On Saturday February 25 Vincent van Gogh was alive and grooving at the Melkweg Club in Amsterdam.
Photos: Van Gogh Museum/Vincent op Vrijdag
I have been lucky to work for the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) as a museumdocent and guide since 2015. Van Gogh is one of the reasons I studied Dutch Fin de Siècle-culture at university and to date I still love his work: his paintings are full of colour, curiosity and comfort. I believe everyone responds to his works, no matter what your background is.
I was asked by the Van Gogh Museum to contribute to their Vincent op Vrijdag programme (a monthly evening programme for young people). This month the museum partnered with one of Amsterdam’s best known clubs for Vincent op Vrijdag: the Melkweg. It organised a contemporary pop-up exhibition in De Melkweg, with work from ten young artists or designers who to date still take inspiration from Van Gogh’s work.
Me and my colleague Anita Rademakers were asked to develop and deliver short tours through the pop-up exhibition, at night, during Encore (a hip-hop and r&b club night). We started touring at midnight and ended at 3am! There was even a proper propper on scene, who did an amazing job encouraging people from the dancing floors into the exhibition room.
Anita and I had a fun and productive evening. Visitors were surprised to see art in a club and asked lots of questions. Some admitted they had never been inside the Van Gogh Museum and promised us they would come and visit.
We had a laugh grooving to r&b, admired Mattijs van Bergen’s eye-catching dresses - who clearly were the public’s favourite - and I loved to get introduced to the simple black-and-white work by Suat Ögüt who revives Van Gogh's lost paintings.
Have a look at the pictures. Do you think clubs should organise more exhibitions?
I was asked by the Van Gogh Museum to contribute to their Vincent op Vrijdag programme (a monthly evening programme for young people). This month the museum partnered with one of Amsterdam’s best known clubs for Vincent op Vrijdag: the Melkweg. It organised a contemporary pop-up exhibition in De Melkweg, with work from ten young artists or designers who to date still take inspiration from Van Gogh’s work.
Me and my colleague Anita Rademakers were asked to develop and deliver short tours through the pop-up exhibition, at night, during Encore (a hip-hop and r&b club night). We started touring at midnight and ended at 3am! There was even a proper propper on scene, who did an amazing job encouraging people from the dancing floors into the exhibition room.
Anita and I had a fun and productive evening. Visitors were surprised to see art in a club and asked lots of questions. Some admitted they had never been inside the Van Gogh Museum and promised us they would come and visit.
We had a laugh grooving to r&b, admired Mattijs van Bergen’s eye-catching dresses - who clearly were the public’s favourite - and I loved to get introduced to the simple black-and-white work by Suat Ögüt who revives Van Gogh's lost paintings.
Have a look at the pictures. Do you think clubs should organise more exhibitions?
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