Remember how I told you guys I wanted to focus my attentions on exploring The Netherlands? Museums are a part of that exploration as well. By default, I’m not a massive fan of museums and you won’t see me visiting every single museum I come across. I do try visiting some, but most of the time I just feel like I’ve been robbed of my pennies. That’s why I got the Museumkaart, but that’s a story for another time. I know a few things I like seeing in museums, other than that I’m still trying to find myself in the world of art.
Art I Like
You might wonder what kind of art it is I like. Well, wonder no more:
Byzantine Art
Don’t ask me why I’m so attracted to this form of art, but if you’ve read more of my posts it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to you. I can name countless examples, but my recent favourites are the Byzantine Museum in Thessaloniki, Rila Monastery in Bulgaria and the Byzantine Museum in Athens.
I was lucky enough to come face-to-face with a Christian Orthodox church near the Kunsthal.
I didn’t enter, and this article is not about my love for Byzantine art. It’s actually about the second category I like.
Absurd art
Yes, in my mind this is certainly an official art form. It’s where colours are super bright, or weird things are portrayed. I can think of a few artists which have paintings which have made art in this category: Dali, Warhol, Hieronymus Bosch. A live example of this type of art is when I visited Reina Sofia in Madrid).
Rotterdam Kunsthal
My love for absurd art is how my friend and I ended up deciding to visit the Kunsthal in Rotterdam on a sunny January day. There was an exhibition on Keith Haring called The Political Line, which we were eager to check out.
Let me first tell you a bit about the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. This museum does not host any permanent exhibitions, so if you’d like to visit during a short stay in Rotterdam, check out whether the exhibitions interest you. The building itself was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.
Keith Haring – The Political Line
I had seen some of Keith Haring’s work before, so that was what sparked my interest to visit the museum.
I’m not writing an art blog, so I won’t bore you too much with the details of his life. In short he became famous in the 80s as an artist and social activist. Most of his paintings show concepts of birth, death, sexuality and war. He passed away due to AIDS related infections in the 90s.
Most of his earliest sketches were on paper.
Later on in his career, he started to leave his mark on every day items on the street – like the hood of a taxi…
… and on metro billboards.
As I said before, bright colours appeal to me. So how could I not like looking at all these different paintings? Even though the meaning is completely lost on me.
The previous images were all quite decent; most of his paintings contain graphic and gory scenes. Some are downright weird.
Finally, this is his self-portrait. I guess, he’s having dirty thoughts? I don’t know guys, I’m really not an expert on art.
Unfortunately, the Keith Haring exhibition has ended in the Kunshtal, but I’m sure it will pop up somewhere again.
Knitwear – From Chanel to Westwood
We walked through the whole building to check if we saw some other interesting exhibitions. Knitwear was not the interesting thing we were looking for. The exhibition Knitwear shows over 150 ‘woolies’ from the famous English collection by Mark and Cleo Butterfield.
This exhibition is showing until the 6th of March, in case you’re interested…
Mathias Kessler – Here and Now!
The small exhibition by Mathias Kessler, an Austrian artist, was quite interesting.
The centrepiece consists of a human skull placed in an aquarium, surrounded by living coral. Salt water and UV light imitate tropical surroundings and create an artificial environment. The skull slowly perishes leaving behind its proteins in the salt water, on which the coral feeds. Just like other living beings do, the corals ‘compete’ for light and food. Some corals don’t make it, while others survive on the skull and create an intriguing spectacle.
Photobomb by Nemo!
This exhibition is unfortunately also finished.
Red Wealth – Soviet Design 1950-1980
It’s unbelievable how fast we rushed through the Red Wealth exhibition. The only fun thing I found here was a mirror to take a picture of myself.
img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-4833″ src=”https://www.dominiquetravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/28.-Rotterdam-Kunsthal.jpg” alt=”Rotterdam – Kunsthal” width=”800″ height=”533″ />
This exhibition is also no more at the Kunsthal.
Museumpark & Het Park
As I said before, it was a sunny, yet cold January day so we couldn’t couldn’t spend all our time indoors. The surroundings of the Kunsthal are worth a stroll.
Right next to the museum are more museums (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, The Chabot Museum, Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam) and the aptly named Museumpark. Across the street from the Kunsthal, you’ll find the Park, which overlooks Europoort and contains some pretty ponds; it’s nice for a stroll and a picnic if weather allows it.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t put the Kunsthal on your itinerary from the get-go. It’s best to first check out which exhibitions are hosted at the time of your visit. This was the first museum I visited in The Netherlands in a long time, but I’m well-aware I need to visit the classics soon (Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Mauritshuis in The Hague) and I will. First, I’m going to museums with funny or absurd art as I called it before. Next week, I’ll post a blog about my visit to the Beelden aan Zee Museum in Scheveningen which contained some pretty weird stuff.
