• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Time Travel Turtle

A travel blog with stories beyond the brochure

  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT ME
  • BY COUNTRY
    • WEST EUROPE
      • Belgium
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Liechtenstein
      • Luxembourg
      • Netherlands
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Switzerland
      • Wales
    • NORTH EUROPE
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • Latvia
      • Lithuania
      • Norway
      • Sweden
    • SOUTH EUROPE
      • Cyprus
      • Gibraltar
      • Greece
      • Holy See
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Portugal
      • San Marino
      • Spain
    • EAST EUROPE
      • Austria
      • Belarus
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Hungary
      • Montenegro
      • Poland
      • Serbia
    • NORTH ASIA
      • China
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Mongolia
      • North Korea
      • Tajikistan
      • Uzbekistan
    • SOUTH ASIA
      • Cambodia
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Myanmar
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Sri Lanka
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • NORTH AMERICA
      • Antigua & Barbuda
      • Belize
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • USA
    • SOUTH AMERICA
      • Argentina
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Uruguay
    • AFRICA
      • Egypt
      • Morocco
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
    • OCEANIA
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • MIDDLE EAST
      • Jordan
      • Turkey
  • MOST POPULAR
    • The world’s oldest backpacker
    • Orangutans in Borneo
    • The need for speed
    • Trying to get out of the slum
    • The lake swamped with tourism
    • Journey into Dreamland
    • The village where life begins again
    • Is Cambodia safe for travellers?
    • Making the perfect gin and tonic
  • UNESCO

Making art about the experience

April 12, 2020 | Michael Turtle | 14 Comments

ART MUSEUM

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

I stare at the collection of hangars and ropes with confusion. This is supposedly the coat rack for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam but I can’t seem to work it out.

It’s not until one of the museum staff comes over and explains it that it starts to make a bit of sense.

You need to pull on a rope in the central area to make a hangar somewhere else come down. Once you’ve put your coat on, you can pull it back up with the rope and then lock it into place, your coat dangling metres above the ground.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

If it sounds unnecessarily complicated, it is. But that’s intentional. This isn’t an ordinary museum and the idea is to get you thinking and interacting before you’ve even walked through to the main galleries.

The collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen first started in 1849, which makes it one of the oldest museums in The Netherlands. It’s been housed in its current building since 1935, which has been extended several times in the intervening decades.

But age is something that has enlivened the space, rather than burdened it. The museum shows how everyday objects have changed over the past eight hundred years and this gives it a dynamic contemporary feel.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This is one of the most interesting museums and art galleries I have ever been to. As a visitor, you engage with the space and are constantly surprised and amused.

Modern art is melded with old classics and there’s a fluid feel to the experience of exploring the exhibits.

To give you a better idea of what I mean, I thought it would be easiest if I share some examples of what the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen offers.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Let Your Hair Down (Pipilotti Rist, 2009)

The museum is designed so you can go to this artwork first. It’s a huge net suspended over a staircase and you can lie there with pillows and watch videos projected onto the wall.

This idea is that you float in the air, relax, forget the world outside and prepare your brain for the rest of the exhibitions.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Infinity Mirror Room (Yayoi Kusama, 1965)

You become part of the artwork inside this small mirrored room because your body leads out in perpetuity and becomes part of the distant landscape. It was made by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in 1965 and was part of her obsession with dots and phalluses.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Red Landscape (Tanja Smeets, 2013)
Black Sun (Tanja Smeets, 2013)

These two works by Tanja Smeets are part of an installation that is on temporary display at the museum. She combines everyday objects with ceramics to produce an organic-looking effect. The works are supposed to look like the objects are growing and infiltrating their environment.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Flames Maquiladora (Carlos Amorales, 2003)

This interactive installation by a Mexican artist is inspired by factories established in Mexico to take advantage of cheap labour. You can actually have a go at making these shoes yourself. There’s a twist, though. If you do that then you are becoming cheap labour for the artwork itself.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Crying boy on box

I have failed you here, I’m sorry, because I didn’t write down the name of this artwork and I can’t find it online anywhere. If you know, please drop me a note, because it was a great piece. It sits at the top of a set of stairs on the way to some old paintings and for quite a few seconds I though the child was real. It’s extremely lifelike and really draws you in.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1570)

This is probably the most famous painting at the museum and was donated in 1958. It shows the biblical Tower of Babel being constructed and if you look closely there are more than a thousand little people doing different activities. It’s also one of the most valuable works at the museum, estimated to be worth about 80 million euros.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Untitled (Maurizio Cattelan, 2002)

The museum commissioned Maurizio Cattelan to produce this work and he shocked them with his suggestion to cut a hole in the floor – but they agreed. It’s a self portrait that is supposed to show the relationship between the artworks and those looking at them.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Baroque Egg with Bow (Jeff Koons, 1994-2008)

This enormous egg weighs 900 kilograms and is about the size of a single bed. It is suppose to represent birth and fertility, which are common in the artist’s work. It took Jeff Koons 14 years to make a total of ten eggs and it’s said that he almost went bankrupt during the process.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
>> More info here about the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen <<

THE BEST ACCOMMODATION IN ROTTERDAM

As you would expect in Rotterdam, there are some very cool and interesting accommodation options in the city.

BACKPACKER

For one of the best backpacker options in the whole country, check out King Kong Hostel.

BUDGET

Hotel Bazar has some really funky rooms and with the huge breakfast, it’s great value.

BOUTIQUE

For a bit of history, you can stay in the beautifully-designed Hotel New York.

LUXURY

And I think the best modern luxury in the city is the stunning Mainport Design Hotel on the water.

Time Travel Turtle was a guest of Rotterdam Marketing but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.

Netherlands Travel Guide

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS?

See my Netherlands Travel Guide

To help you plan your trip to the Netherlands:

  • What to expect in the historic centre of Amsterdam
  • The best art museums in Amsterdam
  • Explore the countryside of Van Gogh
  • The incredible factory that’s now a World Heritage Site
  • See the engineering genius of the Dutch firsthand
  • How the Dutch protected their capital by controlling water
  • For architecture fans, this house will blow your mind!
  • How a simple rabbit took over the world
  • Visit the best windmills in the Netherlands
  • How you can stay the night on a boat in Rotterdam’s port.

Let someone else do the work for you:

You may also want to consider taking a tour of the Netherlands, rather than organising everything on your own. It’s also a nice way to have company if you are travelling solo.

I am a ‘Wanderer’ with G Adventures and they have great tours of the Netherlands.

You could consider:

  • Berlin to London on a shoestring (6 days)
  • Budapest to London on a shoestring (12 days)
  • European Trail (26 days)

When I travel internationally, I always get insurance. It’s not worth the risk, in case there’s a medical emergency or another serious incident. I recommend you should use World Nomads for your trip.

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. Becky the Great |

    May 30, 2013 at 9:36 am

    Reply

    Is the artist of the crying boy Ron Muck? It reminds me of his work.

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 4, 2013 at 3:40 am

      Reply

      It does look a bit like his stuff, doesn’t it? Although I don’t think there’s enough nudity. I’ve just looked at his catalogue and can’t see this one.

  2. T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries |

    May 30, 2013 at 9:45 am

    Reply

    Tower of Babel shot = awesome. Infinite Mirror room = hope no one put anything special in their coffee before going to the museum today =P

    Good stuff as always!

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 4, 2013 at 3:41 am

      Reply

      Maybe the infinite mirror room is not the best thing to have in The Netherlands! Straight from the coffee shops to the art gallery could be a pretty scary experience!! 🙂

  3. Franca |

    May 30, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    Reply

    Such an amazing museum, I love the architecture and the infinity mirror room looks cool. This is the kind of place we’d go straight away, always looking for interesting art & architecture.
    Great post, thanks for sharing!

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 4, 2013 at 3:45 am

      Reply

      I’m not normally a fan of art galleries but this one was definitely pretty special.

  4. Jennifer |

    June 3, 2013 at 8:34 am

    Reply

    I’m not much of a museum person, but I do like interactive museums. This looks like a museum I’d enjoy. Incredible how lifelike that boy on the box looks!

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 4, 2013 at 3:55 am

      Reply

      Honestly, I thought the boy was real for much longer than I should have. I even started looking around for his parents! I felt like a bit of a fool when I realised.

  5. Stephanie - The Travel Chica |

    June 4, 2013 at 11:24 am

    Reply

    Gotta love art that both puzzles you and makes you smile.

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 23, 2013 at 12:39 am

      Reply

      It’s the perfect type of art. I get a bit bored of plain old paintings.

  6. Andrew |

    June 7, 2013 at 5:54 am

    Reply

    We asked the guide to show us “weird stuff” in the museum and certainly delivered.

    • Michael Turtle |

      June 23, 2013 at 12:45 am

      Reply

      Ha ha – we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into, did we? 🙂

  7. Justin |

    June 25, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    Reply

    Great post you have here travel turtle! I love those hanger for coats and I like that something like a man standing in front of the building. Thank you for sharing this one, good job!

Primary Sidebar

This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.

Want Occasional Updates?

Sign up to be the first to hear the latest about the adventures of Time Travel Turtle. You'll also get access to special offers and exclusive news.
Thank you! You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter.

Search

  • PRIVACY POLICY