The exhibition
From December 9, 2023, through April 28, 2024, artworks by children will be on view at the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel. They are presented as part of the project ELJA Kindermuseumlab, where kids are given the opportunity to consider the city museum of the future and, as artists, take an active role in it. Additionally, a program for families will be held during the Christmas holidays, where children from throughout the Netherlands can participate in workshops and create artworks themselves.
Co-creation with artists
The artworks displayed at the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel were created during lab sessions that took place during the summer and autumn holidays in all seven districts of Amsterdam and in Weesp. During these sessions, intended for young people between 9 and 12 years of age and under the guidance of education and museum experts, participants addressed the question of what kids need when visiting a museum. Together with eight professional artists, the young participants also made eight joint artworks. The artists involved in the project are Yasser Ballemans, Anouschka Boswijk, Marlou Fernanda, Malou Sumah, Noémi Beyer, Tessa Hendriks, Janne Igbuwe, and Carmen Schabracq.
Different art forms
The exhibition offers space for various forms of expression, including visual art, performance, music, and design. The children were closely involved in the process of creating the works in the exhibition at the Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel. The exhibition will be officially opened on Thursday, December 14, where all the young participants will share the spotlight. After being addressed by the director of the Amsterdam Museum, they get to open the exhibition.
Workshops during the winter holidays
This winter, the participating artists will organize daily workshops for children at the Amsterdam Museum. The ELJA Kindermuseum activities are therefore accessible to children from throughout the country. The workshops are inspired by the works on view in the exhibition and take place from December 23, 2023, to January 7, 2024.
Viewing route
Prior to the exhibition, from November 4 to 19, 2023, the eight collective artworks can be seen at the locations where the creative sessions took place: the OBA branches Reigersbos, Staatslieden, Van der Pekstraat, and Weesp, as well as Jeugdland, Midwest, the Van Eesteren Museum, and CC Amstel. A route has been mapped out connecting these partner locations, where kids and anyone else who is interested can be among the first to view the artworks. This presentation approach provides an opportunity for the children to become familiar with the other sites and participants. Besides that, it gives them the chance to show their creations to friends, family, and others in their social circles.
Multi-year project
The exhibition is part of a long-term project that runs from 2023 to 2025. Each year, the creative sessions have a different theme. In 2023, corresponding with this year’s commemoration of the history of slavery, that theme is freedom. As part of this multi-year project, a directorship and sounding board for children’s programming will be formed, which, over the next three years, will aid the Amsterdam Museum in becoming a museum for children in the future. The board will meet once per quarter to offer feedback regarding the museum’s plans. The children’s director and members of the sounding board will be rotated annually.
Importance of art for children
The Amsterdam Museum is proud of the participation and involvement of these young people in this initial year of the ELJA Kindermuseumlab, according to Gonca Yalçıner, the museum’s Education & Participation manager. “Together with the artists, every one of these kids has approached this year’s theme with an artistic eye and in an original way. During the creative process we also reaffirmed how important it is that we ask young people for their opinion about the city and the topics at hand. By approaching them as equals, they reward us with insight into how they think about themselves, their surroundings, and the world.”
ELJA Foundation
The abovementioned activities are financed by the ELJA Foundation, a philanthropic fund which supports innovation in the fields of music, dance, and the visual arts, so children and young people with various upbringings are better prepared for their own future and feel more connected with each other. The Art Education professorship of the Amsterdam University of the Arts supervises and studies the ELJA Kindermuseumlab.
The Amsterdam Museum is generously supported by the Municipality of Amsterdam (Main Benefactor), VriendenLoterij (Founder), and the ELJA Foundation (Main Partner for Education).