Visit to the Kunsthal Rotterdam and More

Monday October 22, was mainly sunny and a bit cooler.  High of about 15C.  Another good walking day in Rotterdam.

We took some morning photos at Citizen M.  Highly recommend it as a place to stay.

Alain in his new sweater from Rotterdam (styln' big time)

More of the common areas (living room) at Citizen M

Another view

We walked a few blocks to have breakfast at Noc Noc (Not Only Coffee).

Noc Noc

Inside of Noc Noc

Alain had yogurt and granola and I had a piece of avocado toast

 There was a college just down the street that had a copy of an old report card on its facade.

Report card on side of college.  Very cool.

We wandered through the Markthal for a few moments- hard to resist

We headed to the area called Museum Park where there are a number of museums.  Most are closed on Mondays, but luckily the Kunsthal was open this Monday as there is a school fall break.

We passed the Picasso in front of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen- one of the Netherlands oldest museums  which opened in 1849

We also passed the Het Nieuwe Instituut- Architecture, Design and Digital culture

An amazing museum is being built in the Museum Park- It is called the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and will be the world's first and only public depot that will make an entire collection accessible to the public.  It will open in 2020, right next to the older Boijmans museum.

This is what the Depot will look like when completed (picture from Internet)

Museum Park area is very pretty and quiet

Another view

Bird outside Museum of Natural History across from the Kunsthal Rotterdam

Sculpture outside the Kunsthal

The entrance to the Kunsthal building is on the lower level from the Park.  The Kunsthal Rotterdam is housed in a striking building designed by Rem Koolhaus in 1992.  The Kunsthal had seven temporary exhibits running in a number of exhibition halls and hallways of different sizes.  There are ramps leading to some exhibits and it is a wonderful building to visit.   We saw all the exhibits, but focussed on the main ones.

My photos are organized in order of the exhibits that we visited.  The first was Surf Tribe, with amazing photos by Belgian photographer Stephan Vanfleteren (b. 1969). For eighteen months, he travelled all over the world taking photos of surfers, whom have a deep respect for the ocean.

Tamaroaaril Kalama (b. 2006) Oahu, Hawaii

Mickey Munoz (b. 1937), Dana Point, California- one of most legendary surfers nicknamed "The Mongoose"

Archie Kalepa (b. 1964), Maui, Hawaii- typical example of an Hawaiian water man: a term used for someone whose life is spent largely in and on the water.

Stephanie Gilmore (b. 1988), Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia- "The best female surfer of all time."

Kelly Slater (b. 1972), Florida, US- Eleven fold World Champion.  Youngest and older World Champion ever.
Still competing.  GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

Dean Vandewalle (b. 2002), Knokke-Heist, Belgium/ Tamarindo, Costa Rico- listed by Surfer Magazine as one of the top 100 surfers of tomorrow - first Belgian surfer to receive full page coverage in the magazine.

The next exhibit we saw was a small one in a corridor entitled: Objectivity: The Art of Useful Things.  

This exhibit featured some of the collection of traditional tools and curious objects collected over the decades by British architect and teacher David Usborne.  In 2015, aged 78, he bequeathed his collection of over 1000 objects to the University of the Arts, London.  The exhibit focussed on the simple beauty of tools and utensils as incidental masterpieces of daily life.

Wall in the exhibit hallway with objects

The next exhibit we saw was a major exhibit entitled: Actie- Reactie (Action-Reaction): 100 Jaar Kinetische Kunst (100 years of Kinetic Art).

The retrospective exhibit had around 80 works of the most famous artists who made important contributions to the development of kinetic (moving) art, the abstract art movement from the 20th century focussing on light and movement.  After WWII, kinetic art played an important role.  A chance to experience art that appeals to all the senses.  Most of the pieces were from the 1960s-1980s.

François Morellet- 1989 Sphère-trame

Martha Boto, 1966-67, Diffractions lumineuses

Gunther Uecker, 1961-81, Kosmische Vision

Luis Tomasello, 1970, Atmosphère chromoplastique

Peter Sedgley, 1968, Light Pulse

Wolfgang Ludwig, 1964, Kinematische Scheiben XXX/5

Francis Celentano, 1968, Hexagonal Metamorphosis

Marina Apollonia, 1968, Dinamica circolare 6s

Philippe Decrauzat, 2008, Shut and open at the same time

Jesús Rafael Soto, Pénétrable de Lyon [detail], 1988

Having fun in the exhibit

Moi aussi

Hans Haacke, 1964-65, Blaues Segal  (the fan created the movement in the cloth)

There was another small exhibit in a hallway with the work of Nazif Lopulissa entitled: Playgrounds.

Nazif Lopulissa (b. 1991) is an award-winning Rotterdam artist.  Playgrounds is a personal exploration of an important phenomenon from his childhood.  For this exhibit, he presented a series of works in which he investigates playground components.  It was a very interesting exhibit and part of the Kunsthal's talent development programme called "Kunsthal Light".

Another exhibit featured the work of Susan Barnett entitled: T-Shirt Truth.  

Susan Barnett worked with many artists, including Alexander Calder when she worked at the Perls Galleries in New York.  After the gallery closed in 1997, she opened her own gallery. In 2004, in a freak accident she lost sight in her right eye.  In 2009,  she embarked on a project which has lasted nine years so far, using her father's old Leicaflex, taking portraits of people who stand out for the social statements and messages on their T-shirts.  She asks her subjects to turn their back to her for the photographs.  Alain and I saw her work in March 2018 at an exhibit at London's Fashion and Textile Museum about the history of the T-shirt.  Barnett has amassed more than 2000 images and a first book based on her series "Not In Your Face" was recently published.

King Kong in New York 2013

I Wear What I Want 2014

I will save the world 2011

Turn off your TV 2016

The Tree 2012

The final exhibit we saw was entitled Hugo Claus: Con Amore.  Hugo Claus (1929- 2008), was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms.  His literary contributions spanned the genres of novels, drama and poetry.  His best known novel is The Sorrow of Belgium. He also was a painter and film director.  He had Alzheimers in his last years, and died by euthanasia in 2008.

It was a very eclectic exhibit.  Marc Didden (b. 1949), a Belgian film director and author of a 2013 book on Claus wrote all the texts for the exhibit.  It featured works from different periods of his career-- paintings, drawings, film excerpts and books.  He was educated from an early age at a Catholic boarding school and lived in Belgium during the German invasion of the country in World War II.  Several of his teachers were right-wing nationalists and Claus was swayed into supporting the pro-German Flemish fascist youth movement.  He became a sympathizer of the political left as he got older.  His first novel was published in 1950.  He lived in Paris from 1950-52 and in Italy from 1953-1955.

Untitled

We really enjoyed our visit to the Kunsthal and would highly recommend their innovative exhibits.

Visiting the rabbits outside the Museum

Moi aussi

The outside of the Kunsthal- Rem Koolhaus architect

After visiting the rabbits, we went to Hopper Café for a late lunch

Inside of Hopper Café

On our way back to the hotel for a rest, we passed the Tourist Office and got some more brochures. They had a short film and some displays about Rotterdam.   There were three interesting photos of the City.  The first was of Rotterdam in 1932-- a very happening place with beautiful buildings and lots of jazz; then came 1940 when the city was almost destroyed in a matter of days due to the Nazi bombing.  There was a photo of Rotterdam in 1946-almost no buildings in sight.  The final picture was of Rotterdam in 2015, with many new buildings.

3D printed replica of the statue of Erasmus ( a thinker, and one of Rotterdam's most famous citizens born in 1467)- outside of the Tourist office

Another interesting building

Witte Huis (White House) built in 1898 in the Art Nouveau style is a National Heritage Site.  It was the first high-rise building in Europe and is one of the few buildings in central Rotterdam to survive the German bombing.

We rested a bit and then headed out for dinner.  

Markthal at night- straight ahead view

View with Ferris Wheel

We were tired and didn't want to go far for dinner.  We decided to have Vietnamese food at Pho Hanoi, a neighbourhood place run by two Vietnamese sisters.  The place was busy for a Monday night.

Pho Hanoi

We had a wonderful day in Rotterdam.  Lots to see and do.  Wide boulevards, separate bike lanes, greenery, very friendly people and lots of amazing architecture and art.