Discover Benelux | Tourism | Haarlem City Special
Wanderlust TEXT: CHARLOTTE VAN HEK | PHOTOS: FRANS HALS MUSEUM | DE HALLEN HAARLEM
Already craving for your next holiday? Have a foretaste and travel to Indonesia, America or even the North Pole this summer with Wanderlust, the summer exhibition of the Frans Hals Museum and De Hallen in Haarlem. Wanderlust follows the trail of dozens of Dutch artists with wanderlust in the last 150 years, focusing on travel sketchbooks, photography, video art and installations. The rich harvest of work represents artists from Jan Sluyters, Leo Gestel and Marius Bauer, to contemporary artists like Joost Conijn, Rob Birza and Jennifer Tee. “Travel has always served as a means for inspiration,” director of the Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem Ann Demeester tells us. “In the 16th and 17th century artists would visit Italy, and in later ages Paris and London, as the culmination of their artistic education.” And as time changed, so did art. “19th and
20th century artists travelled further and with a broader point of view. Instead of admiring romantic landscapes and reviewing antiquity, artists found their inspiration in different customs, food, and people.” Another development that visitors can see for themselves at Wanderlust. “Works from the 19th century often consists of impressions made on the spot. Later works often involve artists creatively processing their travel impressions afterwards.” The results provide us with a startling view of the world beyond its known country borders. “Besides physical journeys, the travels that you make in your imagination are just as eye-opening.” Wanderlust in Dutch Art since 1850 at De Hallen Haarlem, and spin-off at Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, runs from 28 May – 11 September www.dehallen.nl www.franshalsmuseum.nl
JCJ Vanderheyden, Everest – Chomolungma, 2007. Collectie Warmerdam-Boerland
Viviane Sassen, Toota (Zambia), 2005. Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem
Extraordinary minds through the ages TEXT: XANDRA BOERSMA | PHOTOS: THIJS WOLZAK
Het Dolhuys, museum of the mind, celebrates people who function differently to most and who achieve amazing things despite the stigma surrounding them being anything but ordinary. Hans Looijen, director of Het Dolhuys, says: “Think about some of the great artists, like Vincent van Gogh. Back in his day he was considered weird and crazy and now we think of him as one of the most talented painters of all time.” Although the museum does not shy away from the negativity of psychiatric disorders. “Of course that’s there as well. We want to make the subject less taboo. And it works, visitors tell us. They’re happy this story is told and that’s nice to hear.” Established in a chapel in Haarlem that dates from 1319, Het Dolhuys is a story in itself. You can even explore one of the original Dolcellen during your visit, unique in Europe. People used to get locked up here when something was 54 | Issue 30 | June 2016
mentally wrong with them. But this museum is in no way scary. “No,” director Looijen says. “Which is why last year we removed the term psychiatry from the name and called it ‘museum of the mind’. We want to enlighten the positive side, not just the negative.” Recently, Het Dolhuys opened a special initiative in Amsterdam’s De Hermitage museum. “It’s called the Outsider Art Museum,” Looijen says with pride. And he should; none other than Queen Máxima opened it. “The collection features outsider artists that haven’t been to an art school. It’s amazing to show these talents to a broader audience.” www.hetdolhuys.nl