On the table lies a dead man’s body. His stomach is empty, his brain is visible. Behind him stands a man, whose head is missing. His hands perform a section on the brain of the corpse. On the left stands a second person. He carefully follows the actions of the man behind the corpse. In […]
Author: Public History Student
Behind the meaning of loneliness
“The time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony.” Writer Douglas Coupland describes the feeling of loneliness in a striking way. It’s an emotion that every person has to deal with on an individual level. However, it’s also a collective emotion of the community. It gives […]
The Pink Triangle: from badge of shame to symbol of self-identity
Each year thousands of people visit the Homomonument in Amsterdam to celebrate the pride, social and self-acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The monument consists of three large pink triangles that form a bigger triangle. It was built to commemorate everyone who had died because of their sexual orientation. Nowadays, the pink triangle has become a […]
Women’s Emancipation: the Controversial Intertwining of Feminism and Socialism
Museum Singer Laren is currently hosting the exhibition De Nieuwe Vrouw (The New Women). De Nieuwe Vrouw tells the story of the changing social positions of women, reflected in Dutch art. But is there such a thing as the ‘new woman’? And should we call her an emancipated or a modern woman? One work of art stands out: […]
The (de)normalization of Zw*rte Piet in children’s toys
Our generation has the last active memory of the normalization of Zwarte Piet. I remember growing up and being completely oblivious to the historically racist character that Zwarte Piet portrayed. Zwarte Piet was an essential part of Sinterklaas and that was all I could see as a child. Nowadays I get extremely uncomfortable when I […]
Chet Baker: Remembering the Prince of Cool
On the 13th of May 1988, the “Prince of Cool”, commonly known as American jazz artist Chesney (Chet) Baker, was found dead. Fallen from the window of his second-floor hotel room in the Prins Hendrik Hotel in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The then 58-year-old’s bloodstream revealed traces of heroin and cocaine. To commemorate the musical innovator, […]
A Hair-Raising Idea? Using Human Hair in Jewelry
What would you do if one of your loved ones died? I’m willing to guess that ‘use their hair to make a nice pair of earrings’ probably wasn’t your first thought. Many Victorians would be inclined to disagree. See that brown netting? That’s human hair, intricately braided and set and decorated with gold fittings. […]
Jaipur Foot: Moving the Boundaries of Medicine
Western medicine and science has been responsible for the saving and improving the lives of millions of people all around the world. The successes of Western medicine have led it to be viewed, at least here in the Western world, as superior to other forms of medicine and the only one to be practiced. But […]
Room for thought
In the Eerste Leliedwarsstraat in Amsterdam, you will find a very small museum dedicated to the influential Dutch writer Theo Thijssen (1879-1943). But the museum does not pay enough attention to its most precious possession: the exhibition space itself. Theo Thijssen wrote several books that became part of the Dutch national canon, with ‘Kees de […]
The Fatal Cry: Mandrakes in Medieval Medicine Book
In order to pluck this plant, you need three things: a, preferably, sick dog, a bowl of food and a leash. Tie your dog to the plant with the leash. Give your dog one last hug. Walk as far away as possible, but not too far! Your dog still needs to hear you. Then place […]