Amsterdam Museum acquires artwork Aukje Dekker about first female mayor

The Amsterdam Museum has acquired the work Woman on top (2022) by artist Aukje Dekker. The work, which Dekker uses to highlight the fact that Femke Halsema is Amsterdam's first female mayor, was officially unveiled on Tuesday in Mayor Halsema's office at City Hall.

The work Woman on top (2022) by Aukje Dekker (visual artist, co-founder Sociëteit Sexyland) consists of many small strips of paper bearing the words 'I have to work harder'. Dekker pasted thousands of strips onto a large photo collage of mayoral portraits of Amsterdam. All of them men. She did this until the mayors completely disappeared behind the strips. No longer visible, but still there. 'I have to work harder' is a suggestive statement, which can stand for both the city's first female mayor: does she have to work harder than the men who preceded her? But it can also stand for a society moving faster and faster, or a self-critical look at one's own achievements. Woman on top is a time document of the city and the role of women in governance, but also of the performance society.

Aukje Dekker took a critical approach: "When I was commissioned to make a work for the mayor's room, I wanted to make a work about Femke Halsema; Being the city's first female mayor. Someone has to be the first and that's a tough task. I also noticed that in public opinion it was often about her accent or lips; external features that really have nothing to do with an administrative position and which I think happens more often with women in high positions. Woman on top is more than a booth. I was inspired by the series of mayoral portraits from the Amsterdam Museum's collection but also wanted to make a statement and give people something to think about."

Mayoral portraits

For her artwork Woman on top, Aukje Dekker drew inspiration from portraits of Amsterdam mayors after World War II from the Amsterdam Museum's collection. In the collage behind the words 'I have to work harder', she included portraits of Gijsbert van Hall, Ivo Samkalden, Feike de Boer, Schelto Patijn and Job Cohen, among others. Which are on display at City Hall. "Dekker's artwork deals with the topicality of this city while offering new perspectives on the past. Because since the early 20th century, women could stand for election, but Amsterdam only got a female mayor a century later. With our acquisition policy, we now focus strongly on metropolitan issues and new perspectives on the city. Gender equality is an important part of that," said Margriet Schavemaker, artistic director of the Amsterdam Museum.

Mayor Halsema

Dekker's work is a recent joint commission by the City of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Museum for Mayor Halsema's study. The work is included in the Amsterdam Museum's collection of more than 100,000 objects from and about the city of Amsterdam. The artwork was officially unveiled in the mayor's office on Tuesday 29 November.