Business trip: Amsterdam, Netherlands 3/4

Helsinki, 6 degrees




I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support. 

One of the main sights in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is, of course, the famous Anne Frank House. German-born Anne Frank (1929-45), as I'm sure all of you know, was a diarist and writer, as well as one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The Frank family moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933, the year the Nazis gained control over Germany. By May 1940, they were trapped in Amsterdam by the German occupation of the Netherlands. As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942 and the family went into hiding in some concealed rooms behind a bookcase in the building where Anne's father worked. After two years, the family was betrayed and transported to concentration camps. Anne Frank and her sister were eventually transferred to the camp where they died in February 1945.

Yksi Amsterdamin päänähtävyyksistä on tietysti Anne Frankin talo. Saksalaissyntyinen Anne Frank (1929-45), kuten varmaan tiedät, oli tunnettu päiväkirjan kirjoittaja ja juutalainen holokaustin uhri. Frankin perhe muutti Saksasta Amsterdamiin, Alankomaihin, vuonna 1933 kun natsit ottivat vallan Saksasta. Vuonna 1942 perhe joutui piiloutumaan natsien takia, ja perheen sijainti paljastui natseille vasta kaksi vuotta myöhemmin kun joku ilmiantoi piileskelijät. Anne Frank joutui siskonsa kanssa tämän seurauksena keskitysleirille Saksaan, jossa hän vuonna 1945 kuoli. 

I had heard prior to my visit to Amsterdam that the Anne Frank House is a very popular sight in Amsterdam so I should book the visit in advance. However, when I tried to do so, all the days of my stay in the city were fully booked and I didn't have time to queue for hours (I managed to see the queue though) due to #SoMeT15EU. This made my terribly sad since I had read the diary of Anne Frank as a young girl and it made a great impression on me. While she's in hiding, Anne decided to think of her diary as a friend, whom she named Kitty. Can you, therefore, imagine my surprise when I returned the last night of my stay in Amsterdam to my hotel, Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy, and noticed that a new exhibition "Your Dear Kitty" that partly told about Anne Frank has been opened during that specific day? Talk about meant to be!

Olin jo ennen lähtöni kuullut, että talo on hyvin suosittu paikallinen matkailijakohde, joten yritin varmistaa ja varata sisäänpääsyn netin kautta etukäteen. Kaikki maaliskuun päivät olivat kuitenkin jo loppuun varattuja ja koska olin työmatkalla #SoMeT15EU -tapahtumassa, en pystynyt jonottamaan sisäänpääsyä tuntikausia (näin kyllä jonon). Tämä seikka sai minut surulliseksi koska luin nuorempana Anne Frankin päiväkirjan ja se teki minuun suuren vaikutuksen. Kun Anne oli perheensä kanssa piilossa, hän kuvitteli päiväkirjansa olevan ystävä nimeltään Kitty, jotta kirjoittaminen olisi helpompaa ja luonnollisempaa. Voitko siis kuvitella miten yllättynyt olin kun palasin viimeisenä iltana hotellille (Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy) ja huomasin että uusi näyttely nimeltään "Your Dear Kitty", joka kertoi osittain Anne Frankista, oli avautunut samana päivänä? Ajattelin, että tässä on pakko olla kohtalo mukana pelissä!

"Your Dear Kitty" is an exhibition showcasing the artwork of two up-and-coming artists from Japan & the Netherlands, Erika Kobayashi & The Future. The exhibition "Your Dear Kitty", the book of memories, consists of an art & sound installation, video works and book-making performance resulting in a limited edition. The collaboration is based on Erika Kobayashi’s book Your Dear Kitty. The exhibition was set on the same floor as my hotel room, how cool is that? I was amazed when I saw signs of it leading me from the lift to the far end of the corridor and this amazing art room opened up in front of me! I don't know if I can express how astonished I was, it was like finding a treasure in the hotel. I did give extremely positive feedback to the hotel reception upon departure because it really felt like I had a personal Anne Frank experience despite the fact that I couldn't make it to her home museum.

"Your Dear Kitty" on kahden toimijan, japanilaisen Erika Kobayashin ja hollantilaisen The Futuren, yhteisnäyttely. Näyttely koostuu taide-, video- ja ääni-installaatioista ja perustuu Kobayashin "Your Dear Kitty" -kirjaan. Näyttely oli samassa kerroksessa kuin hotellihuoneeni! Olin ihmeissäni kun huomasin hissistä tullessani merkkejä näyttelyistä ja seurasin niitä käytävän päätyhuoneeseen, joka oli muutettu upeaksi näyttelytilaksi! En tiedä pystynkö sanoilla kuvailemaan miten iloisesti olin yllättynyt, tuntui kun olisin löytänyt aarteen hotellista. Annoin kyllä roppakaupalla positiivistä palautetta hotellin vastaanotolle lähtiessäni. Kiitos näyttelyn, minulle jäi tunne, että olin saanut kokea henkilökohtaisen Anne Frank -kokemuksen vaikka en päässytkään tällä kertaa kotimuseota katsomaan. 


What exhibition has lately inspired you? What do you look for in art exhibitions?

Mikä näyttely on viimeksi tehnyt sinuun vaikutuksen? Minkälaiset näyttelyt ovat makuusi?


What's your opinion?

  1. I am really amazed by everything! That you had that great exhibition on your hotel floor, amazing, indeed! I had a diary as a teenager and treated it like a friend, too, and name it Elgik.I am sure that you will go to Amsterdam again and will be able to go to the house! Last Sunday I went to an art museum - I love art and museums, so it was great. I am really glad that you had such a great stay in Amsterdam and that the hotel was so cool - as well as the pictures of the exhibition/installations that you showed!
    DenisesPlanet.com

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    1. Me too! How cool that you had a diary as younger, me too! I didn't name mine though, but that is amazing. What a story!

      xxx
      E

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  2. I found out I had a small amount of European-Jewish heritage in me very recently through a DNA ancestry test. Makes reading about the Holocaust feel a bit more personal, that very distant cousins of mine lived in hiding, suffered, and were murdered like it was nothing to their oppressors. I hear some members of the Frank family died shortly before the camp was liberated by Allied Troops

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    1. How did you make the test? How interesting!

      xxx
      E

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  3. wow this is so fascinating!!!!
    Have a lovely week
    Stay in touch
    xoxo

    P.s New post in my blog

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    1. I'm happy that you liked the blog post :) I hope you have a great week as well!

      xxx
      E

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  4. I read the diary when I was a child, I was shocked. But that's our history, we have to know it well. Great event and... great post and pics :)))

    xoxo
    www.bellezzefelici.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words Elena! I agree, we have to know our own history even though it's not always easy to hear about it.

      xxx
      E

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  5. oh I don't even remember the last exhibition I visited. I don't visit them very often, that's probably why I can't remember. but I had heard the name Anne Frank but didn't actually know who she was. so thanks to your post I Googled her and found out more. I think one day I want to read her diary. my grandmother is a former deportee. I know it's not exactly the same thing but reading about Anne Frank reminded me of her story.

    Maiken - Part of me

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    1. You really should, it's a very touching story and after all, she wrote it to share her experiences with somebody else. It would be interesting to learn more about your grandmother's experiences.

      xxx
      E

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@elisabeth.rundlof