Amsterdam Museum collects odes to women

Anyone can create an ode, adding to the city's story

The Amsterdam Museum is launching a digital platform on which anyone can share a story about a woman who has had an impact on Amsterdam. For centuries, women have been underrepresented in the city's story. The Amsterdam Museum thinks it is high time to change this and calls on everyone, from inside and outside Amsterdam, to create an ode to a woman who has made the capital what it is today. All odes - letters, videos, audio files, poems, photos and written texts - can be seen on the platform and will become part of the Amsterdam Museum's collection. The odes form a basis for, among other things, an exhibition opening on 14 December 2024, a book and a podcast series. In doing so, in the context of Amsterdam's 750th anniversary, the museum, together with communities in the city, is enriching the story of Amsterdam with special indispensable women.

The Amsterdam Museum's project Women of Amsterdam - an ode looking for stories about well-known and unknown women who have been significant to Amsterdam and its inhabitants, but whose stories have never been told. The museum wants to collect as many special stories about women from the past and present as possible to add to the story of the city. Anyone can make an ode to a woman, via a letter, photo, video, drawing, poem, sound recording or other form. The digital platform will present all the odes and give visitors a very different view of history than the one they have known so far. 

Judikje Kiers, director Amsterdam Museum: "Every time I open the platform I am touched. How valuable this is! I expect a snowball effect, because everyone has someone in their head who deserves an ode." 

Currently, over a hundred odes have already been submitted. For instance, singing teacher Annemarie Libbers voiced an ode to the first female conductor Frieda Belinfante (1904-1995), feminist Hedy d'Ancona wrote a letter expressing her admiration for her role model Joke Smit (1933-1981), writer Bart Temme wrote an ode to café owner Bet van Beeren (1902-1967), an anonymous author made a poem for "power woman" Ikram El Ouardi and Peter Kropveld promised Amsterdam's Annie Kropveld to tell her resilient story from World War II and does so by means of an ode. Well-known Amsterdam women such as Lize Korpershoek, Ellen Brudet and Imane Valk have also already made an ode.

Catherine Wolfs, content project manager at the Amsterdam Museum: ''With this project, we are bringing out stories about women that show that women are essential to this city and society. Both in the past but also in the present and future. Without women and all they did and are doing, Amsterdam would not be what it is today. So get involved too. Break through the male-dominated perspective and give women a place in the story of the city!''

Participate

In addition to all the odes that have been received, the platform also features tips & tricks for creating an ode and inspiring reading and listening tips. The Amsterdam Museum has also published a list of women about whom an ode could be written on the platform as inspiration. Participants write, poet, speak or film an ode to a woman of their choice. A few paragraphs or sentences is enough. A long epistle is also allowed. They can then upload their ode via the platform. Anyone who wants to tell a story about a woman can participate, even if that person is not a woman himself or herself. Submitting several odes is allowed. The ode may also be made in a language other than Dutch. For people who find it difficult to make an ode, the Amsterdam Museum organises special course afternoons throughout the city. 

Actively retrieving stories 

The museum is also actively moving into the city to collect stories about women. In 2020, the Amsterdam Museum started the project Women of New West. Together with partners, the museum collected stories of women who mean something to the borough through various meetings and workshops, resulting in small exhibitions in the museum and in New West itself. The project was followed up in the projects Women of North and Women of Southeast. Gonca Yalçıner, head of Education & Participation: ''We are now expanding to the whole city. It is important that we actively collect stories everywhere and in all the different districts of the city. Precisely to reach and involve the widest possible audience. The new story of Amsterdam belongs to everyone.''

Ode by Tammie Schoot to Aaïcha Bergamin

Activist Tammie Schoots made a beautiful ode to Aaïcha Bergamin. Aaïcha, a transgender woman working in the Red Light District in the 1950s, fought tooth and nail against the law that prohibited people from appearing "in the clothing of the opposite sex". Tammie is grateful to Aaïcha for fighting for the 1985 law change that allowed trans persons to officially change their gender marker. Tammie says in her ode: ''We have not forgotten you, and it is time to honour you. An ode to you, dear Aaïcha, that your life has not passed without meaning.''

Read here Tammie's ode to Aicha.

Ode from Henk Penseel to his mother

''Many odes are written for celebrities, whereas an ode to an 'ordinary Amsterdammer', my mother, would be more appropriate,'' writes Henk Penseel. He therefore made an ode to his mother Jacoba Penseel. A mother who was sociable, humorous, loving and hospitable. Her life story, written down concisely by her son, is now part of the story of Amsterdam. 

Read here Henk's ode to his mother Jacoba.  

Ode from ROOSLOON to Marlanda Coco.

No fewer than ten odes have already been submitted about Marlanda Coco. So is this one from ROOSLOON. ''Intelligent, gentle, full of enthusiasm and passion. A woman one can talk about with pride. It is a beautiful gift to have so many beautiful qualities. Therefore, you are also a piece of light that shines when one is in the dark. Grateful that you stand with open arms and embrace the world around you and share your knowledge.''

Marlanda is founder of Stichting Buurvrouwennetwerk Amsterdam Oost and works for emancipation and against discrimination. She is called a role model and 'the face of Oost' in the various odes. 

Read here The odes to Marlanda Coco.

Online platform 

All submitted odes will appear on the digital platform amsterdammuseum.nl/women. On the platform, visitors can read, listen to and watch the odes directly and thus learn about the diversity of women who have meant something to Amsterdam. Visitors can also submit their odes via the platform. The digital platform was developed by Bravoure. 

Exhibition

From Saturday 14 December 2024 to Sunday 31 August 2025, the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel hosts the exhibition Women of Amsterdam - an ode on show. The exhibition highlights the various stories of women who made the city what it is today through an object from the Amsterdam Museum collection, a personal object on loan or a contemporary work of art. Themes include entrepreneurship, art & culture, care, science and education, as well as women who contributed to the city and their surroundings through everyday activities. And women of today.

On display, for instance, will be the sound system of Amsterdam folk singer Tante Leen; an apron from the cleaning company MAS of owner Rahma El Mouden, who came to the Netherlands from Morocco in 1975, and was herself working as a cleaner at the time; and an outfit recently acquired by the Amsterdam Museum by Aynouk Tan, with which Tan speaks out on gender and identity. 

In addition, ten contemporary makers(duos) have been commissioned to reflect on the submitted odes with new work, or to create an ode themselves. For the exhibition, visual artist Mounira Al Solh (Beirut, 1978) makes an ode to the Ethiopian woman who took her in when she just came to Amsterdam in 2006. Sarah van Sonsbeeck (Utrecht, 1976) creates a light installation as an ode to Lau Mazirel, an Amsterdam lawyer and resistance fighter during World War II. In designing the exhibition, Studio L A pays tribute to six Amsterdam female designers and architects. References to their work in Amsterdam's public spaces form the basis of the exhibition design. The design also features illustrations by illustrator and visual artist Hedy Tjin (1985).

The Amsterdam Museum's permanent exhibition will also further highlight the role of women. 

Podcast and book

Besides an exhibition, a ten-part podcast series is also in the works: Women of Amsterdam - an ode. In each episode of about half an hour, Gonca Yalçıner and Catherine Wolfs of the Amsterdam Museum will talk to an ode-maker about a theme that emerges in that ode. Halfway through the episode, a person reflecting on the theme of the ode joins in, providing even more depth. From September 2024, the first episodes of the podcast can be listened to free of charge via various podcast platforms. 

All the odes submitted will be collected by theme in a book. This book will be published on the 750th anniversary of the city of Amsterdam on 27 October 2025. The book is the first major push to add to the city's story. 

The platform Women of Amsterdam - an ode can be visited at amsterdammuseum.nl/women. The exhibition Women of Amsterdam - an ode is on display at the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel from 14 December to 31 August.  Women of Amsterdam - an ode is made in collaboration with, among others: ADE, Amsterdam 750, Atria, Bravoure, Cafe Saarein, Closed on Monday, De Blijfgroep, De Zaak Muurbloem, Fixdit, Geheugen van Oost, Gemeente Amsterdam (Diversiteit & Inclusie department), Het geheugen van West, ICOM (CAMOC & COMCOL), Jeugdtheaterschool, Koninklijk Theater Carré, Museumnacht Amsterdam, Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA), Pakhuis de Zwijger, Public Art Amsterdam, ROC Amsterdam Zuid, ROSE stories, Soroptimist International, The Black Archives, Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Stichting van Gisteren, Stichting lezen, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and WBooks. The digital platform was developed by Bravoure. The campaign and the project's special visual identity were developed by Isabelle Vaverka & Hamid Sallali. The Amsterdam Museum is structurally supported by Gemeente Amsterdam, VriendenLoterij and ELJA Foundation. The project Women of Amsterdam - an ode was created with support from Cultuurloket DigitALL, Mondriaan Fund, Nederlands Letterenfonds and Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie.