It's occurring to me that these days are long. These days are packed. And while it may seem that these days are also full-throttle, there's so much one-on-one with my family that each day feels like more than one day.
Each day.
Feels.
Like more than one day.
And that's a straight-up miracle given the last-minute nature of this visit.
This time, my cousin from the dutch town of Gorinchem is our tour guide for the day, picking us up a little after 11, and pulling up to the Rotterdam city hall an hour later.
We get out of the car, find our way to and through an archway into a courtyard, and suddenly we're in a statue garden.
It's a very Pinterest-y opportunity so we take photographs of, well, everything we see including the statues, the light and ornament-decorated plants, as well as the historical architecture all around us.
After that, into the city hall building itself we go where we get a tour primarily on the second floor, along the stone balcony overlooking the domed gallery, down halls adorned with paintings of each former mayor, various public information displays, committee rooms, and one giant ballroom with maybe a four-story sized Christmas tree commanding the room. We wander this magnificent space as well as the adjoining room that features paintings of people from ancient Greece appearing to look down into the room.
After the tour, we make our way back to the ground floor down a tight spiral staircase.
1pm we're at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen.
It's an art depot.
An art depot?
Yeah. Here's the official description:
"Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility. The depot is located next to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Museumpark in Rotterdam. Visitors can see the result of 174 years of collecting. More than 154,000 objects housed together, arranged in fourteen storage compartments with five different climates. Next to the objects, all the activities that go into preserving and managing a collection are on open view in the building."
That explanation didn't exactly land for me so I did a little digging. It turns out that most museums are curated, that is, the museum carefully chooses and thoughtfully organizes and presents a fraction of its collection it presents to the public.
According to artnet.com...
"Most museums can show only 10 percent of their holdings at a time, and changes to what is on display can take years to implement. But the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam has found a novel solution: unlocking its storage vaults for the public ... offering them a unique behind-the-scenes experience and the chance to learn how a world-renowned museum maintains and cares for its art collection."
From the ground floor, purchasing tickets and figuring out the locker tech where we're supposed to temporarily stash our coats and Kimmer's bag... to the top floor restaurant and open-air forest, we are on a unique adventure, a wonderful emotional and intellectual exploration that sometimes involves all three of us, sometimes each of us as individuals, and sometimes various pairings. Sometimes Kimmer 'n I. Sometimes my cousin 'n I. Sometimes my cousin 'n Kimmer.
The museum provides an app that can help guide the experience as well as provide a way at some later time to read and learn more about the specific items that catch our imaginations when we're in the depot.
By the time we hit the roof six floors later, we're pretty hungry. I'm totally down for cookies in the restaurant to tide us over but my cousin makes a compelling argument for lunch at the Markthal, not that far away.
230 we're on our way away from the art depot, finding ourselves parked by the Markthal building.
We're here for lunch, obviously, but the interior of the building is an artistic meal of its own. The windows we see up either massive wall of art reflect condos, living spaces built into the long sides of the market.
And the windows built into the curved roof?
Well, I figure the room windows must, at some point up there, become skylights.
We're on a mission, however, so we have to see every food stand and restaurant first in order to know what we want.
Almost immediately we run across De Snoepkont - Rotterdam, a serious candy store featuring every kind of candy or chocolate a child could want that's bad for you.
My candy, of course, is obvious.
Noticing my interest, my cousin tells me a little history about this confection and then buys one for me. It's incredibly light because it's a large marshmallow covered in chocolate sitting on a thin layer of waffle cone.
The taste and texture of it is an absolute revelation. 🤔☺️❤️
Eventually, for lunch (not dessert) Kimmer settles on a wrap from a Greek place, my cousin 'n I settle on fish & chips from a fish place, only once we look at the menu we decide on kibbeling.
Kibbeling?
Yeah. A Dutch seafood recipe made from battered chunks of fish. It's usually served with a mayonnaise-based garlic sauce or tartar sauce. Salt to taste.
The reason I immediately change my order from traditional fish to kibbeling's that I remember the food truck in my grandmother's village once upon a time in my childhood and teenhood. I remember the fryers. I remember the oven top. I remember this was once a week. An event. A very big deal.
A few days ago I couldn't remember the word "kibbeling" when we were hanging out with my aunt who still lives in that village. But then here it is: on the back of a menu.
So I had to order it.
Just had to. 😊
Our conversation over lunch is unique because it's a personal conversation happening in the midst of people in constant motion. Diners. Shoppers. Employees. All around us all the time. Which, interestingly, creates a private bubble in which we find ourselves comparing the ways in which different generations manage what's happening in their lives. How they process what's happened. How they deal. It's part of my own ongoing curiosity for answers.
Answers?
Sure. My own experience informs me that trauma is rampant in human life.
So.
How do we respond to that trauma?
How does it change us?
How does it change the trajectory of our lives?
And are we aware of what that trauma is doing to us, has done to us, across years? Across decades?
Because the larger conversation here is that the original trauma of my family is World War II. The original trauma of my family is the Japanese occupation of my parent's homeland, their towns, their neighborhoods, their homes while they were still in their teens.
While they were still teenagers.
The original trauma of my family is that it was exposed to the ravages of war and aggressive occupation for years.
The original trauma of my family is that each of our parents on my mom's side, two sisters, two brothers, lost their dad in the war. Executed by the Japanese military.
So yeah. I have questions. Not that they can answered by anyone still alive today...
But I have questions.
Four o'clock my cousin drives us away from the Markthal on our way to cheese, the third item on our agenda we worked out on the road to Rotterdam.
Cheese.
The name of the store is Alexanderhoeve Kaas & Noten at which we arrive a few minutes later. It's a cheese and nuts store where, interestingly, we're looking for picnic foods that are free from nuts and nut cross-contamination.
Good luck with that, right?
Well...
Definitely no luck on the chocolate, the second item on our agenda. The chocolate here contains nuts or is subject to cross-contamination.
We do score a tiny bit of luck with the cheese we end up buying, though.
Gotta love that.
😊
On the road again, we make our way to my cousin's home where we join his wife who's taking care of their granddaughter for the day and who, upon our arrival, hooks each of us up with tea or coffee.
Their granddaughter's a sweetheart, of course. We couldn't help ourselves randomly engaging with her off and on because it's impossible not to. 😊
By the way, one of the cool things about both my cousin's homes is that there's a simple, modern aesthetic at play. Very Pinterest-worthy. Of special note in this home is a complex web of LED lights, points of lights really, that, at night when there's no other light in the room, appear as stars in the sky. Appear as a constellation hovering above the living room.
Later in our visit, my cousin's second oldest son shows up after taking their dog, a Labradoodle of smaller size, for a hair trim. The dog joins us in her characteristically friendly and calm manner as my cousin's son follows behind and you know what?
He.
Is.
TALL.
Like basketball player tall.
Like NBA tall.
What's sweet, though, is that he and his dad are playful like boys are. Only these are very large boys. Playful. Joking. Challenging. Sweet. They wear their relationship right out in the open. 😊
During our time here, we talk family, of course. We talk travel strategy for an upcoming trip my cousin, his sister, and their parents are taking in a coupla weeks. After that it's time for my cousin's granddaughter to go home. She can't drive, of course 😉, so the job falls to my cousin's wife and his son.
The NBA-sized one.
So we're on the road again after an hour-long visit, returning to his parent's home, my aunt and uncle. It's a short (ish) drive. They're only a half hour away.
Six o'clock, we're the first ones to my aunt and uncle's home. So I take the opportunity to photograph some of my aunt's circus and ski slope Christmas displays because, as my cousin pointed out earlier in the day regarding the times I visited family before, I take pictures of everything.
Moving on from Christmas themed decor, there's a family photo collage that was either given to my aunt and uncle or made by my aunt or my uncle. There's a lot of photos I haven't seen here before so I capture them with the intent of asking about them later when I'm back in the states.
And the two photos hanging by the front door?
I capture those just for fun. My cousin's sister and her husband look adorable the day they were married.
And they still do. ☺️
Now it's time for dinner and, if I haven't mentioned it already, these dinners are all home-cooked dutch or Indonesian fare. Sometimes a little of both.
Tonight's straight-up Dutch featuring seasoned mashed potatoes mixed with chopped vegetables, sauerkraut with sliced kielbasa, sausages, and meatballs in sauce.
Around the table are my aunt, my cousin, his sister and her daughter, plus Kimmer 'n I.
Toward the end of dinner, my cousin (our tour guide for the day) gets up to leave because his work team might have to pull an overnighter. So I walk with him down to his car.
Why?
Sure there's stuff to talk about, discuss. Always that. But in this case there's another reason. Given his schedule, you see, I might not see him before we leave Sunday. So I'm inclined to draw out this last moment as long as I possibly can without necessarily saying goodbye. Don't wanna jinx anything in case there's a chance we will see him before we leave.
At his car, we catch his sister's husband drive up and park. Hello's all around and he's on his way to dinner.
By 'n by, I make my way back inside. Everyone's pretty much finished their meals and my sister's husband's well into finishing his own.
Since he's at the table anyway, his daughter volunteers him to join her, her mom, Kimmer, and myself for a round or two of Friends trivia.
He reluctantly agrees and, even though he's a super Friends fan and his daughter's a super Friends fan and Kimmer 'n I are run-of-the-mill Friends fans who brag that we saw the series back when it first aired... yeah. Regardless of all that advantage the game does not go super well.
For some reason, none of us can answer the questions. Maybe one or two... but this gets embarrassing real quick. So we stop the game and switch over to Potter trivia.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but these games belong to my niece.
So why is she playing them with us?
I'm not sure about the Friends game, but definitely she's the only one among her friends who likes and has seen the Harry Potter movies or read the Harry Potter books.
She's the only one of them who can play the game.
So the moment she discovers we're fans of the franchise she's like yeah.
We're playin' this. 😉
This second time around we're killin' it. We're keeping score from the very first round unlike the night before when we were just warming up until we decided to keep score. Even my cousin who slaughtered Hermione's name that night in all the possible ways there are to slaughter that name in two different languages...
Even my cousin killed it the second night.
"HERRRMIIIIINEE" she would declare with specific emphasis and confidence each time the name came up.
Of course.
Because no lie. We gave her a wicked bad time each and every time she mangled the name. 🤣🤣🤣
In the end, Kimmer won huuuuge with seventeen cards to Jordan's twelve to my eight.
Woulda been nine but no one at the table would accept "deer" in the place of "doe".
Yeah.
I got robbed. 😑
Anyway, it was another full-throttle evening. Food, games, conversation, often all at the same time. Kimmer 'n I were pretty wiped out by the time we hit our hotel room quarter after 11. And while there are, in fact, 24 and only 24 hours in each day, our hours from noon to midnight are dense. They're wall-to-wall relational across every day of the week. They're relentlessly welcome conversations. And we are fully, personally engaged.
It's lovely, though, to be in bed. And, after a bit of marveling at our day and setting an early alarm...
We nod off to sleep.
☺️
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Groundbreaking Union: Spanish Artist Alicia Framis to Wed AI-Generated Hologram in World-First Ceremony
In an unprecedented move, acclaimed Spanish performing artist Alicia Framis is preparing to tie the knot with a hologram created by artificial intelligence (AI). Yes, you read that correctly! Ms. Framis is poised to become the first woman ever to marry an AI-generated hologram, a digital entity crafted through holographic technology and machine learning. The unique ceremony is scheduled to take place later this year at a museum in Rotterdam, as reported by Euronews.
Framis has named her prospective holographic spouse AILex, describing him as a “middle-aged male hologram with slightly complex logistics.” This unconventional marriage is not rooted in romantic inclinations but is a pivotal aspect of Framis’ latest artistic endeavor, the ‘Hybrid Couple’ project. Through this initiative, she aims to explore the boundaries of love, intimacy, and identity in the era of AI.
In a statement on her website, Framis expressed her motivation, stating, “AI is still closely linked to science and lacks poetry, art, and warmth.” She envisions an artistic documentary that delves into various aspects, encompassing drawings, interviews with women, sketches exploring bodies, arms, romantic dreams, and the daily life of her holographic partner.
Framis is actively involved in designing her wedding dress and selecting the attire for attendees at the unique ceremony, slated for this summer on the roof of the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
Through her Instagram account, Framis shares videos and photographs featuring herself and AILex. She believes that love and relationships with holograms and robots are an inevitable reality, presenting these entities as companions capable of expressing empathy. According to Framis, this new form of companionship can be particularly beneficial for individuals seeking solace, citing a personal example of a widow finding comfort in AI and human companionship.
Framis foresees a new era of love emerging, where humans will form relationships with holograms, avatars, and robots. Drawing an analogy to language learning platforms, she predicts that practicing relationships with these entities will become a norm. Whether welcomed or not, Framis believes this trend marks the dawn of a new generation of love, where unconventional unions are explored and accepted.
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Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is een museum voor beeldende kunst, gelegen aan het Museumpark in de stad Rotterdam. Het museum bezit creaties op het gebied van beeldende kunst, toegepaste kunst en design. De collectie tekeningen is een van de belangrijkste ter wereld. Boijmans Van Beuningen biedt een overzicht van Nederlandse en Europese kunst, van de vroege middeleeuwen tot in de 21e eeuw. Tot de collectie behoren onder andere de schilderijen 'De kleine toren van Babel' uit 1563 van Bruegel, 'De drie Maria's' van Jan van Eyck, en 'Titus aan de lezenaar' van Rembrandt, maar ook de 'Lippenbank' van Salvador Dalí. De instelling behoort tot de top van de Nederlandse kunstmusea.
Het museumgebouw uit 1935, ontworpen in traditionalistische jarendertigarchitectuur, omvat naast tentoonstellingszalen een prentenkabinet en een bibliotheek.
Het museum ging in 2019 dicht voor een ingrijpende verbouwing. Het Depot Boijmans van Beuningen is sinds 2021 voor het publiek toegankelijk.
Het museum ontstond dankzij het legaat van de verzamelaar Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans (1767-1847) aan de stad Rotterdam in 1841. De schilderijen en andere kunstvoorwerpen werden ondergebracht op de eerste verdieping van het historische Schielandshuis. In 1849 werd in Het Schielandshuis het Museum Boijmans geopend.
Bij een brand op 15 februari 1864 ging een groot deel van de collectie verloren, waaronder 293 van de 480 schilderijen en 700 tekeningen, een kwart van de tekeningen. Dertien van de 31 mappen met tekeningen van Nederlandse kunstenaars verdwenen, de kunstenaars met initialen C tot S bleven behouden. De bibliotheek, prentenkabinet, een verzameling tekeningen van oud-Italiaanse meesters en de porselein-verzameling gingen in zijn geheel verloren. Het redden werd bemoeilijkt doordat het water in de gracht bevroren was en de sleutel van de kunstopslag onvindbaar was.
Na uitkering van de verzekeringspremie werden nieuwe aankopen gedaan waaronder voor de tekeningencollectie 'Christus aan het kruis' van Peter Paul Rubens. Ook door schenkingen werd de collectie daarna weer gestaag aangevuld. Een erfenis van de Rotterdamse kunstverzamelaar Dirk Vis Blokhuyzen in 1869 met onder meer De kantwerkster van Vermeer werd vanwege kostenoogpunt echter afgewezen.
Adriaan Jacob Domela Nieuwenhuis schonk in 1923 zijn kunstcollectie, die voor een belangrijk deel uit grafische kunst bestond, aan het museum. In 1935 werd het Van der Steurgebouw betrokken, ontworpen door de stadsarchitect Ad van der Steur. Van der Steur en de toenmalige museumdirecteur Dirk Hannema hadden één ideaal: het nieuwe museumgebouw moest een plek zijn waar je naartoe ging om van kunst te genieten. Geen overvolle wanden en slecht licht zoals in het 17e-eeuwse Schielandshuis, maar een modern gebouw dat geheel was toegerust voor zijn taak.
Een zwarte bladzijde in de geschiedenis van het museum was de aankoop van een valse Vermeer. Han van Meegeren verkocht in 1937 aan het museum, de "pas ontdekte" Emmausgangers van Vermeer. Maar het was geen echte Johannes Vermeer maar een echte Van Meegeren, geschilderd in de stijl van Vermeer zo bleek later. Van Meegeren had veel vooraanstaande kunstkenners, inclusief Boijmans Van Beuningen directeur Dirk Hannema, om de tuin geleid.
In 1958 verwierf het museum de collectie van havenbaron D.G. van Beuningen. Dat was zo’n mijlpaal dat de naam van het museum werd veranderd in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Ook aan andere particuliere verzamelaars heeft het museum veel te danken Hun gevariëerde belangstelling legde de basis voor de verscheidenheid van de collectie. En dankzij hun gedrevenheid bezit het museum nu als enige in Nederland schilderijen van Van Eyck, Titiaan, Jheronimus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel de Oude en Dalí. In de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw werden de eigen aankopen van het museum steeds talrijker, maar nog altijd profiteert het museum van de generositeit van verzamelaars. Zo verwierf het museum in 1981 dankzij het echtpaar Van Beuningen-de Vriese een omvangrijke verzameling pre-industriële gebruiksvoorwerpen.
Adriaan Jacob Domela Nieuwenhuis schonk in 1923 zijn kunstcollectie, die voor een belangrijk deel uit grafische kunst bestond, aan het museum. In 1935 werd het Van der Steurgebouw betrokken, ontworpen door de stadsarchitect Ad van der Steur. Van der Steur en de toenmalige museumdirecteur Dirk Hannema hadden één ideaal: het nieuwe museumgebouw moest een plek zijn waar je naartoe ging om van kunst te genieten. Geen overvolle wanden en slecht licht zoals in het 17e-eeuwse Schielandshuis, maar een modern gebouw dat geheel was toegerust voor zijn taak.
Een zwarte bladzijde in de geschiedenis van het museum was de aankoop van een valse Vermeer. Han van Meegeren verkocht in 1937 aan het museum, de "pas ontdekte" Emmausgangers van Vermeer. Maar het was geen echte Johannes Vermeer maar een echte Van Meegeren, geschilderd in de stijl van Vermeer zo bleek later. Van Meegeren had veel vooraanstaande kunstkenners, inclusief Boijmans Van Beuningen directeur Dirk Hannema, om de tuin geleid.
In 1958 verwierf het museum de collectie van havenbaron D.G. van Beuningen. Dat was zo’n mijlpaal dat de naam van het museum werd veranderd in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Ook aan andere particuliere verzamelaars heeft het museum veel te danken Hun gevariëerde belangstelling legde de basis voor de verscheidenheid van de collectie. En dankzij hun gedrevenheid bezit het museum nu als enige in Nederland schilderijen van Van Eyck, Titiaan, Jheronimus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel de Oude en Dalí. In de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw werden de eigen aankopen van het museum steeds talrijker, maar nog altijd profiteert het museum van de generositeit van verzamelaars. Zo verwierf het museum in 1981 dankzij het echtpaar Van Beuningen-de Vriese een omvangrijke verzameling pre-industriële gebruiksvoorwerpen.
In 2004 werd een groot deel van de Koenigscollectie, die in de Tweede Wereldoorlog was verdwenen, aan het museum teruggegeven. In 2005 werd Stichting H+F Mecenaat opgericht; een samenwerkingsverband van Han Nefkens met Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Het H+F Mecenaat stelt zich ten doel op een internationaal niveau hedendaagse kunst en kunstenaars te stimuleren en onder de aandacht te brengen van een nieuw publiek. Met behulp van het H+F Mecenaat zijn verschillende aanwinsten mogelijk gemaakt, zoals de installatie "Laat je haar neer" van Pipilotti Rist en de installatie "Notion Motion" van de Deen Olafur Eliasson.
Op 20 april 2012 ontving het museum een particuliere schenking met een waarde van 30 miljoen euro. De Rotterdamse galeriehouder en kunstverzamelaar Hans Sonnenberg schonk 15 kunstwerken uit zijn privéverzameling met werken van onder meer Constant Nieuwenhuijs, David Hockney en Jean-Michel Basquiat.
gemeenteraad in met de wijziging van het bestemmingsplan in het Museumpark, waardoor plannen voor een bijzonder kunstdepot gerealiseerd konden gaan worden, Depot Boijmans van Beuningen. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is ontworpen door architect Winy Maas en moet na voltooiing geheel openbaar toegankelijk zijn. Er zullen 70.000 werken te zien zijn, op een totale oppervlakte van ongeveer 15.000 m2.
Op zondag 26 mei 2019 sloot de toegangspoort van Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen voor een verbouwing. In deze transitieperiode loopt het programma door en blijft de collectie zichtbaar bij buurmusea, het Erasmus MC en in Rotterdamse schoolklassen. Ook reizen topstukken naar musea over de hele wereld. Vanaf 2021 is de hele collectie te zien in het Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen.
In november 2019 werden enkele oudere kunstvoorwerpen uit de collectie in beslag genomen, omdat deze van diefstal afkomstig zouden zijn.
Zomer 2021 werd bekend dat Robbrecht & Daem, de architecten van de nieuwbouwvleugel uit 2003, het museum zou gaan dagvaarden. De Rotterdamse wethouder Bas Kurvers had namelijk een brief naar de gemeenteraad gestuurd dat de vleugel gesloopt zou worden ten behoeve van de renovatieplannen. Volgens de architecten heeft het museum te weinig aannemelijk gemaakt waarom de door hen ontworpen vleugel gesloopt moet worden.
Foto's en Informatie komen van wikipedia.
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