Pastel colors: a very short cultural history Dreamy pastel colors take us back to our childhood where toy’s like My Little Pony, Barbie, and our beloved candies shared this same sugary color. Want to escape reality? Go for pastels! From…
Napoli, mi amor! Last April, Thomas and I were looking for a city trip destination somewhere in Europe. Quickly, we came up with the idea to go to Naples. Next to the fact that my heart always beats a little…
Modern & contemporary art of Maria Keil Exposição “Maria Keil, itinerários artísticos”, was the text on the poster in front of Igreja da Misericórdia de Silves during our trip through the south of Portugal two years ago. I can’t speak…
Bali: the final destination of our Asian tour Last weekend, Bali came to my mind. The Dutch days are slowly getting brighter and so is my mood and energy level. I’m done with this rainy winter, so I held a big…
From New Amsterdam with love Paloma Faith sang: Her name was New York, New York. She had poisoned your sweet mind. Well, in a parallel universe she wrote these lyrics while having me in her mind, because I’m getting a sort…
Dazzling Amsterdam light festival during the dark winter days For centuries, light is one of the main sources of inspiration for artists. Besides the creation of the ‘divine light’ through the stained glass windows of medieval cathedrals, the dramatic chiaroscuro…
Dear Big Apple, how is it possible that once you enter your territory… You’re HOOKED! I mean, New York, come on! That architecture, the arts, the positive vibe e-ve-ry-where.. And WHOLE FOODS (where are you in Amsterdam!? I.MISS.YOUUU.)! Yep, it…
When my friend Alexandra Nederlof called me two days before the opening of New for Now telling me she got me two tickets for the opening, I was (to put it mildly) in a hysterical state of mind because: A. It’s an…
Top 5 Parisian gastronomy: bars and restaurants Parisian gastronomy is world famous. Actually, some historians say that Paris is the birthplace of the Haute Cuisine. The process that made France a culinary world of its own began in 1651 with the publication of…
In my former life I must have been a Parisienne and my name was Marjolaine. Paris and I have a mutual love affair that dates back to another time. Probably la Belle Époque or the Roaring Twenties because I’m sure…
Rotterdam Highlights part 3 If you know me well enough, I don’t need to explain that I’m an addict for pavement cafes and traditional alehouses. You can blame it on my roots… If you’re born in the South of the…
Zwaanshals is a street in the Old North district of Rotterdam. Together with the streets Zaagmolendrift, Zaagmolenkade and Noordplein, Zwaanshals is thé upcoming shopping and food district of Rotterdam. The term is the Dutch translation of Swan’s neck and is probably…
Highlights of Rotterdam part 1 Me and Rotterdam, or should I say Roffa, go way back. My best friend lives there, so since my student years you can find me a lot drinking in cool bars and visiting outstanding art…
It took Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli almost 10 years to complete their dream project: a public art venue to exhibit all their collected works of art. On Saturday the 9th of May Fondazione Prada finally opened its door to…
Kuching, city of CATS on the island full of jungles and the famous DUTCH (noseeeee) monkeys! We left Perhentian paradise at 8 AM by water taxi to Kuala Besut and ordered a minibus to Kota Bharu airport for 70 ringgit (18…
Dream world of Jean-Paul Goude In my head I almost hear Jean-Paul Goude scream: AAAAAND ACTION! Dramatic music from the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is turned on and a female choir is loudly shrieking melodramatic lines in harmony. Lines which are partly based…
5 AM: on our way from George Town to Pulau Perhentian Besar. I closed my eyes and saw Gerard Joling (a famous Dutch singer) sing my favorite tropical song everrrr ♫ Gonna buy me a ticket to the TROPICS ♫ We were…
Looking through the lens of Koos Breukel Why? I still ask myself WHY!? Why did I NOT go to the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam during Museumnacht 2 years ago. Apart from the fact that it’s an amazing museum, one of my…
HOTSPOTTED: C • T coffee & coconuts in Amsterdam Ultimate green palm trees, fresh coconuts and in your imagination (or at least in mine) you see monkey’s swinging around on the ropes which in fact are holding the tables up. Big…
Bye Cameron Highlands, hi Penang! George Town, to be more specific! We got up at 7.15 AM, checked out, had breakfast (bananananana pancake!), took the bus at 9 AM and arrived 5 hours later in Malaysia’s street art capital: George…
HOTSPOTTED Morgan & Mees in Amsterdam It all comes together at Morgan & Mees. The neoclassical building, the robust yet classic interior design, the super friendly staff and the delicious menu! I love playing tourist in my own city and I…
March 1951. A three-page spread on Jackson Pollock was published in Vogue titled American Fashion: The New Soft Look. Sir Cecil Beaton, one of the most praised British portrait photographers ever, had taken the photos in which Pollock’s radical and dazzling…
Images did and still do have an enormous power over the human psyche. As we examine art images in (especially) world religions, one of the most significant symbols used to express the nature of the divine is the cloud. In Mesopotamian, Egyptian…
Coolly Cameron Highlands The night before we left Kuala Lumpur for the Cameron Highlands, Thomas and I thought it would be a great idea to go ‘clubbing’ in Changkat Bukit Bintang. This avenue resembles to the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam, which is only…
Dive into the world of Contemporary Design Yesterday evening. 7 PM. I almost saw Leonardo on the foredeck shouting out: I’m the king of the Woooooorrrrrrld! Massive Titanic brainwave! Nothing could be further from the truth. What I really saw was the fantastic…
Selamat datang ke Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Honeeeeeey, were going to Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo! What do I need to take with me? A couple of shorts, long pants, but not too much because it is HOT out there! Heels? No of…
Untouched by time Bruges is by far the best place in Belgium that preserved its totally ancient appearance with its intricate network of canals. Bruges: Venice of the North. A mega cliche, but oh so true. When you wander through the small streets…
The ExPRADAmental art of Fondazione Prada Wow, time flies. It’s almost 4 years ago that I graduated with honors for my master’s in Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Amsterdam. My thesis? It’s called: ‘ExPRADAmental Art. The integration of contemporary…
Lift me up to the sky One look at the surrealistic series Flying Houses of Laurent Chehere (1972, Paris) and the Pixar movie UP comes to mind. A movie in which a retired man named Carl ties balloons to his…
Are you a real book lover? Check out the amazing Palácio de Mafra! From Sintra it was a 25-minute drive. It exceeded all my expectations! When you arrive in the petite village of Mafra with all its small houses, you…
The Dutch version of Pierre Hermé Paris Patisserie Linnick is the newest pastry hot spot in Amsterdam! This industrial styled Valhalla full of sweet delights opened its doors on September 12th just around the corner of my apartment. I don’t have a sweet…
Vahram Muratyan’s minimalistic visualization of his two loved ones The double-decker macaron from Ladurée next to the honey-sweet cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. Marc Jacobs from Bleecker Street says hi to Karl Lagerfeld in Rue Cambon. Proust’s Le temps retrouvé and…
Baroque to the top The location of this extremely cool palácio is around 15 minutes from Lisbon. Here, literally everything breathes the Portuguese history of the 18th and 19th century. Palácio Nacional de Queluz was built around 1747 under the leadership of…
MOOB, the reversed word of boom which means tree in Dutch, is a design label that’s specialized in creating wood slices. All the slices are made of common oak wood (Quercus Robur) derived from different Dutch forests. The wood is sustainably…
Last stop at the end of continental Europe Palácio de Monserrate The last palace we visited in Sintra was Palácio de Monserrate. The history of this palace dates back to the times of the Moors, but it takes its name…
The Disney-like palace of Sintra On the highest peaks of the Serra de Sintra stands the spectacular Palácio da Pena, an eclectic hodgepodge of architectural styles which had been build in the 19th century for the husband of the young…
‘But really, why do you study art history?!’ When I decided to study art history at the University of Utrecht in 2004, a lot of people asked me why the hell on earth I chose a study with absolutely NO (no,…
The perfect blend in supporting brand experiences Nowadays projections on buildings aren’t the ones American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer produced in 1996. Today projected messages on architectural structures are not only carried out in words and pictures but transcended by complete dynamic 3D…
The adoption desk of Dutch heritage Yep, that’s me on the picture and this down here is going to be my promotional ‘talk’ about the foundation I work for, namely: Stichting Onterfd Goed (ENG: The Foundation of Disinherited Goods). Stichting Onterfd Goed started…
In the summer of 2013 me and my boyfriend went on a road trip through Portugal. The costa de Lisboa, to be more specific. As befits real tourists, we bought the ‘Capitool reisgids’ of Lisbon, planned our trip for 10…
