31 March 2010

The First Photos of Amsterdam 1845 – 1875 at the Stadsarchief, April 2 - June 27

Exhibition: The First Photos of Amsterdam 1845 – 1875 @ Stadsarchief, April 2 – June 27, Tuesday – Friday 10.00 – 17.00, Saturday and Sunday 11.00 – 17.00, closed for 2de Paasdag, entree €5, kids under 12 free, but only €3 with Museumkaart.

A photo exhibition brought together from both private and public collections to display the first photographed images of the City. Check out a preview via nu.nl’s “nuentoen Online Photo Archive”.

29 March 2010

Pillow Fight Day, April 3rd, the Dam

Event: Pillow Fight Day @ Dam, Saturday April 3rd, 17,00, FREE but must bring pillow. There is also an after party, location yet to be announced, with dj’s starting right after the fight.

"For the last few years, Pillow Fight Day has been held in numerous cities across the globe. It’s all about reclaiming the public space as a playground for all to enjoy. A free event intended to inspire giddy, childish joy in everyone." - pillowfightday.com

Rules are as follows:
1. Bring your own pillow
Use soft pillows only! Feathers are strongly encouraged.

2. Dress for the occasion
You may want to pick something playful to wear to the pillow fight.
If you have glasses, remove them. Fragile clothes are not recommended in general!

3. Get there in time
Try and get there at 16.40pm so you don't miss any of the fun!

4. Wait for the Siren.
It should sound when everyone has gathered at 17:00pm.

5. Do not swing your pillow too hard.
We play to have fun, not to hurt.

6. Do not hit anyone without a pillow.
This includes, but is not limited to, people with cameras, bystanders, police and other civic authorities, property eg. cars. Please use common sense.

7. Clean up after you
Bring a garbage bag and some gloves and help clean up some of the fluff/feathers/pillows. The environment will love you forever.

28 March 2010

Cinestud, Kriterion's very own film festival March 30 - April 4

Film: Cinestud International Student Film Festival @ Kriterion, March 30 - April 4, €6.00/film, or €25.00 with Cineville Passe Partout.

Cinestud is a student film competition with a selection of 60 films from 22 countries. With 59 filmmakers competing for the Grand Jury Prize and the Jean Mineur's Public Choice Award. Side Program">In addition to the 60 films Cinestud will show two retrospectives about its first year, as well as a film and music program - POP Blik.

25 March 2010

Hoerengracht March 20 - August 29

Hoerengracht @ Amsterdams Historisch Museum, March 20 - August 29, museum hours, entry to museum €10, free with Museumkaart.

An exhibition twenty years in the making, American artists Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholzs' Hoerengracht (Whores Canal) makes its first appearance in Amsterdam. The massive installation, created in Berlin in the 1980s, based on extensive research in Amsterdam’s Wallen is a reinterpretation of the Red Light District. Additional discussions, walking tours and symposiums are also planned, see the agenda.

the best of IDFA on Tour at De Balie, Amsterdam! March 27th and 28th

Looking for something to do this Saturday, March 27th? Did you miss the Documentary Film Festival back in November (hard not to miss it - virtually every film was sold out early!)? Well, take heart - the Best of IDFA on Tour hits Amsterdam this weekend. For 25 Euros, you can gorge on four films on Saturday or Sunday. The movies are:

Last Train Home (winner VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary)
Iron Crows (winner NPS IDFA Award for Mid-Length Documentary)
Colony (winner IDFA Award for Best First Appearance)
Six Weeks (winner IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary)

Head to de Balie site to buy tickets. You will need to set up an account which takes just a minute. And don't be too discouraged if most showings are sold out. If you go the the cinema at least 45 minutes before the start time, they release any tickets that had been previously reserved but not picked up, so you still have a chance to snag some. I'll be using mine on Saturday night though, so hands off!

- tip from Jeff Funnekotter, check out his Big City Blog about life in Amsterdam and everywhere else the road takes him.

24 March 2010

Duet for Cannibals series on March 31st

Film, Discussion: Duet for Cannibals @ Tropentheater, March 31st, 20.00, €7.50, in English.

Duet for Cannibals, a title borrowed from Susan Sontag's 1969 film of the same name, is a monthly screening and discussion program on colonialism and cannibalism as forms of cultural appropriation. Stichting Agentur and the Tropentheater bring together a selection of works by contemporary artists and filmmakers as well as footage from the Tropenmuseum's archive (formerly the Colonial Institute of Amsterdam and institute set up during the era of European colonialism to study and exhibit the culture of 'overseas people').

This month's theme is 'Conquering the Body'. Two films will be shown: first the 'Education in the Dutch East-Indies and Going to School', an archive film of the Tropenmuseum Collection, filmed in Java in 1927, And a second film "Step by Step" (1977) by Ossama Mohammed (SY). These films are followed by a discussion and then a lecture by Paulo Herkenhoff (BR), a curator and writer based in Rio de Janeiro. In 1998 he was the artistic director of the 24th Bienal de Sao Paulo: Anthropophagy and Histories of Cannibalism, which brought the cultural heritage of Brazil's 1920's Antropofagia avant-garde movement to contemporary art discourse.

The next series will take place on April 28th with the theme, 'When One Swallows A Canon'. This includes a screen-test of Susan Sontag by Andy Warhol from 1964, and Susan Sontag's 1969 film "Duet for Cannibals".

23 March 2010

the final weeks of the strippenkaart

Rumor has it that these are the final days to use the wonderfully simple strippenkaart in Amsterdam (from this date on we are subjected to getting ripped off by the OV-chipkaart). Anyway, if you still have some unused strippenkaarten laying around you can exchange these full cards (or a number of cards that total to a full card - 15 strippen) for a number of discounts; as well as receive an anonymous OV-chipkaart. Check out the announcement in Dutch here on the OV-chipkaart website.

So where to go:
1. Amsterdams Historisch Museum - 25% discount, print this voucher.
2. Museum Willet-Holthuysen - 25% discount, print this voucher
3. Museum Geelvinck 25% discount, print this voucher
4. Kinderboerderij Westerpark - free ice cream with this voucher
5. Museum Amsterdam Noord - 33% discount print this voucher
6. Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam 50% discount print this voucher
7. Tropenmuseum 20% discount print voucher
8. Cobra Museum free art card worth € 4.50 print voucher
9. Zaans Museum 20% discount print de voucher

22 March 2010

Open Ateliers Oost March 27 and 28th

On March 27th and 28th, 125 professional artists open their studios to the public in Amsterdam Oost for Open Ateliers Oost. Free entry into the studios, with some locations also hosting workshops, live performances, music, etc... Check out the program as well as the 'Hotspots' and details about the 'Deelnemers' (participants). The main exhibition hall, CBK Amsterdam at Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71, exhibits a collection of participants work, as well as a map and information about the diverse ateliers in Oost.

21 March 2010

Pure Markt is back!:) March 28th

One of my favorite events from last year is back- the Pure Markt; the opening weekend is next Sunday- March 28th! This is a monthly market with lekker eten (delicious food) mostly organic, as well as other local, sustainable goods, and live music. Check out the article I wrote about the Pure markt in the Amsterdam Spoke for more info.

@ Park Frankendael, Oost-Watergrafsmeer, last Sunday of the month March - August, 11.00 – 18.00, FREE, includes activities and crafts for kids.

Then mark your calendars for the rest of the year with markets on Sunday April 25, May 30 (which is also Dag van het Park), June 27; then a break over the vacation period, August 29. September 26 October 31 and the final Christmas market on December 19th.

19 March 2010

Amsterdam Noord/Zuid Lijn Uitkijkpunt

Did you know you can get a glimpse into the underbelly of the controversial Noord/Zuid Lijn? Every Tuesday - Sunday from 13.00 - 18.00 Uitkijkpunt Rokin (lookout point on the Rokin) is open for your viewing pleasure.

The lookout point is easy to find - near tram stop Spui on the Rokin a large piece of lighted scaffolding emerges from the bowels of the City. There is a small gated entrance gate with a security guy to monitor you:). It is a free self-guided tour of a finished building pit which will one day, possibly, be the home of a new metro. The tour includes pictures, history, and of course the view of the actual site.

For more info about the Noord/Zuid Lijn check out the official site.

the hiatus

A lot of people have been asking me about the status of Busy in Amsterdam. As you have probably noticed we have been on a sort of hiatus for the last few months and regrettably haven't informed you- the reader!:(

After working on the agenda for more than six months and simultaneously starting a new job the project got too big for me and required waaayyy too much of my time in order to sustain it in the way I had hoped. That being said, I still think it is important to do something with this site; especially because I continuously meet people- both Dutch and foreign that have no idea what is going on in this wonderful city!

So after some brainstorming I have decided to make posts about special events or interesting exhibitions on a post by post bias. So you will no longer get a weekly agenda but rather a few posts a week about what is going on. Furthermore I am in the process of inviting some guest bloggers to contribute their suggestions; which should hopefully make the site more robust. So keep a look out for some changes and please contact me if you are interested in writing some posts busyinamsterdam {at] gmail (dot) com.