1.5 hours of canalbiking for four people, valid until 10 November. +31 (0)20 217 0501 www.canal.nl/en/canal-bike

5 X 1.5 CANA HRS L BIK E FOR 4 PEO PLE

BESTDAM SEGWAY TOURS Imagine gliding effortlessly through the historic streets, along the canals and over the bridges of Amsterdam. The Segway is an electric powered, two-wheeled, selfbalancing personal transport device – and it’s so much fun.

A Segway tour is the perfect way to get up close to history, getting information and factoids about this centuries-old city. Valid until 8 December. +31 (0)20 205 1350, www.amsterdamsegway.com

3X2 SEGW A TOUR Y S

spend less on bus tickets and more on edam cheese valid all d ay

hop on the local bus Find your â&#x201A;Ź10 daypass at localbus.nl

amsterdam - volendam - marken - edam - monnickendam - purmerend - broek in waterla

VISITOR INFORMATION

VISITOR INFORMATION

61

may & jun 2014

Find u s @ iamst erda .com m

I amsterdam Visitor Information Centres are your one-stop shops for everything you need to know about the city.

THE AMSTERDAM & REGION DAY TICKET This ticket entitles you to unlimited travel in Amsterdam and the surrounding region – day and night – on bus, tram and metro for 24 hours.

Included within the region are great tourist attractions including historic Haarlem, industrial heritage highlight Zaanse Schans, North Sea beaches and the bulb region around Flora Holland auction centre and the Keukenhof – and of course, your journey to and from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A ticket costs just €13.50 and can be purchased from Visitor Information Centres or from GVB, EBS and Conexxion ticket points.

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRES FOR INFORMATION AND TO BOOK EXCURSIONS, VISIT ONE OF THE VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRES IN AMSTERDAM: Tel: +31 (0)20 702 6000 Open Mon-Fri 09.00-17.00 info@iamsterdam.com www.iamsterdam.com http://twitter.com/Iamsterdam VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE CENTRAL STATION* Stationsplein 10 (across from Central Station) Open Mon-Sat 09.00-17.00; Sun 10.00-17.00 VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE SCHIPHOL AIRPORT Schiphol Airport, Arrivals 2 at Schiphol Plaza Open daily 07.00-22.00 *Last Minute Ticket Shop

I AMSTERDAM CITY GUIDE APP Visit Amsterdam and leave your guidebook at home! You’ll find everything you need to know on the I amsterdam City Guide app. Download for free at iTunes App Store (for iPhone, iPad & iPod touch), Google Play Store (for Android devices).

LAST MINUTE TICKET SHOPS Enjoy discounted theatre tickets on the day of performance. Check the Last Minute Ticket Shop screens and buy tickets at the following locations for same-day performances: VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE CENTRAL STATION Stationsplein 10 (across from Central Station) Open daily 10.00-17.00 STADSSCHOUWBURG AMSTERDAM Leidseplein 26 Open Mon-Sat 12.00-18.00 AMSTERDAM PUBLIC LIBRARY (OBA) Oosterdokskade 143 Open Mon-Fri 10.00-19.30; Sat & Sun 10.00-18.00 www.lastminuteticketshop.nl

62

CLOSING

BEYOND

A’DAM

Get out of town for these don’t-miss attractions beyond the city limits.

beyond amsterdam

‘YOU COULD EASILY SPEND A WHOLE DAY HERE, SWOONING WITH THE SHEER ABUNDANCE OF IT ALL.’ SEE IF YOU AGREE WITH LONELY PLANET’S ASSESSMENT OF THE KEUKENHOF GARDENS.

text Megan Roberts

JAZZ AT THE LAKE This annual open-air waterside festival boasts live performances by international jazz, soul and funk artists. Stay on dry land, get aboard the Jazz at the Lake boat or sail in on your own vessel to the Nieuwe Meer and catch performances on two stages on the outskirts of the Amsterdamse Bos (between Amsterdam and neighbouring Amstelveen).

The line-up includes Dutch garage funk band Lefties Soul Connection (whose vintage sound reminds of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings), Oakland’s Jennah Bell, who seems poised on the brink of the big time, and UK soulster Myles Sanko (pictured).

MIDZOMMERZAAN FESTIVAL

GETTING THERE: By boat or bike, or from Amsterdam Central Station Bus 172 (direction Aalsmeer via Amstelveen; stop: Amstelveenseweg) takes around 30min. Metro 51 also takes 30min.

From Amstelveenseweg it is a five-minute walk. The route is signposted from the station.

21 & 22 June Chocoladefabriek Westzijde 168 -188, Zaandam www.midzomerzaan.nl

7 June Amsterdamse Bos www.jazzatthelake.nl

Celebrating the summer solstice, the MidzommerZaan Festival presents different forms of art and various styles of music (think: classical, jazz and fado) at monumental industrial heritage sites in the Zaan region – including the former Verkade biscuit factory and the windmills of museum village Zaanse Schans.

A fun family-friendly day out in the heart of an important piece of Dutch industrial heritage.

HET LENTE KABINET

GETTING THERE: From Central Station take the train to Alkmaar (departures every 15 min) to stop Koog-Zaandijk. Or catch bus 391, which takes you directly to the Zaanse Schans. Buses depart every 15 min, journey time around 50min.

GETTING THERE: From Amsterdam Central Station, bus 392 (direction Zaandam Station) to Oostzaan Kolkweg (the main entrance). Journey time: 50min.

The spring electro music, art and culture festival returns for its third edition. The funky, soulful, experimental musical menu will once again be backed up by a broader cultural programme of art and suitably offthe-wall events. Headline acts include Steffen Berkhahn, aka Dixon, aka Resident Advisor’s 2013 DJ of the Year, and Actress, performing a live set.

Sat 31 May Het Twiske www.hetkabinetfestival.nl

63

WATERLAND KERKENLAND SEES CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCES AT THE BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES OF THE WATERLAND REGION. ENJOY A PERFORMANCE IN ZUNDERDORP, DURGERDAM, RANSDORP AND HOLYSLOOT, THEN CYCLE ONWARDS TO THE NEXT ONE.

RESIDENT ADVISOR ON DJ DIXON. CATCH HIM IN ACTION AT HET LENTE KABINET.

SAM FRANCIS, SHINING BACK, 1958

SAT 21 & SUN 22 JUNE, VARIOUS LOCATIONS, €7.50 (VALID ALL WEEKEND; INCLUDES MAP – PURCHASE FROM ANY PARTICIPATING CHURCH). SEE WWW.KERKENCULTUURWATERLAND.NL FOR DETAILS.

‘DIXON'S SETS THROW UP SOME INTERESTING CONTRADICTIONS – THE MUSIC HE PLAYS IS ACCESSIBLE, BUT HE RETAINS UNDERGROUND CREDIBILITY; HIS PERFORMANCES AT ONCE FEEL SAFE AND UNPREDICTABLE.’

COBRA MUSEUM

KEUKENHOF GARDENS

ZANDVOORT Located just 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam, Zandvoort beach is nine kilometres long and an average of 80 metres wide. Together with the sea and dunes it forms a wonderful nature reserve perfect for both watersports and relaxation. For a few years now the Blue Flag has been flying on Zandvoort, the symbol for a clean and safe beach.

GETTING THERE: From Central Station, trains run directly to Zandvoort aan Zee, journey time 30min.

Each spring in western Holland, breathtakingly bold, beautiful stripes of colour flame across the landscape. After the crocuses, it’s the turn of the tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, an impressive display that began at the end of March and continues into May. This is Holland’s ‘bulb strip’, and its undeniable centrepiece has to be the Keukenhof Gardens, the world’s largest flower gardens. For eight weeks only – from 20 March to 18 May – the Keukenhof will burst into a kaleidoscope of colours as the gently rolling grounds are carpeted with blooming flowers, planted in extraordinary patterns and swaths of contrasting colour.

From the days when the humble tulip cost a small fortune, Holland’s love affair with the flower continues: a staggering 7 million have been planted across the 32-hectare park, set to be admired by 800,000 international visitors.

Until 18 May Stationsweg 166A, Lisse www.keukenhof.nl

GETTING THERE: The easiest way to reach Keukenhof from Amsterdam is with the All-In Arriva Combi-Ticket, including bus transport from the city centre or Schiphol Airport plus entrance to the park. The All-In Combi-Ticket can be purchased at the Visitor Information Centre at Central Station Amsterdam.

Entirely dedicated to the avant-garde art of the Copenhagen-, Brussels- and Amsterdam-based movement of the 1940s and ’50s, the CoBrA spirit of artistic experimentation and expression is featured and celebrated here, with seminal works by leading artists including Karel Appel and Corneille, as well as pieces by their Dutch contemporaries. Until 31 August, embark on a transatlantic journey exploring the boundaries of the field with the exhibition Art of Another Kind, comprising works that adorned the walls of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum when it opened to the public in 1959.

Sandbergplein 1, Amstelveen www.cobra-museum.nl

GETTING THERE: From Central Station, take bus 170 (direction Uithoorn; journey time 45min).

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THEN AND NOW

then & now

HET KOLKJE, 1890S As Amsterdamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Light District cleans up its act, step back in time to an era before the term even existed...

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NEXT ISSUE

PLUK DE NACHT ‘Seize the Night’ at this annual outdoor film fest, language no problem.

Het Stenen Hoofd August

JUL & AUG 2014

~ GRACHTENFESTIVAL

AMSTERDAM’S BAWDIEST BOROUGH GEORGE HENDRIK BREITNER

Ten days of classical music at unique locations around the city’s 400-year-old waterways.

Various locations 15-24 August

OVER HET IJ FESTIVAL

~

JULIDANS

Bringing a summery blend of inspirational theatre, DJs and fabulous food to AmsterdamNoord, as the festival season begins.

Staging the best of global contemporary dance.

Various locations 1-12 July

~

AMSTERDAM GAY PRIDE

NDSM-werf 3-13 July

Get your pride on for one of Europe’s biggest, most vibrant LGBT celebrations, complete with eye-popping canal boat parade.

Various locations 26 July-3 August

RENE DEN ENGELSMAN

E VAN EIS

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~

Amsterdam’s Red Light District has existed since the 14th century, and the area’s architecture and layout are typical of that period. The Dutch name Wallen (walls) refers to the medieval retaining dam walls in the old centre of Amsterdam. Historically, because of its proximity to the harbor, De Wallen has attracted both prostitution and migrant populations – things for which it is still widely known. Up until 1811, prostitution remained illegal in the Netherlands, although it was widely tolerated.

When the ban on working girls was lifted, regulations were brought in and there were compulsory health checks to protect soldiers (the main clientele) from VD. Girls were given a red card for a clean bill of health, which was rescinded unless they could prove themselves disease-free. The narrow Oudezijds Kolk canal pictured here, as captured by George Hendrik Breitner, was originally a drainage canal, which let out into the harbour.

Then, as now, access was pedestrian only. Today, the Amsterdam municipal council’s Project 1012 (named for the district’s postal code) aims to strengthen the area’s unique character as one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods. This includes stimulating its economic upgrade while discouraging crime and corruption and limiting the zones in which prostitution is permitted. Watch this space….

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ON THE WAY

OUT

We asked people leaving Schiphol Airport for their Amsterdam advice.

on the way out

JOLANDA Dutch

‘Go to Westerpark – one of the best parks in the city – and have a lazy lunch in one of the cool cafés there.’

text & photos Maria Cavali

ROBERT Dutch ‘Go for cocktails at Door 74. It‘s a kind of secret speakeasy bar where you have to book ahead. It has the best barmen in the Netherlands.’

MATHIEU PARACCICCHI Student from France ‘Check out Studio 80; they have the best parties.‘

ADA VITAE A & GIAULUCI GALLO From Italy, going back home

‘Don‘t waste your time in Amsterdam‘s coffeeshops: the best day out is at Artis Royal Zoo.‘

MEIKE BLOK

Going to Switzerland ‘Feed the birds at Schiphol – and go to Paradiso to see some live music.‘

editor-in-chief Bart van Oosterhout art director & basic design Loes Koomen designers Zlatka Siljdedic & Shelley Langedijk copy editor Megan Roberts contributors Maria Cavali, Lauren Comiteau, Karin Engelbrecht, Elisah Jacobs, Toby Main, Bregtje Schudel, Mark Smith, Danitscha van Zijverden listings EdenFrost (Tamar Bosschaart, Steven McCarron & Dave Nice), Christiaan de Wit

May - June — Language no problem — operaballet.nl

Dutch National Opera

FAUST

Charles Gounod — 10 – 27 May 2014

Dutch National Ballet

Dutch National Opera

Spotlight on the ballerina — 14 – 20 May 2014

Marttijn Padding — 3 – 8 June 2014

BALLERINA

Dutch National Opera

FALSTAFF

Giuseppe Verdi — 7 – 30 June 2014

Dutch National Ballet

THE TEMPEST Shakespeare’s storm — 18 – 29 June 2014

LAIKA