Leaving holland or just arrived?
At the airport in Amsterdam we have a museum behind the passport control, so if you got time to burn take a tour in the Rijks Museum at Schiphol.

Books in the Age of Rembrandt at Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol

To mark the nomination of Amsterdam as World Book Capital City, the Rijksmuseum presents Books in the Age of Rembrandt at his branch at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The exhibition, running from 9 July to 13 October 2008, features books in paintings of the Dutch Golden Age. Ten pictures by various 17th-century masters reveal some of the functions and significance attached to books in the Age of Rembrandt. Uniquely, all the books portrayed in these pictures are also displayed in the exhibition. One of the highlights of the show is the portrait of Rembrandt’s Mother, entitled ‘Old Woman Reading’ (1640) by the Dutch painter Gerard Dou.

The paintings presented in Books in the Age of Rembrandt highlight ten different aspects of the genre. Together they provide an overview of the kinds of books that were available in the Low Countries in the 17th century. The variation in the significance and function of these books symbolises the relevance of the book in the Netherlands in the Golden Age, and so of Amsterdam as World Book Capital City.

Books play a crucial role in Amsterdam’s history. Books, the first mass media, made Bibles and prayerbooks accessible to the population at large long before the Golden Age. With the invention of printing in Europe in the mid-15th century and the establishment of the first press in Amsterdam in 1506 the spread of secular literature grew. The steady rise in demand for printed matter relating to various areas, such as science, politics, theory and study was matched by an increasing supply. Indeed, the book as object also became a valued and sometimes elaborately decorated item. In the Golden Age it became something of a status symbol.

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol is a unique joint initiative by Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The Rijksmuseum is the world’s first museum to open a branch at an airport, while Schiphol is the first airport to open an airside museum. The museum was opened on 9 December 2002 by His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange.

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol is located on Holland Boulevard, in the airside section of the airport, between piers E and F. The museum is open daily, from 7 am to 8 pm and admission is free. Schiphol Rijksmuseum features a permanent exhibition of ten works by Dutch masters of the Golden Age from the Rijksmuseum collection. Several temporary shows are shown each year.

ING is exclusive sponsor of Schiphol Rijksmuseum.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol

Every day from 07.00 to 20.00. The museum is behind the passport control.

In this museum you will learn about the story of the world’s most dangerous flower, whose beauty drove Sultans, the wealthy and the common man alike to madness and bankruptcy.

Founded in 2004, the Amsterdam Tulip Museum seeks to fill a void in the history of the tulip. Amsterdam has no comparable institution dedicated to telling Holland’s fascinating horticultural story. Located in the Jordaan district, the museum offers a special reward for anyone interested in gardening, or simply sightseeing in Amsterdam. The exhibits include several interactive video displays that trace the tulip bulb from its ancient wild origins to modern 21st century cultivation.

Amsterdam Tulip Museum
Prinsengracht 112
1015 EA Amsterdam
Netherlands
Open Tuesday through Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM.
Telephone +31 (0)20 421 00 95
Fax +31 (0)20 421 34 04

From 7 June - 29 June 20 july 2008 you will have the opportunity to see a recent discovered work of Rembrandt in the Rembandthouse in Amsterdam

In October 2007 a painting of a laughing man came to light, and there was speculation that it might be by Rembrandt.

It has now been established on a range of technical and stylistic grounds that this is an authentic early work by Rembrandt dating from around 1628.

This painting will be on show in the Rembrandt House from 7 June until 29 June. It is being presented to the public, together with a small number of related works and extensive documentation, in Rembrandt’s former studio.

Although this little painting was feted as a new discovery, its existence was already known of thanks to a reproductive print dating from around 1800. The printmaker believed that it was a painting by Frans Hals, but in the early twentieth century several art historians became convinced that the print was produced after a work by Rembrandt. This view, however, went virtually unnoticed by the art world.

When the painting surfaced at an English sale in 2007, some people recognized it as an authentic Rembrandt. In the ensuing months it was subjected to an exhaustive examination by the Rembrandt Research Project in association with a British laboratory. It has now been established on a range of technical and stylistic grounds that this is an authentic early work by Rembrandt dating from around 1628.

During the early part of his career Rembrandt studied the various emotions (’affects’) of human beings as they were expressed in the face and in the posture. The painting is an exceptional expression of this interest. A number of striking similarities between this work and Rembrandt’s early self-portrait of around 1629 in Nuremberg leaves it in no doubt that this little picture must have been painted in front of a mirror. Hence the title that has been chosen: Rembrandt Laughing.

Read more on current exhibitions and events in Amsterdam on the Amsterdam Agenda

From June 1st till August 24th music, dance and other summer festivities take place around the open air stage in the middle of the lively Vondelpark.

All festivities are for free. Enjoy the Amsterdam warm summer evenings to the fullest! There will be something here for everyone’s taste, from classic to hiphop, from cabaret to mime and from funky roller discos to hot Latin dance nights!

You can find all scheduled events on posters at the entrance of the Vondelpark during the summer. Usually the schedule is like this: Thursday: classical music (from 20:30) Friday: dance workshops (from 20:30) Saturday: youth performances (from 14:00) Sunday: different music styles (from 14:00) Location: The open air stage is located in the middle of the famous Vondelpark

Entrance fee: Entrance to all festivities is FREE
Directions: Trams 1,2,5 and 10 will take you to the Leidseplein.
The open air stage is about 10 minutes walking from the main park entrance

Once a year, in the third weekend of June, gardening enthusiasts and other interested people have the unique opportunity to discover Amsterdam’s hidden green side.

Around thirty gardens of private homes and institutions will be open to the public on 20,
21 and 22 June 2008. Some of them will be available for the first time.

The theme for 2008 is Art in the Canal House Garden. In the past the owners of the stately Amsterdam canal houses looked upon their gardens from the beletage. Next to remarkable plants, statues and ornaments were applied to give these viewing gardens more status.

During the Open Garden Days 2008, three centuries of art will be presented: from early 18th century statues by Ignatius van Logteren to contemporary works by Ram Katzir, Martie van der Loo and an exquisite collection of statues from the ING Bank’s collection.

Gardens will be open from 10 am to 5 pm.
A three-day ticket costs € 12. The proceeds of this event will go to a charitable cause.

N.B. Most gardens regretfully are not accessible to wheel chairs and perambulators. Dogs are not allowed.
Find out more on the official website

Besides the restaurants , we’ve included some worthwhile cafés and bars for you to get your meals and drinks . A large number of more touristy bars can be found around the Rembrandtplein and Leidseplein. There’s plenty of other areas in Amsterdam with great nightlife! Try for example the Nieuwmarkt near the Red Light District, or De Pijp and Jordaan areas for more of the local bars. Most cafés and bars are also great for hanging out in daytime.

If you want to eat a bit more in euhm … style, there are numerous international restaurants spread all over Amsterdam. The wide range of restaurants and eateries in Amsterdam represent a melting pot of cultures. We’ve selected the best ones for you, from ridiculously cheap to more luxurious, and from steaks and sushi to vegan and vegetarian! So pick your own favorites and remember cheap is not all bad.

Checkout our food and drink section for more information

From 14-21 June, the 11th edition of the Amsterdam Roots Festival will be held in Amsterdam.

This year the festival highlights the theme World in Europe. Increasingly more musical influences from other cultures take root in Europe. World music does not exclusively reach us from afar, but more and more from nearby. Cultural identity and nationality are no longer always connected. The existing diversity within European world musical styles is seething with new impulses all the time, which the festival will proudly demonstrate.

The Amsterdam Roots Festival is also about meeting. Not only the meeting of the countless crossovers of musical styles from all over the world on the programme. Especially Roots Open Air, our free open air part of the festival, will display a fascinating cultural panorama of music and people, where the famous and the lesser-known go hand in hand.

The Amsterdam Roots Festival has been one of the leading international music festival for ten years now. The festival presents pioneering developments within world music for a large and varied audience. The mix of ethnic backgrounds, music styles and the contact between the different population groups has become essential for the festival.

From Saturday 14 through Saturday 21 June 2008 the 11th edition brings around 60 concerts at the Concertgebouw, Tropentheater, Melkweg and Paradiso and a large-scale free open air festival at the Oosterpark: Roots Open Air. In addition there is a supporting programme (films and photo exhibition) and an Off-Roots programme. In 2007 the festival attracted 65,000 visitors; 58,000 of which for Roots Open Air.

Rembrandt Museum

31 May - 24 August 2008

The Rembrandt House Museum is staging an exhibition of works by the German graphic artist Horst Janssen (1929-1995). Janssen was a virtuoso draughtsman with an extraordinarily expressive handling of line. Although his work is largely figurative, he never slavishly imitated the truth.

The reality in his portraits, self-portraits, landscapes, still lifes and erotic scenes is always distorted and dramatized.

He was a great admirer of Rembrandt and often took his inspiration from the master’s work, particularly in his many self-portraits and landscapes. The hundred finest etchings have been selected from Janssen’s huge oeuvre, supported by some of the highlights among his drawings. This is the first exhibition in the Netherlands to be devoted to Horst Janssen’s prints.

Read more on Horst Jansen and the current events in Amsterdam on our Amsterdam Agenda

MINUIT [minweee!] - the band”
Minuit have something many electronic acts studiously avoid - a sense of personality”
The New Zealand Herald

MINUIT, (French for midnight) the live electronic three-piece from the other side of the planet.
Holed up in some unknown mongrel town writing tunes and working their trade in rough local bars and clubs, one day they wake up and realise they’ve figured out their sh*t, thanks to those very same tough crowd critics..and they feel like they can take on the world…and you know what..they probably can.

WHERE AND WHEN: Date: Friday 30 May in The Winston Amsterdam. Doors Open: 20.00 DJ/pre show band 20.30
Time: main act 21.45

THE BAND
Fronted by the ridiculously enigmatic Ruth Carr, her coy persona intrigues and ignites; while bandmates Ryan Beehre and Paul Dodge deliver an inventive breakbeat arsenal which never loses sight of the desire to create fantastic songs.

When Carr sings: “I’m like a nomad, and this is my tribe” - its not a ficticious lyric. Vivacious frontperson by night, she is in fact a builder by day, and has spent the past 6 months in the Australian Outback building sets for Baz Lurman’s new film ‘Australia‘. A recent note home to Minuit HQ read: “Nicole Kidman is a lot taller than it thought .. but i could still take her cos i’m wily..”
Ruth has also worked in East Timor and Kosovo, where in between jobs the band inadvertently played a show for the Albanian mafia..

When this trio released their first album The 88 in 2003 through independent label Tardus in NZ, no-one predicted how warmly the debut would be received until it sold gold. The album was refreshingly different from other locally produced electronic music.
After the debut, Minuit followed up with their GUNS EP, a limited run that sold out in the first week. In 2006 they released their second album, ‘The Guards Themselves’. Mastered by Emily Lazar (The Prodigy) in New York City, it retains that gravely edge and ’sense of personality’ that makes them so endearing.
And it’s no small feat that Minuit were included on Universal’s Future Sound of.. worldwide compilation as the future sound of breaks and beats, alongside electronic heavy-hitters Bjork and DJ Krush.

Enlisting the skills of short film director Alyx Duncan amongst others, Minuit produced some stunning music videos. From a 1900s circus with suitcases and handsaws (Except You)..to the MadMax-style Asian bar mentioned earlier (Fuji), these were justifiably hammered on Music TV channels making Minuit household soundtracks in home country New Zealand. Check them here: http://www.youtube.com/minuittheband

Late 2006, Minuit’s First European tour featured the main room of London’s FabricLive sessions alongside Adam Freeland, Stanton Warriors, and the Plump DJs; as well as indie MySpaceLive shows in Berlin; some jolly Irish clubbers in Cork; passionate singing in Norwegian; and shot-dropping packed out shows in Finland!
UK DJ Rennie Pilgrem remarked: “..this is just what our scene needs!”

Minuit have been nominated for (and won!) New Zealand Music Awards a few times(alongside NZ greats like Fat Freddy’s Drop) and their fabulous website just beat the likes of the Pet Shop Boys to win Best Music Website at the international Pixel Awards..

MOTORTV in Berlin was so impressed by the band’s music video for last single Fuji (set in a devolved-futuristic MadMax-style Asian bar) that it went straight to high-rotate. The track was then ravenously playlisted by MOTORFM for the next 6 months! Radio 1 in Prague did the same and have been playlisting Minuit tracks ever since – as well as airings on UK stations including XFM in the UK - and big support from artists like The Crystal Method, Tayo, Ali B (Holland!!), FreQ Nasty and Adam Freeland.
Minuit’s most recent tour had rapturous response , they set hips a jiggin from Barcelona to Berlin and beyond and sold out a packed Cargo in London.

They also recently spent the day at the legendary Maida Vale Studios recording a session for Radio 1 and did the same for BBC 6 Music aswell as appearances on Kiss, Galaxy and XFM…

But like any live band, you need to hear it AND see it before you truly GET it! Their set at the BigDayOut Festival ‘07 enticing The Crystal Method away from the catering tent to call it ‘the highlight of their day’.

Call it what you like - there’s a toughness around the delicate, a powerfulness in the shyness, a rawness in those machines, a vengeance in the live show .. you’ll be hearing from Minuit before too long .. if not moshing up the front!

www.minuit.co.nz / www.myspace.com/minuittheband

Winston Club, Warmoesstraat 131, Amsterdam 1012 JA

http://www.winston.nl/

Date: Friday 30 May
Doors Open: 20.00
DJ/pre show band 20.30
Time: main act 21.45

Tickets
Pre show: 8.00
Door: 10.00

On the 11th and 12th of May the fourth edition of Kiteoard open will be held in Noordwijk, a place about 20 miles from Amsterdam.

On Kite board open the top riders from al over the world will gather together to preform there tricks. You can get free kite and golf surf clinics and in the evening it will be party time with Dj’s. On the 11th around 20.00 hours the band Ska-d-lite, on of the best Ska bands around in Holland, will kick off party time. So if you are into either Kitesurfing or Ska you will have a good time. If you are into both… well you will be in heaven

Do’n't miss this event of the year… Did I already mention its free? There are also prices to win in contests.(for instance waveriden on a Wave simulator! )

more info you will find on Kiteboard Open 2008 and on www.ska-d-lite.com where you can checkout some youtube flicks or mp3 files

A complete ‘How to get there’ will follow soon. But for now…

By car from Amsterdam

You have to go to the ring road A10 direction Den Haag (A4). Stay on the A4 until you see the A44 to den Haag and Leiden (keep right). Follow this road until you see the signs to “Voorhout/Noordwijk/Oegstgeest-Noord” . The Kite Board Open is located in the most southern part of Noordwijk on the Koningin Astrid Boulevard opposite Hotel De Edelman.
Location: 52°14′08.30″ N 4°25′15.50″ E,

By public transport
Take a train to Leiden central station. Hop on the 40 or 42 bus and take it till ‘pickeplein’ This is the closest stop to the beach. From there walk to the huge 5star ‘Huis ter Duin’ hotel. This hotel is right on the beach, go to the beach left of the hotel and you will see the event a little walk down the boulevard!

Enjoy