Nightly live acts at this intimate, bohemian-vibe jazz bar hung with photos of iconic musicians.
Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 1017 PX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Website: https://jazz-cafe-alto.nl
Nightly live acts at this intimate, bohemian-vibe jazz bar hung with photos of iconic musicians.
Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 1017 PX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Website: https://jazz-cafe-alto.nl
A disco club and a venue for meetings and discussions of gay-sexuality and parties. The discussions range from legal issues to coming-out. An extensive schedule of events, click on their link if you want more info. (In Dutch and English.)
This big outdoor flea market is really a trip! Lots of clothes, crafts, art, electronics and miscellaneous junk. Some vendors are just cleaning out their attic, so there are bargains to be found.
Old gasworks buildings converted into shops, eateries, bars, workshops, plus park & festivals.
Formerly the Stock Exchange, now a performance hall and exhibition space of note for it’s Amsterdam School architecture, since it was designed by the style’s founder, Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856- 1934). Located right on the Damrak between Central Station and the Dam Square, you can’t miss it’s beautiful clock tower.
The Rembrandthuis Museum is where the famous painter established his own studios here in Amsterdam, and lived with his family from 1639 to 1658.
He eventually left after declaring bankruptcy, and the home has been restored with approximations of it’s original furnishings based on an inventory of his possessions from that time.
Most of the building is devoted to his daily life from the time, and is of course, filled with paintings and art.
Part two of the museum is the new museum wing, where you will find exhibition rooms. The museum shop, the entrance to the museum café, the auditorium and the Rembrandt Information Centre are also located in the new wing.
On the fifth floor is the Rembrandt Information Center, where you can research on DC-rom, in books and other publications. By appointment only.
Info:
Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, except Sundays and holidays when they open from 1 pm to 5 pm.
Admission is 7 euros for adults, children under age 6 are free, 6 to 15 1.50 euros.
Easily reached from the Waterlooplein or the Dam Square.
Eye Infection was easily the best exhibition I’ve seen at the Stedelijk Museum. As a longtime fan of R. Crumb and his wildly off the wall comics, characters and visuals, I happily devoured his original ink drawings on display at the museum. These included some of his earliest works as well as samples from his more popular creations, Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural and Zap Comics. Crumb’s work seduces you with volumptuous vixens, then grosses you out with obscene visions of carnage and violence, then he manages to lay some obtruse social commentary on top of it all. The amazing thing is it works, and you keep coming back for more!
But the real suprise for me, and definitely the centerpiece of the exhibition is the collection of 40 works by Peter Saul. I wasn’t familiar with his art, which spans the 60s to the 90s, but thanks to the awesome display of such excellent canvases, I’m now a big fan. Saul gets his message across in dramatic style, whether commenting on American materialism, American imperialism, or just the human condition. His bright, colorful comic expressions hit you hard on many levels simultaneously. Some, like Saul’s version of the Mona Lisa are irreverent and zany, others like his anti-war paintings are vivid political statements. You can’t help but be moved by Saul’s work. And it seems the artist was gracious enough to include many of his best works from his private collection. A real joy to experience!
Another exhibit, Pay for your Pleasure by Mike Kelley contains 42 lifesize paintings and quotations of poets, philosophers and criminals. The quotes are not the famous ones you expect, but unusual descriptions of the creative or criminal mind. This traveling exhibit adds a self-portrait of a local criminal which then becomes part of the show when it moves on. The 56- year-old Dutchman Jan-Willem van E., who has spent 28 years in prison, was chosen to succeed the American serial-killer John Wayne Gacy.
The last two exhibits are works by Jim Nutt and H.C. Westerman with an American theme. These are fascinating in their own right, but somewhat overshadowed by the other works on display.
This exhibition was in the year 2002.
This tour was highly recommended in BOOM magazine. Randy is a pretty cool guy! This tour focused on the humorous and contemporary stories of the red light district. He kept us entertained by showing us where Quentin Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction. Eminem and Mike Tyson’s favorite coffeshop. We even saw the club with the darkroom floor that Jean Paul Gaultier passed out on (and woke up stuck to)!
We saw a lot of window prostitutes and learned about X-rated bookshops, live sex shows, magic mushrooms and smart shops. Warning: there was also some Amsterdam history on the tour.We had a lot of laughs and came away with a better understanding of not only the red light district but also the Dutch culture. Highly recommended!
Info:
The meeting point is in front of the Victoria Hotel across from Central Station at 8pm, and 10pm on Fridays & Saturdays.(Damrak and Prins Hendrik-kade). It lasts 90 minutes.
Resevations are recommended!
The Jordaan was build at the large expansion of Amsterdam in early 17th century, as a district for the working class and emigrants. The population increase during the next centuries was enormously, caused by the stream political refugees like protestant Fleming, Spanish and Portuguese Jews and French Huguenots who mainly settled in the Jordaan. It was a poor district with small houses and slums, every little room stuffed with families and lots of children. The entire area was one ghetto with open sewers, canals served for both transport and sewer, and no running water. Around 1900 there lived about 80 thousand people, nowadays about 20 thousand.