Stories & Collection | Amsterdam Museum

Collecting the City #4, 2024, Francoise Bolechowski

Together, we bring the story of Amsterdam to life

The Amsterdam Museum’s collection comprises more than 107,000 objects: from paintings and everyday items to photographs, costumes, documents, and digital works. This collection forms an important foundation for our work. The objects show how Amsterdam has developed over the centuries and which people, moments, and movements have shaped the city. But the collection is never complete—it grows and changes along with the city.

In addition to managing and researching this collection, we also collect and share stories, photos, films, and experiences that cannot always be captured in a physical object. We do this in close collaboration with partners, creators, Amsterdammers, and visitors. Together, we re-examine the past, document the city of today, and create space for ideas about the future. This creates a richer, more multifaceted picture of what it’s like to live in Amsterdam.

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Program branches focused on the past, present, and future

New Narratives

In New Narratives, we take a fresh look at Amsterdam’s past. We present the collection from different perspectives and fill in the gaps. In this way, we make room for stories that were previously less visible, such as decolonial, queer, and feminist perspectives.

Collecting the City

Collecting the City is a program line that encompasses projects we carry out in co-creation with partners in the city. We work together with groups and networks that have not yet felt represented, or have felt underrepresented, in our museum and in the collection. Together with them, we collect and present current or underrepresented urban stories.

Changing the Game

In Changing the Game, we look ahead. Together, we explore how a museum can contribute to the major changes Amsterdam is facing—such as climate justice, inequality, and the role of new technologies. We reflect on possible solutions and on what the museum of the future might look like.