Greetings from Amsterdam! Today was a bittersweet one for me. On one hand, it was our last day in the relaxing city but on the other, we were able to explore world class art in the Rijksmuseum and gain a new perspective on the Holocaust at the Dutch Resistance Museum before being turned loose to explore the city for the remainder of the day.
Our day began at 8:45 AM with a stroll to the Rijksmuseum. (One of the wonderful things about our hotel is that it is located in the Museum District so we were just a short walk from stunningly famous and historical art, buildings, and most obviously, museums!) From the outside, the Rijksmuseum resembles a palace. It is covered in brick and inlayed artwork such as mosaics and intricate stained glasswork. Once inside, the appearance is more modern – it looks like a palace turned art gallery, oddly enough!
Before we arrived at the Museum, Dr. Pitts and Lowell challenged everyone in the group to find hidden sexuality and look deeply for signs of LGBTQ people in the various forms of artwork in the museum. We found sexuality on bowls, in paintings, and in sculptures large and small. One of the very large Rembrandt paintings, The Treaty of Munster, gained our attention and let it suffice to say that the negotiations may not have been all business!
In the very front of the painting, you find two men, judging by the looks on their faces and the fact that one of the two has his hand placed gently over his heart, they seem to be discussing something personal. In the background of the painting there is also a man with a limp wrist which, traditionally suggests homosexuality, although we cannot be sure of the context in the time period. This was just one of many examples found within the walls of the gorgeous museum.
For lunch, my group dined at a small cafe about a block from the Rijksmuseum where we enjoyed round steak, sandwiches, crepes, and of course pommes frite (which are Dutch french fries essentially). European dining is quite a different experience than American. For one thing, if you are dining in a large group, the waitstaff detests splitting bills and they do not hide their annoyance. Another thing is that restaurants often do not accept cards, only Euros – we found that out the hard way on the first day!
After lunch we reconvened at the hotel to walk together to the tram stop towards the Dutch Resistance Museum. One interesting thing about the tram is that you scan your pass on the way onto the tram as well as when you are leaving the tram. That, and I find it odd to see a train and a regular car driving on the very same streets.
After the tram ride and a short walk, we arrived at the Dutch resistance museum which is located just across the street from the Amsterdam Zoo. The Amsterdam Zoo is also the site of a major historical event yet there wasn’t a plaque nor a mention of the event. The current location of the Amsterdam Zoo used to be a site of record keeping during World War II and it was bombed by a group of 12 people, one of which was Willem Arondeus. Willem Arondeus was an openly gay artist who helped the resistance by making fake ID papers for people in risk of being taken to concentration camps. He, along with 11 other people, bombed the city records and saved thousands of people from persecution and possibly even death.
Diagonally across the street the Dutch Resistance Museum was located. The museum was extremely interactive and creatively set up. We began the tour with a short video chronicling three common reactions to the Nazi occupation of Holland: resistance, collaboration, or adaptation. The video gave a sense of an answer to the looming question when one studies the Holocaust and wonders how someone could go along with such a thing.
As the group split up to explore the museum we found videos, artifacts, and stories of resistance and valiant efforts. I think it is important to mention that one must take the museum with a grain of salt as it was created by the Dutch as a remembrance of their positive actions in the war and it often ignores the collaborators while celebrating the radical resistors.
Once we had explored the Dutch Resistance Museum for a while, the group was allowed to explore the city in the area or head towards ‘home’ in the Museum District to recover from the day. Personally, I chose to freshen up and was planning to explore a bit more but my plans were ruined by an impromptu nap!
My wonderful roommates awoke me to go to dinner. We went to a homemade pasta place called ‘Pasta Pasta!’ Where they had pasta dishes from several different cultures as well as a killer tiramisu!
Amsterdam has been beautiful, wonderful, and educational. One thing that I’ve really taken away from the Amsterdam portion of the trip is looking at museums with a critical eye especially toward the hetero-normative ways so often used by historians, curators, and sadly even the education system. This is why we’re doing this though isn’t it? To change these hetero-normative ideals within society and to understand why this happened in the first place.