In 2023, the Amsterdam Museum was visible physically and digitally in a variety of places, both at its locations on the Amstel and Huis Willet-Holthuysen and in the form of a multi-part documentary series, a new digital platform and programming with partners. The museum's exhibitions and public programmes attracted nearly 190,000 physical visitors at both locations, plus over 850,000 visitors on digital channels. The exhibition The Maasdamme Collection made a particularly strong impression, against the backdrop of the commemorative year around the history of slavery. Among others, this presentation was visited by outgoing Prime Minister Rutte and former State Secretary for Culture & Media Uslu.
Growing visitor numbers
Across the cultural sector, the effects of the corona pandemic are still being felt. Yet the Amsterdam Museum's visitor figures are encouraging. On the Amstel, the various exhibitions and presentations attracted nearly 138,000 visitors. Huis Willet-Holthuysen, part of the Amsterdam Museum, attracted almost 49,000 visitors. The museum also made 85 public programmes in 2023 and collaborated with almost 240 schools, welcoming around 10,000 schoolchildren. The Amsterdam Museum also grew digitally in 2023: the museum's website received over 850,000 visits and the museum's social media community grew by 14 per cent compared to 2022.
Successful programme on the Amstel
In 2023, the Amsterdam Museum spent a whole year in the building on the Amstel for the first time, as a temporary home during the renovation of the Civil Orphanage complex on Kalverstraat. Here, in addition to the permanent collection presentation Panorama Amsterdam, telling 450 years of city history, also including the exhibitions Collecting the City #3, Refresh Amsterdam #2: War & Conflict, The Maasdamme Collection and Continue This Thread to see.
Surprising exhibitions at House Willet-Holthuysen
Huis Willet-Holthuysen also hosted several exhibitions. From 4 June to 29 October 2023, here was ANOHNI - SHE SAW BEAUTIFUL THINGS on show, a collaboration with musician and artist ANOHNI, also associate artist of the Holland Festival in 2023. From 2 December, the historic mansion hosted the exhibition Grand March: A Historic House through a Ballroom Lens shown, a collaboration with ballroom house House of Vineyard.
Award-winning new visual identity
In November 2023, the Amsterdam Museum also launched a new website. The digital platform is the final piece of the revamped museum brand that the Amsterdam city museum introduced in 2022. This rebranding project, in collaboration with graphic designers Hamid Sallali and Isabelle Vaverka, was recently awarded a Red Dot Design Award. The new platform was developed in collaboration with leading digital agency Bravoure.
Renovation of Civic Orphanage
The Civic Orphanage, the museum's main location since 1975, is closed for renovation. Preparations for the new Amsterdam Museum are in full swing. Implementation is expected to start next year.
Launch of documentary series around renovation
The Amsterdam Museum and regional broadcaster NH have also joined forces to produce a 2023 edition of a 24-part series on Amsterdam's city museum. The occasion is the renovation of the Civic Orphanage. The series shows how the museum is developing in many ways as a city museum of the future during the years of renovation.
Launching Amsterdam Museum Journal
In October 2023, the Amsterdam Museum launched a new academic journal, Amsterdam Museum Journal (AMJournal), which is accessible to both researchers and a wider international audience. It is a new peer-reviewed journal, published twice a year on the Amsterdam Museum website. AMJournal contains contributions from different fields and in a variety of forms, such as essays, research articles and round-table discussions, always with the city as the central topic. AMJournal also publishes contributions from scholars at all stages of their research careers. Each edition has a different theme, such as 'War, Conflict, and the City' (edition 1; October 2023) or 'Deconstructing Gentrification' (edition 2; June 2024).
ELJA Children's museum lab
The multi-year cooperation project was launched in 2023 ELJA Children's museum lab. During the period 2023-2025, Amsterdam children at the Amsterdam Museum will have the chance to help think about the city museum of the future. The project consists of eight annual meetings in all city districts, exhibitions and a children's sounding board group and director. With this, Amsterdam's city museum aims to gain insight into what the ultimate museum for and by children looks like, especially in the march towards the city museum of the future. This multi-year project is co-sponsored by the ELJA Foundation.
Opening of bicycle shed
In late January 2023, Vivianne Heijnen, State Secretary of Infrastructure and Water Management, opened the Stationsplein bicycle parking facility at the front of Amsterdam CS. The bike shed is part of the completely renovated entrance area, the renewal of which started in 2018. It collaborated with the Amsterdam Museum to build the city maps of 'The Horizon' - which cover the entire right wall - from 'pixels' of photographs and paintings. These images show the connection between the city of Amsterdam and the water.
Visit of ministers
In 2023, the Amsterdam Museum had several members of government visiting. For instance, former prime minister Mark Rutte and Gunay Uslu, former state secretary for Culture and Media, visited the exhibition The Maasdamme Collection. Uslu visited the museum again later in the year at the opening of Refresh Amsterdam #2: War & Conflict. The museum was also visited by Silveria Jacobs, the prime minister of Sint Maarten.
Visible in public space
The Amsterdam Museum was also fully visible in public spaces in 2023. For instance, the construction fences around two of Amsterdam's busiest intersections, the Weteringcircuit and the Prins Hendrikkade, were covered with several masterpieces from the museum's collection. These displays are seen by almost 1 million passers-by every day. Large-scale campaigns were also carried out in bus shelters throughout the city to draw visitors' attention to all that the Amsterdam Museum has to offer.
Visible everywhere
'I think it's great to see that more and more Amsterdammers and young people are visiting our museum,' said Judikje Kiers, director of the Amsterdam Museum. 'We do our best to achieve this, including with our exhibitions, public programmes and the long-term project in which we give children a voice and build the children's museum of the future together. With our multifaceted activities, we are becoming increasingly visible, both physically and online. That inspires confidence for the future.'
Looking ahead to 2024
Numerous exhibitions and activities are also planned for 2024, both in the building on the Amstel and in Huis Willet-Holthuysen. At the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel, for instance, the fourth edition of Collecting the City #4 launched. Also, from 30 March, the event will commemorate The significance of merchant Piet van Eeghen for the history of Amsterdam and from May - as opposed to previously communicated - 400 years of union between Amsterdam and New York. Furthermore, on July 27 Faces of North Holland launched. In this collaboration with the Frans Hals Museum, the portrait collection will be expanded with contemporary faces from the province. Furthermore, with the project Women of Amsterdam: An Ode in 2024, the Amsterdam Museum is rewriting the city's history from a female perspective, in the run-up to Amsterdam's 750th anniversary.
Audience programming
Also in 2024, the Amsterdam Museum offers public programming at various locations and for diverse audiences. Some of these programmes tie in with the exhibitions mentioned above. Examples include symposia, talks, workshops, film screenings, performances and evening openings. In addition, specific programmes are organised to tie in with current events or special moments, such as Keti Koti and 4 and 5 May. In 2024, the Amsterdam Museum will also continue its monthly New Narrative Tours, Queer Gaze Tours and Female Gaze Tours, which invite visitors to view the collection from different perspectives. Furthermore, new formats for the public programme will be developed, including around music and food culture.
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
