Amsterdam delight

I loved Amsterdam.




The last time I went there, I was a pot smoking teenager with no ambition. (just look at me now!) Back then, I loved Amsterdam for a whole lot of other reasons, but this time it was for the concentration of contemporary jewellery, the beauty of the city and how it felt like a ‘toy’ town, the friendliness of the inhabitants and the plethora of kitsch clog souvenirs.




Unfortunately my visit coincided with Object in Rotterdam so both Galerie Ra and Galerie Rob Koudijs were closed – bummer! Rotterdam is only a short train ride from Amsterdam but the exhibition opened 2 hours before my return flight to Tallinn. I got to look in their windows but it’s really not the same.

Another town only a short train ride (an hour and a half) from Amsterdam, is Nijmegen– the home of Galerie Marzee.




Fortunately Marzee was open and I was able to see exhibitions by Karin Seufert, David Clarke, Wiebke Meurer and Karola Torkos and a show by the students of the Munich Academy.



that's David Clarke's work in the foreground.

Marzee is amazing. 3 floors of jewellery joy. Including the Marzee collection which is the gallery’s collection of contemporary jewellery on permanent display. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take photos of the jewellery but the collection is very substantial and I spent a fascinating couple of hours going through the drawers.


the home of the Marzee collection: over 200 drawers!

I was also able to stock up on some catalogues and I even bought 2 brooches! One by Flora Magi




and the other by Mah Rana.


I only got one but it's in a container on a ship steaming it’s way to Melbourne from Europe so I nicked this photo from the innernet.


Back in Amsterdam, Galerie Louise Smit was also open and I was able to see a beautiful exhibition All Else Imaginable by Helen Britton. I am in awe of her imagination. The brooches are seemingly complicated constructions but every aspect is thoughtfully assembled to form these fantastic compositions.




I also managed to spend more of my Euro here and bought a neckpiece by Christoph Zellweger BUT unfortunately it’s in the same container as the Mah Rana pin so I can’t photograph it but it looks something like this.



And, yes, obviously I'm back in the country and I have so far escaped the depressed hole into which I thought I would fall. There's lots of catch up on the way.