This summer, the Amsterdam Museum shows a special 40
meter carpet runner in the Schutters Gallery; a gallery of the
Amsterdam Museum that shows large 17th century paintings of
marksmen. The carpet is designed by Barbara Broekman and produced
by Desso, and is a part of Barbara's exhibition 'My City: a
celebration of diversity'. The exhibition includes this carpet,
Jacquard woven wall panels and embroidery panels. Yesterday,
Thursday 28 June, the carpet installation was presented and opened
by Jan-Jaap van der Wal, a well-known stand-up comedian in the
Netherlands.
What is special about this work of art, is that it
represents all 179 nationalities that live in Amsterdam. Textile
artist Barbara Broekman has researched the nationalities of
Amsterdam and the textiles of their countries of origin for ten
years. She brought a variety of characteristic details from
clothing, carpet, flags and table-cloths together in a 3.2x40 meter
Axminster woven carpet runner, which Desso produced and
sponsored.
The carpet supports the permanent exhibition of the museum called
'Amsterdam DNA', which presents Amsterdam and its diversity in
demographics throughout the centuries. It is intended to draw the
attention in the public debate away from the 'us' versus 'them'
discussion. It shows that there is not one 'them' and that all
nationalities in Amsterdam together represent a diverse and
versatile world which should be celebrated.
'My City: a celebration of diversity' in the Schutters Gallery of
the Amsterdam Museum can be visited free of charge until 1 February
2013. For more information, please visit www.amsterdammuseum.nl or
www.barbarabroekman.nl.
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