Art, Politics & Power 2017 Study Travel to Belgium & The Netherlands

Before discussing Amsterdam I want to say that we are in Detroit, and it is 6:41pm in real time, but my body is currently existing in 12:41am time. I am sorry if my words end up incoherent.

Yesterday was our second entire day spent in Amsterdam. We learned a lot about Jewish culture by visiting a Portuguese synagogue, the Joods Historisch Museum, and the Anne Frank House. I loved looking at all of the historical books and tapestries that were on display, and enjoyed listening to the meaning each had to the culture and lives of those who participate in the religion. The inside of the synagogue was beautiful. Even though I did not take any pictures, The Anne Frank House was a wonderful museum to visit because it provided a humanistic take on the pain and misery caused during WWII. Looking at the marks on the walls that represented the heights of the children really hurt my heart.

On a lighter note, the Dutch translation of “sea salt” makes me very happy.

Today, we had our day off. In the morning, though, we talked with a woman named Kristijn from Belgium, and asked her a lot of questions about life in Belgium, Ghent, and Europe. It was really interesting getting to learn about how things are different here, such as how parents recurve money from the government if they have children. 
Afterwards, we went on a small your of Ghent, and got to see some of the best shops in the city. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Max, which is the best and oldest waffle shop in Belgium. I got a waffle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, as well as a hot chocolate. It was probably the best waffle I’ve eaten.
Then, we were free to go shopping throughout the city. I bought a nice jacket from a shop called Yak & Yeti, where all the items are made organically in Nepal. All the proceeds from the shop go to help the health of the people who made it in Nepal. The man selling was very humble and appreciative, and seemed very genuine.

Yesterday was our first full day in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It is absolutely incredible seeing so many people using bicycles as a main form of transportation opposed to the usual sight of cars and buses. The sidewalks are lined with endless amounts of parked bikes, both chained to fences and strewn randomly on the ground. It is important to make sure no one is coming through the bike lanes when you cross because they will not slow down for you! There are also a large number of houseboats that are located in the maze of canals that go through the city. Some of the most beautiful are the ones covered in potted leaves and flowers. The plants add nice colors to the edge of the water.

We visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. I could have spent an entire day looking through the Rijksmuseum due to the endless amounts of intricate art. In the time we were given I valued quantity over quality, so I looked at more pieces rather than looking in depth at only a few. One of my favorite paintings from that museum was “Carafe and Dish with Citrus Fruit” by Vincent Van Gogh. The simplicity of the painting is refreshing. It focuses on a simple moment by emphasizing the emotions through its use of color and composition. The brushstrokes of blue hues at the bottom of the painting pose are gorgeous and allow for visual variety compared to the rest of the painting.

A few of my other favorites are below:

Amsterdam: the final day. Unfortunately, today is our last day in Amsterdam. We spent our last day very well.

We began the day with another short bus tour of a different part of the city which led us the Portuguese-synagogue. We had the opportunity to tour the inside and surrounding rooms. It was very interesting to have this experience because I had never been in a synagogue before and didn’t know a lot about Judaism.

After this, we got to go to the Jewish historical museum. Here I got to learn more not just about the religion but about the history of the Jewish people which was very fascinating. They also had an interesting temporary exhibit here called “Face It!” This was all about our first impressions and perceptions of people based on how they look. I thought his exhibit was very eye-opening.

We had the amazing opportunity to take a canal cruise of Amsterdam. This was a truly unique way to see the city!

The next part of the day is something I have been waiting for the entire trip, going the the Anne Frank house.

It was amazing to see the reconstruction of the house and walk through the passageway. I really liked the way the museum was put together. I especially liked the quotes on the walls and curtains as well as the height markings on the wall from when they kept track of the growth of Anne and her sister Margo. One of the most moving components of the whole museum for me was the interview with her father after her had found the diary. It was amazing to be able to see how he felt about her words as someone who was very close to her.

After this, we did some light shopping for our last souvenirs and the returned to the hotel for dinner.

(Pictures to be added later)

 

Today was our first day in Amsterdam we started the day with a short walking tour of the city. We got to see first hand how important bikes are to the city of Amsterdam. On our way to the Rijks museum, we saw that even with bikes, rush hour is crazy. There were scours of bikes on every corner and they sped through intersections without hesitation.

Our time at the Rijks museum consisted of both free time and and a guided tour. On the tour, we got to see a lot of very prominent historical paintings including the infamous “NightWatch”.

I soent most of my free time on the thrid floor with the modern art. This is where I found my favorite work. My favorite work was simply, ” Psychadelic Drawing” by Franz Deckwitz.

It depicts two hands reaching for one another along with some blurred lines and a lot of blended bright colors. I really liked the color combinations and the imperfection in the edges of the hands. It was done in crayon in 1966.

My favorite museum we have visited this far is the Van Gogh museum. I love the way he uses color and combines a multitude of different colors together to create a beautiful rendering of life.

Although I really enjoyed the colors of his more popular paintings, my favorite painting was the “Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette.” I really loved he shadows on the bones which made the Skelton appear very realistic. I think I liked this painting the most because while I enjoy the joyful colors of his other works, I find that I am usually more drawn to darker more unusual things.

(Picture to be posted later)

Today was our day trip to Antwerp. The winter festival there was much larger than the one in Ghent. We started the day by taking a walking tour of the city and some of its most prominent areas. We saw a music museum that used to be a meat market, walked through a castle and learned about the cities history. We had the second half of the day free. After a great lunch at an Italian resteraunt, we ventured off and explored. After some time walking the streets and perusing gift shops, we walked to the train station.

The train station was amazing. It’s grandeur and design we’re beautiful. I would definitely say the train station was my favorite part of the day!!

(Video to be added later)

yssterday was our last day in Ghent. We got to spend most of the day walking around freely and getting our souvenirs. We started with an info session with Christine who told us a lot about everyday life in modern Belgium and answered all of  our questions. She also took is on a tour of the lesser known locations in Ghent and guided us to the best places to shop.

My favorite part of the day was visiting a bookstore that we stumbled upon while exploring. I also really enjoyed a store called The Other Shop which had eclectic books and gifts. Another amazing part of the day was riding on the ferris wheel that was in Ghent for the winter festival. At the top, we could see all of Ghent and I got some amazing pictures! We also got to experience he world renown Belgian waffles which were too good for words.

Today was a hectic day as I may or may not have Lowkey overslept again.. Anywho, we went to the Rijchs Museum and the Van Gough museum. We finally got to see the Night Watch painting by Rembrandt and it was huge. At the Van Gough museum we went on a guided audio tour through the museum and the history of Van Gough.

My favorite Van Gough piece was “skull of a skeleton smoking a cigarette.” I think it stuck out to me because it was unlike most of his paintings which were landscapes, portraits, and still life’s. I liked it because it was much darker than his other paintings. 

Hello people of the world! Today we explored the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Both museums were very interesting. We went to the Rijksmuseum first and I was very suprised at how big it was, it was huge! These museums keep getting bigger and bigger!!! The paintings were also very big which I think is crazy, how can someone paint something that it three times their size? Seems impossible to me, which makes it even more amazing when you see it completed and whole in person. We had a guide for a good part of the Rijksmuseum and I liked him as well, he knew a lot about the background stories of the paintings. We didnt go to every exhibit just the highlights, The Night Watch, The Milk Maid, and The Citrus series, and others by artists such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Kalf. After we saw The Night Watch we were free to explore the rest of the museum on our own. While a couple of friends and I were wandering around checking out some paintings one painting in particular caught our eyes. It was called The Massacre of the Innocents by Cornelis Cornelisz. It is a representation of the biblical account of the genocide committed by Herod the Great, the Roman appointed King of the Jews. According to bible in the book of Matthew, Herod orded his soldiers to execute all young male children that were in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to eliminate any threat to his crown. The scene int he painting depicts these naked soldiers killing young children and mothers who happen to get in the way, along with discolored gray looking bodies that have already been murdered. I think because the painting was so morbid and grotesque we were interested in it more than the others and even more so after one of our teachers explained the background story. So, I would have to say that this was one of the coolest paintings I saw today at the Rijksmuseum.

Our next stop was the Van Gogh museum which I thought was sad, intriguing, and very personal. We looked into the life of Van Gogh, where he lived, his numerous paintings, his love life, his family, and his mental state throughout his life. I am not usually one for expressionisim or artwork that isnt necessarily “realistic” but I very much liked his style of painting. My favorite painting by him would have to be the sunflowers one or the painting of the shepards hearding their sheep at dawn. Both peices were beautifully painted and just pleasing to the eye. I would like to go back one day and study his life more in depth because today we just looked at the highlights.

Tomorrow we go to the Ann Frank house along with taking a tour through the city canals, I am super excited!!! Only two more days til were on a flight back home and I’m already going to miss being engrossed into european culture.

Til tomorrow,

Juliana Eike