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The "Hermitage Amsterdam"
exhibition center  
On 28 February 2004 the Hermitage's new exhibition center in Amsterdam first opened its doors to the public. Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, the official Patron of the Hermitage's branch in Amsterdam, attended the festive opening ceremony. Opposite the entrance to the new museum, a fireworks display was put on over the canal, reproducing the historic show which Amsterdam arranged in 1697 in honor of the arrival of Peter the Great in Holland. Amsterdam and St Petersburg are bound together by firm historical and cultural links which were forged by Peter I during the visit of his Great Embassy in 1697. The history of the relations between the Hermitage and the Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam's main exhibition center) is much more recent: cooperation between the museums began in the mid-1990's. The first joint project was devoted to youngsters. Schoolchildren taking part in Hermitage programs not only began to correspond with their coevals in Holland but met with them - both in Amsterdam and in St Petersburg. They stayed with families, visited the museums together and became acquainted with the city tourist sites, made drawings and played music together. At about this time the first temporary exhibitions from the Hermitage collections began to appear in the Nieuwe Kerk. The very first exhibition, Scythian Gold, was a huge success. Next came the exhibitions entitled Catherine the Great and Islam. The last exhibition held in the Nieuwe Kerk building was From the Hermitage with Love. Following the opening of the Hermitage Amsterdam, all new Hermitage exhibitions are organized in the Neerlandia building, though soon they will be staged in the Amstelhof building. We will speak about the history of these buildings below. The State Hermitage is the first Russian museum to have created and launched a Friends' Society. The objective of this Society is to provide charitable assistance for the preservation and development of one of the world's most important museums. The Foundation Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands is an organization of this kind and it was founded in the Netherlands in 1994 as a result of the successful collaboration between the Hermitage and the Nieuwe Kerk. Until recently the President of the Foundation was Ernst Veen, who was at the same time the director of the Nieuwe Kerk. The Foundation sponsored many projects in support of the Hermitage both in the Netherlands and in St Petersburg. For example, when Hermitage exhibitions were shown in the Nieuwe Kerk, one dollar from the price of each entrance ticket was turned over to a program for developing the Hermitage. Thanks to this a number of museum projects received financial support, including the educational programs for children. In March 2004 Mr. Erik Beelaerts van Blockland was elected President of the Foundation Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands and Ernst Veen is now the director of the Hermitage Amsterdam, which is what the Hermitage's exhibition center in Amsterdam is called. The State Hermitage has carried out a number of renovation projects thanks to support from the Foundation Hermitage Friends. The first such project, A New Roof and New Lighting for Rembrandt, was jointly implemented. The Dutch side made the architectural plans, brought in and installed a new roof over the room, as well as new lighting. Hermitage specialists carried out the renovations necessary to restore the hall's interior decoration. In 1998 the Rembrandt room was officially opened by Prince Willem- Alexander following completion of the restoration work. The second project was called A New Roof and New Lighting for the Dutch Masters - 2000. This project resulted in the installation of a new roof over 12 rooms, including the Tent Room. During the restoration process, the room's interior decoration was recreated and the lighting system was replaced. New display cases were placed in the room and presently these are used to exhibit miniatures (masterpieces which previously could not be shown to the general public). Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands took part in the official festivities surrounding the opening of the restored rooms. At this time, in the presence of Her Majesty, Mikhail Piotrovsky and Ernst Veen signed a Protocol of Intent "On the Opening of a Branch of the State Hermitage in Amsterdam." At present the Dutch Friends are financing the project of the restoration of the Dutch paintings for Petrovskaya Gallery of the Maly Hermitage building. The boldest project to date is the creation of the Hermitage Amsterdam exhibition center. The objective of the project is to make the Hermitage collections as accessible as possible for the greatest number of visitors. This assumes not only the organization of temporary exhibitions in Russia and abroad, but also the creation of permanent exhibition centers for the Hermitage abroad. The Hermitage Rooms in London and an exhibition center in Las Vegas were opened earlier. The idea of opening a branch of the Hermitage in the Netherlands arose at the end of the 1990's during a visit by the director of the Hermitage to Amsterdam for the opening of an exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk. As Ernst Veen explains, he and Mikhail Piotrovsky took a stroll along the banks of the Amstel river and the director paid attention to the beauty of one old mansion. This building was erected in 1683 and in the middle of the 19th century the Neerlandia building was built alongside. Until recently this complex was used as an old age home and was called the Amstelhof. The building was erected by the Dutch Reformed Church and remained in its possession. In the mid-90's the directors of the old age home had written to the Amsterdam municipal authorities asking to be given a building better suited to their needs. Moreover, the church representatives expressed the wish that this historic building not be turned into a hotel or some similar establishmentd the wish that the municipal authorities asking for in the Nieuwe Ki. It was also necessary to obtain the consent of residents of the houses near the Amstelhof and this agreement was received. What could be better than a branch of the Hermitage in the Amstelhof building? The Foundation Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands approached the municipal authorities with this proposal and the idea found support. This led to the creation of the Foundation Hermitage on the Amstel headed by Mikhail Piotrovsky. The project met with the full support of the Dutch authorities. Sponsors ready to finance the project were found and preparatory work to implement the project was begun. Each phase of the work was featured in the press and was discussed by Russian and Dutch specialists. For example, negotiations with the Amsterdam museums led to the decision against organizing exhibitions in the Amstelhof which might compete with the collections of Dutch museums. The exhibition activity of the new center should instead complement the permanent collections of the Dutch museums. The entire organizational work provides an example of the kind of international cooperation which is an essential aspect of museum life nowadays. On the basis of expert examination, specialists came to the conclusion that reconstruction of the building will cost approximately 40 million Euros. Moreover, it appeared that there were delays in moving the old age home to new facilities. For these reasons the management of the Foundation decided to implement the project in several phases and thus avoid any delay in opening the Hermitage Amsterdam. The Neerlandia building - an annex of the Amstelhof - was vacated by 1 April 2003. A plan for its reconstruction was elaborated by the well-known architect Hubert-Jan Henket. Wim Crouwel, an outstanding interior designer who is a consultant to the Foundation, took charge of the restoration of the interiors. Here is what the Hermitage Amsterdam looks like today: The pediment of the building bears the logotype of the State Hermitage. As they enter the museum, guests encounter a plaque with the "Rules of Conduct in the Hermitage" established by Catherine the Great. Six exhibition halls are located on the first and second floors. The Information Center which is also there presents information about St Petersburg, the Hermitage and its current as well as soon-to-be opened temporary exhibitions. The Information Center is equipped with computers and visitors can access the Hermitage site and also enroll in the Friends' Society of the Hermitage online. On the third floor there are classes for children and a lecture hall. A cafe and souvenir kiosks are situated on the ground floor. The building is fully air conditioned and has all necessary security and fire-fighting equipment. The first exhibition which was held in the newly opened Hermitage halls in Amsterdam was Greek Gold from the State Hermitage Treasure Room. The public took a great interest in the new museum from the very first days of its operation: the number of visitors had to be restricted, since the dimensions of the exhibition rooms did not make it possible to receive all art lovers at once. An impressive line formed before the museum building...Journalists wrote about the event enthusiastically: the Hermitage Amsterdam was accepted into the museum community by the other local museums. The opening of Greek Gold marked the start of the new museum's educational activities, which are coordinated with the research staff of the State Hermitage. A series of lectures was organized around the theme of the exhibition. The second exhibition, Nicholas and Alexandra, opened on 18 September 2004 and enjoyed great success. Each day more than 900 people visited it. By October 2004, the number of visitors had reached 8,000. A special program has been organized for school-age children. It was created by Dutch teachers using materials provided by the State Hermitage staff. At first the children are assisted by their teachers to get to know Russia and St Petersburg; they receive some rudimentary information about the Hermitage. Then they receive an introduction to the topic of the latest exhibition; this can mean, for example, studying the mythology of Ancient Greece as a preparation for a visit to the Greek Gold exhibition. Only after this preliminary course work do the children go to the museum, where other teachers familiarize them with the exhibition. After that the school children relate and discuss their opinions about the exhibition. It should be mentioned that only children are permitted to visit the Hermitage rooms with guides; other visitors do not have such a possibility. When they return to their art studio (or atelier, as it is customarily called in Holland), the children themselves prepare replicas of the exhibits. Thus, they made "jewelry" from paper, carton, ribbons, etc relating to the Greek Gold exhibition. At the very end there is a competition, and the winners are invited to take supplemental courses for gifted children. Nonetheless, each and every one is rewarded with praise. Activities like this are organized around every exhibition. After the reconstruction of the Amstelhof, the entire Neerlandia building will be turned over to children. This will be called the Children's Hermitage or the Hermitage for Children - the final name has not yet been chosen. There will be four exhibitions more in the Neerlandia building pending the opening of the Amstelhof, the main exhibition center of the Hermitage in Amsterdam. The chief task now before the architects is reconstruction of the Amstelhof, which is a 17th century building. The end result of this reconstruction will be a museum with spacious exhibition rooms that can accommodate large-size works of art. The building will be fitted with rest areas for visitors, staff rooms, convenient entrances for the public and there should be vehicular access. Each phase of the reconstruction of the Amstelhof is discussed with experts from the State Hermitage. Not a single fundamental decision is taken without the prior agreement of the Museum's top management. The last inhebitant left the building on the 1st of April, 2007. The reconstruction work bigan on the 14 May 2007 and is planned to be completed in spring 2009. The senior management of the Hermitage and its curators are already discussing plans for staging large exhibitions in the Amstelhof building to display a greater number of art works. |
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