Posts Tagged With: Art

Sand sculptures (Or: Art in The Hague)

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Niki

A few days ago I came across another opportunity to do a sand-related post! The Hague has been celebrating Prinsjesdag this summer. One way they have been doing this is by creating a temporary sand art tourist attraction (read more in Dutch). This is quite similar to the photos I was able to grab in 2010 while here on vacation.

This year there were three sculptures done:

landing of Prince of Orange sand art The Hague

a sculpture capturing the arrival (“aankomst”) of William I in Scheveningen in 1813.

a sculpture of Willem I, with the older look on the left and a slightly more modern full body view on the right

200 jaar koninkrik sand art in The Hague

sand sculpture about Prinsjesdag 2014, with the golden carriage in the front and the modern skyline of The Hague behind (words below are “200 jaar koninkrijk” or a celebration of the Netherlands being a kingdom for 200 years).

a sideways look at all three sculptures together

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Art, Sculptures, Tourist attraction | 2 Comments

Dutch influence (Or: The color of carrots)

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Niki

I did have my usual Dutch lesson on Thursday, however we mostly did exercises from the book and not much extra work. The class ends around mid June, so we need to finish the current chapter we are on and then start to talk about the Staatsexamen (programma II). Because we need time to cover that, we are going through the text book faster.

Thus I’ll tell you a random fact that I was reminded of when reading my copy of The Book of General Ignorance. We all know that carrots are generally orange. However, they did start not out like that – before the 17th century they were purple, white and red.

So, what changed? In the 17th century the Dutch cultivated carrots to be orange by crossing them with other colors. Some say this was in tribute to the House of Oranje and Willem van Oranje (Willem from the House of Orange). He led the Dutch to a revolution for independence from the Spanish.

Carrot mosiacs by Ilona Fried

Categories: Culture | Tags: Art | Leave a comment

Odd Sculpture (Or: A different library)

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Niki

A few days ago I took a walk to a different library in The Hague — Transvaalkwartier library in Hobbemaplein. I needed to check out a audio book (luisterboek) that was not available in the Central Library. It was recommended to me by a friend. Of course, I downloaded the tracks onto my computer but still need to put them into iTunes and transfer them to my iPhone. I always need to take that extra step due to not having a CD drive in my netbook. So I can’t tell you how interesting the story is quite yet.

But on the way there I did come across an odd looking sculpture. I am not quite sure what the meaning is behind it but it was colorful enough.

Things have been going well since my last blog post. It’s only a few more weeks until Marco and I’s honeymoon (yay) and it is almost time to start planning holiday events and dinners. And of course we have to figure out when we are going to watch the new Thor movie coming out (cool), although I am definitely more excited for the next Hobbit movie in December.

I enjoyed my week off school (due to herfstvakantie/fall vacation) but tomorrow it is back to a normal week. The best part about not having classes was not having to quickly make dinner and then rush off. But now it’s back to the grind, it seems! Just kidding.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Art, Sculptures | Leave a comment

Blue (Or: Painting at the Centrale Bibliotheek)

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Niki

I saw this painting on display a few weeks ago at the Central Library in The Hague.

The crazy thing is you don’t see the “hidden” elements unless you are quite close by. Otherwise it just looks like blue with a hint of red.

Categories: Culture | Tags: Art, Libraries, Music | 2 Comments

Window paintings (Or: Dutch children’s library)

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Niki

I decided to take a few photos of the windows at the library where I work. It’s a small library staffed by volunteers, after the much larger neighborhood library had to close due to budgetary reasons. But at least this way the children have somewhere close by to check out books.

It is a bit hard to see from this angle, but in the right window you have a large green ‘B’ (since the word for library in Dutch is bibliotheek). The B is made up of lots of smaller Bs – look at the top to see it best.

A few random Dutch words I learned today:

coloring page = kleurplaat

glitter = glitter (spelled the same, but with the hardcore ‘g’ guttural sound)

I must also admit that the window above does not convey the prettiness of the yards (tuinen) outside the window. Very green!

Categories: The Hague, Working & Volunteering | Tags: Art, Libraries | Leave a comment

Unexpected art (Or: Car sideways on a building)

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Niki

I definitely wasn’t expecting to see this random bit of art when Marco and I were walking through Schilderswijk (= painter’s district) in the The Hague. One of the many neighborhoods.

What drew my eyes first were the arrows leading up…

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Art | 3 Comments

Muzenplein (Or: A face out of nowhere)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Niki

Great weather today! At least 20C/68F. So Marco and I went outside later in the afternoon when the weather would be warmest. We did some shopping and then made our way to Lebkov, a café.

Along the way we found ourselves at Muzenplein (somewhat close to Central Station). I took a pretty cool picture of…well:

Slightly unexpected. It reminds me of a very (very) large statue that fell into disarray, with only the face remaining. And also of the poem Ozymandias.

And some pictures of Lebkov from a few weeks ago during another coffee visit… what can I say, I liked the florescent pink rocks.

And the seating (fixed into the ground) and the sanding down of the concrete floor, like swirling marble. Very pretty.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Art, Cafes, Lebkov | Leave a comment

Gemeente Museum (Or: Delft blauw and other pieces)

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Niki

Yesterday I posted a picture of what Marco’s mother bought – two Delft blauw cat figurines. We went to the Gemeente Museum. Both tickets were free because I received a sleutelhanger (key ring) when I signed up for a library card at The Hague’s public library. The key ring is enough to get free admission (through March) for yourself as well as friends and family.

So we decided to make an afternoon of it, and have lunch there as well. Here are some of the pictures I took. (Mostly sculptures and other non-paintings, as you aren’t allowed to take pictures of paintings.)

First, my favorite piece, and also the first thing I laid eyes on:

Its color makes it very noticeable from across the room.

An example of Chinese blue and white porcelain, which was the inspiration for “Delft Blauw” or Delft blue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_and_white_porcelain

Continue reading →

Categories: Culture | Tags: Art, Museum | Leave a comment

In motion (Or: Spinning art in Rijswijk)

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Niki

Marco was able to get some good pictures of a curious looking art installation which was placed in Rijswijk near the Hoogvliet supermarket. I have included both pictures so you can see the motion of both the skaters and of the small ledges they stand on.

I really have no idea what the art is supposed to symbolize. Maybe it hypnotizes the viewers so that when they enter Hoogvliet they buy more…

Happy Friday, everyone!

Categories: Rijswijk | Tags: Art | Leave a comment

Fridays (Or: A welcome day off)

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Niki

I took today off, after having night shifts the other four days this week. How nice! Though of course Marco commented to me later about how I was still up and out the door by 8AM to get to the laundromat… but at least I don’t have to do that tomorrow.

Work has been kind of crazy, with various coworkers on vacation. I have spent more time covering the front desk in the last two weeks than the last half a year prior. And it’s less than a week to go before the students come back – eek! There is always so much to do, and never enough time.

I probably should be somewhat pensive today – since it was my choice to stay in the States until December. You see, if I had gone with the earlier option (leaving at the end of the yearly August-August contract rather than extending it one more semester), I would be leaving for the Netherlands in the next day or two. Admittedly things would have been easier if I had, but that wasn’t information I had at the time. But, tomorrow is 4 months to go (tentatively). So we are almost there.

On a different note, here’s some more local news from New York City. Check out this scaffolding.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Some areas of NYC now support artwork on their scaffolding. You can read more abut it and local law 11.

And on a final note I must add – because it might never happen again! – The Hague looks like it will be warmer than New York this weekend. Tomorrow New York won’t even hit 80F.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Art, New York City | 2 Comments