The heat has receded and autumn is almost upon us. Hanneke Sanou has a round up of ideas to keep you busy in September.
Go once more unto the beach
Scheveningen is saying goodbye to a torrid summer with Live on the Beach. Whether sodden sand or glorious sunshine, the line-up will cheer up fans of Guus Meeuwis, Suzan and Freek, Acda en De Munnik, among many others. There are four live events on four consecutive days. September 3-6. Website
Get the picture
The Fotomuseum Den Haag is mounting a retrospective of 300 photographs by Eva Besnyö (1910-2003) from its own extensive collection. It follows Besnyö’s career, from Budapest to Berlin and Amsterdam, where she arrived in 1931 and where she became part of the New Photography movement which favoured dynamism and immediacy in photography.
Besnyö, who was Jewish, had to go into hiding during the war years and was active in resistance work. Her social commitment never flagged; in the 1970s she documented the Dutch feminist movement Dolle Mina. Eva Besnyö – The Liberated Camera is on from September 5. Website
Connect the dots
The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam presents a retrospective of the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who, it emerged last week, died on August 14 aged 97. Kusama turned her hand to everything during her long career, from painting and sculpture to performances, fashion, and literature. The show includes a new version of one of her installations executed in a characteristic black and yellow pattern, so tactile and organic, to wander round in. From September 11. Website
Drop by the Voorlinden birthday party
The Voorlinden Museum in Wassenaar is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an exhibition which combines the museum’s favourites with equally well-loved work pilfered from other collections.
The impressive line-up of Celebrating the Icons of Art includes artists Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Nick Cave, Félix González-Torres, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Martha Jungwirth, Mike Kelley, Yayoi Kusama, Fernand Léger, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Annette Messager, Joan Miró, Claude Monet, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Lygia Pape, Gerhard Richter and Bridget Riley. From September 12. Website
Catch a monument
It’s visit-a-listed-building day, or Open Monumentendag, on September 12 and 13, when the public are invited to take a peek at special buildings, some of which are off-limits for the rest of the year.
This year’s theme is Resilient heritage in turbulent times, which puts the focus on threats such as climate change and the more pedestrian, but no less urgent, lack of finances and volunteers. Some 6,000 buildings are opening their doors, including some weird and wonderful ones like riding schools and the smallest house in Groningen. September 12 and 13. Website
Play the game
How has video game technology evolved over the years, and do video games turn people into isolated weirdos, creative problem solvers, or both? Those are the questions Game On, at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam is trying to answer. For those who cannot be without their consoles, Super Nintendo, Atari 2600 and PlayStation 5 are on standby. Until October 26. Website
Get a load of Van Gogh(s)
Van Gogh lovers should head for the Kröller-Müller museum in Otterlo which has dusted off all 88 of its Van Goghs and put them all together in an exhibition for the first time in over 40 years. Built around faith, hope and charity, extolled in a sermon before he switched from preacher to painter as a profession, Van Gogh – All Our Paintings seeks to discover these virtues in the artist’s work. From September 15. Website
Don’t touch the art at Sonsbeek
“I don’t need a garden, I’m sharing a park” is the title of this year’s edition of the open-air art event in Arnhem’s Park Sonsbeek. The event features site-specific art, performances, film, and workshops by Dutch and international artists, including British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong, whose work, wrapped in a pan-African flag, was recently vandalised. The torn flag will remain part of the work. Until October 11. Website
Climb the stairway to heaven
Soaring temperatures in June prevented Willem-Alexander from attempting the inaugural climb but now the spruced-up Kijk uit Attention, by Krijn Giezen (1939-2011), is open to the public once more. The attraction in the sculpture park of the Kröller-Müller museum consists of a path leading to stairs going up 87 metres, affording a view of the national Veluwe park. Website
Don’t miss
You still have a chance to catch the Rijksmuseum’s in-depth look at Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken. The museum turned his private archive upside down in search of his methods and motivation, resulting in nine rooms covering 40 years of work, including the iconic Woman on a bike sticking out her tongue, which graces the Rijksmuseum, much to the surprise of the subject. Ed van der Elsken Up Close is on until September 13. Website
The run of Sting’s musical The Last Ship, fronted by the man himself, has been extended at Carré theatre in Amsterdam. Best be quick if you want to make it on board. Until September 13. Website
There is still time to catch the impressive but strangely titled exhibition Gerard van Honthorst – Different to Rembrandt at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Some 60 paintings and 30 drawings show the 17th-century master for who he was. Until September 13. Website
