"We cannot allow a cultural recession"
UK visitor attraction body ALVA urges political parties to take action to shore up sector
Hello.
It’s general election year in the UK (probably). We don’t know exactly when it will be —the Chancellor hinted this week at October — but speculation over the date is as rife as to which planet the Princess of Wales has been taken to.
Perhaps sensing that the noise around the election is likely to be at fever pitch as soon as polling day is called, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has got ahead of the game by already issuing their manifesto demands for the UK’s political parties.
They’re all aimed at urging action to support a faltering tourism and cultural attraction sector. So in this week’s 250 Take below, ALVA’s Director Bernard Donoghue OBE sets out their most pressing asks.
My Big Interview today is with Milou Halbesma, Director of Amsterdam’s Rembrandt House Museum. The fascinating museum dedicated to the Dutch Master has just marked one year since it reopened after a big revamp, and it’s also just opened a new first-of-its-kind exhibition on the artist’s connection to theatre. Our wide ranging chat takes in everything from tourists to tattoos.
And in my Hot List, I offer you cultural inspiration, including major retrospectives of Enzo Mari and Käthe Kollwitz.
Let’s dive in!
— maxwell
The 250 Take
This week in my opinion column from guest writers, the Director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) Bernard Donoghue sets out — in 250 words — his organisation’s demands of the UK’s political parties ahead of this year’s general election.
💬 In election year, the UK’s political parties should pledge to halt a cultural recession
“This week we published our members’ visitor figures for 2023; they always get a lot of media coverage as they are a barometer of the strength and recovery of UK tourism. On average they were 19% higher than in 2022 but are still 11% lower than pre-pandemic levels. My media interviews gave me an opportunity to highlight our asks of all political parties.
ALVA isn’t a charity, and we don’t receive public funding, so we are more free than our members in identifying policy failures and calling for action. Our asks are based on three principles:
to strengthen and sustain the visitor economy and to make the UK more internationally competitive and attractive
to protect and strengthen the arts, culture and heritage sectors, making them, their collections and work as accessible as possible
to ensure that nature and the environment are protected and healthy, support biodiversity, and reduce our impact on the climate
And in pursuing these things, we ask parties ensure that those who work in our sector, in whatever role, paid or volunteer, are respected for who they are, adequately rewarded, supported with training, and valued for their role in creating the backdrops for people's happiest memories.
Having won, with others, permanent tax relief for museums, orchestras and theatres in the Budget three weeks ago, our immediate concern now is the collapse of the local authority funding model and its implications for civic collections, the sustainability of organisations, and access to arts and culture. We cannot allow a cultural recession to occur.”
— Bernard Donoghue has been Director of ALVA since September 2011. Read my 2023 interview with Bernard here.
The Big Interview
Exactly a year ago, Rembrandt’s Amsterdam house was revitalised.
The three-storey studio-home of the Dutch master — built in 1606 and opened as a museum in 1911 — was where he lived and worked for close to 20 years. He moved in as one of the most successful painters, art teachers and art dealers in the Netherlands, yet he moved out bankrupt.
The four-month closure of the Rembrandt House Museum saw the public space expand, in part to allow them to create galleries to host more ambitious exhibitions, such as their just-opened one on Rembrandt and the Amsterdam theatre scene. It’s a first-of-it’s-kind look at how Rembrandt added DRAMA to his painted scenes.
So to mark the one year anniversary of their revamp, and to celebrate the new show, this week’s interview is with Director Milou Halbesma, who has led the institution since April 2022. In our wide ranging chat we discuss how to tell the story of an artist without their paintings; why they hosted a pop-up tattoo parlour; and the big question in town: does Amsterdam have too many tourists?
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Hi Milou! So firstly, congratulations on the one-year anniversary since reopening after renovation. How has the past 12 months been?
Thank you, we are very happy with the renewed Rembrandt House Museum!
We repositioned ourselves as the only place in the world where you can experience how Rembrandt once lived and worked during his most productive and successful twenty years of his life. In the homely setting of the museum on the Jodenbreestraat, in the heart of Amsterdam, you meet the man behind his art.
Since the reopening, we’ve received over 250,000 visitors, including many from the UK. In fact we’ve seen an increase in the number of visitors from Britain — the English audience is one of the fastest growing visitor groups.
Visitors can be inspired by the artist, his family, his pupils, his craftsmanship, his city and his time. I am proud to say that you can’t get any closer to Rembrandt, than this.
I recommend the ideal visit to the city of Amsterdam, to start with a visit at the Rembrandthouse, and then continue walk to the nearby Rijksmuseum where you can see the masterpieces he created in his world-famous atelier at our Rembrandthouse. This is your gateway to understand and enjoy the highlights of Amsterdam in the 17the century.
Tell me a little about the work you had done to expand the museum.
This house, which was built in the same year Rembrandt was born — 1606 — was renovated last year. We increased the visitor area by 30% including by opening former staff rooms to visitors. For example, the attic of the old house has become the Epilogue Room, where we tell Rembrandt's story after he had to leave the house due to his bankruptcy.
The renovated museum offers five new museum spaces, more programming and a new, free multimedia tour in 13 languages. Using an interactive multimedia tour, visitors can follow Rembrandt's life story during a visit.
We are now also able to offer more permanent demonstrations of etching and paint preparation, where visitors can experience daily free demonstrations on Rembrandt's etching techniques and paint preparation.
Also, we invested to become a more accessible and inclusive museum, which was a real challenge in a house built in the 17th century with a lot of small stairs and the many traditional Dutch small spaces. A lot of work has been done to increase accessibility for people with visual impairments, with both an audio mural and a tactile cross-section of the house now available.
Feeling and smelling stations have also been installed in a number of rooms where visitors can feel objects and smell 17th-century scents.
Is it a challenge — or an opportunity — that the museum doesn't have any actual Rembrandt paintings on show or in your collection?
The Rembrandt House has the biggest collection of Rembrandt prints and etchings in the world. Not only Rembrandt’s prints, but also his famous pupils like Govert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol and Nicolaas Maes. They all were students of Rembrandt in this house.
Every contemporary artist nowadays has to relate to Rembrandt. That is why we invite contemporary artists to work in our museum in our Open Studio space, and visitors can meet these artists at work. It’s a much-loved concept of this museum.
And we do show paintings. One of my personal highlights is our series of loans from prestigious museums and collections, called the Slow Looking. At the reopening last year we showed one of the best: the painting of Rembrandt’s son Titus. This painting was made at the atelier in our museum, and was back at the house again after 400 years. It was a very emotional moment to all of us. It was a loan form the Boijmans Museum.
Slow Looking is centered on a ‘concentration booth’ where visitors can focus on one of Rembrandt’s masterpieces, and where we tell the story of a painting in an art-historical way, about the psychology of the scene, and it’s possible to meditate here, accompanied by white noise.
Why an exhibition on Rembrandt and theatre?
Rembrandt was a masterful storyteller. But instead of words, he told his stories in pictures. He carefully ‘directed’ his characters, using tricks from the world of theatre.
Directed by Rembrandt showcases the close connection between Rembrandt’s art and Amsterdam’s theatre scene. It is the first exhibition to portray Rembrandt as a director, a very relevant theme in these current days of visual culture and storytelling via social media.
The popularity of the exhibition at the moment proves the relevance of this new approach for all ages of visitor. And the Oscar won last week by Dutch cameraman Hoyte van Hoytema for his amazing cinematography for the movie Oppenheimer, makes this subject even more relevant and popular.
What new insights into the artist will visitors learn in this new exhibition?
The exhibition takes visitors into the ‘producer’s office’ and explores the ways in which Rembrandt ‘directed’ his compositions. Rembrandt was keenly aware that selecting the right dramatic moment from a story was key to a painting’s success.
Painters often chose a turning point in a story — a concept known in theatre terms as ‘peripeteia’. This is the decisive moment when characters gain a profound insight, often prompted by a sudden event. Many artists imbued their paintings with drama by depicting a character’s emotional outburst after this turning point.
Rembrandt, however, preferred to depict the preceding moment — just before the climax. This approach draws the viewer into the moment, creating a sense of empathy and emotional engagement. A fantastic example of this is his painting of Susanna, on loan from The Mauritshuis in the Hague. Rembrandt depicts a nude Susanna, stepping into the pool for a bath, when she suddenly realizes she is being spied on by two men with unwholesome intentions.
The museum made international headlines last summer for hosting a pop-up tattoo parlour. Why?
We are keen to be the stage for world-famous craftsmanship in our Open Studio space. That’s why we collaborated for a week with tattoo masters Veldhoen & Schiffmacher, who are local heroes in Amsterdam and big fans and connoisseurs of Rembrandt.
For one week, in our tattoo ‘pop up store’ people could acquire a Rembrandt of their own — a Rembrandt etch tattooed on their own skin.
A lot of fans of Veldhoen & Schiffmacher visited the museum for the first time, they learned about Rembrandt and his etching techniques, and they left with a real tattoo.
That’s why we named it The Poor Man’s Project, every person could purchase a Rembrandt at the Rembrandt House.
Amsterdam is now actively trying to combat overtourism. Does the city have too many tourists?
Amsterdam is combatting overtourism in certain areas and of certain groups of tourist, such as stag parties, and visitors to the Red Light District and the coffeeshops. But Amsterdam is also looking for the return of the culture-loving tourist.
Many museums in Amsterdam are dependent on these international visitors, who didn’t return to our city in the same number as before the pandemic.
So the museums here are finding it a challenge right now to stay financially stable, and to target and reach their audiences. The Rembrandt House Museum’s visitors are about 80% international, so we are really keen on the return of the culturally interested visitor to Amsterdam.
And of course, museums are struggling due to rising prices, inflation and struggling economies. Is that the same for the Rembrandt House?
Yes, we are a huge success nationally and internationally, and yet we are still struggling daily to pay our bills, like the majority of museums at the moment.
Our main source of income is ticket sales, merchandise, special events like exclusive after hours dinners, workshops and guided tours and fundraising.
Finally, what else do you have coming up at the museum in the next year?
This summer we’ll have a great exhibition on Rembrandt and his view on the rest of the world beyond the Netherlands, our Open Studio residency is back in the Autumn with contemporary artists at work inside the museum.
And looking to next year we have an exhibition dedicated to one of Rembrandt’s most talented pupils, Samuel van Hoogstraten, which is in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
— Directed by Rembrandt runs until 26 May 2024
The Hot List
My curated round-up of what’s new to see, do, watch, read and more. From the UK — and around the world.
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EXHIBITION
1️⃣ Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Francesca Giacomelli | the Design Museum, London
The first ever UK museum exhibition for the giant of Italian design. Mari’s 60-year career is explored in over 300 objects spanning the spheres of art, design, exhibition and graphic design.
opens 29 March — until 08 September 2024 | find out more here
SCULPTURE
2️⃣ Sculpture in the Park | Compton Verney, Warwickshire
A major new sculpture park opens in the 120 acre grounds of the 18th-century country mansion. Eight modern and contemporary artists feature, including big names Sarah Lucas, Louise Borgeouis and Helen Chadwick.
opens 21 March | find out more
EXHIBITION
3️⃣ Before and After Coal: Images and Voices from Scotland’s mining communities | National Galleries Scotland: Portrait, Edinburgh
Marking 40 years since 1984’s Miners’ Strike this show explores the history and lasting impact of coal, through photographs and voices from Scottish mining communities. Stories focus on themes of family, community spirit, work and place.
opens 23 March — until 15 Sep 2024 \ find out more
EXHIBITION
4️⃣ Käthe Kollwitz | Museum of Modern Art, New York
This look at the German artist’s long career ranges from early engagement with the darker side of the Industrial Revolution to explorations of the human cost of war. 120 drawings, prints, and sculptures will be on show.
opens 31 March — until 20 July 2024 | find out more
FAMILY
5️⃣ The Lindt GOLD BUNNY Hunt | Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
The much-loved event is back this Easter in the grounds of Henry VIII’s lush gardens. Follow the trail to find the Lindt GOLD BUNNY statues, and learn about the Palace’s long history along the way.
opens 23 March — until 14 April 2024 | discover more
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