Emilia van Lynden of Unseen Amsterdam Photography Fair on her Adopted City
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Unseen Amsterdam spotlights what’s new in the globalized world of photography — be it a Greek photography collective in the CO-OP sector, an Iranian gallery at the fair, or a Polish publisher in the Book Market area. Heading into its seventh edition (SeptEmilia van Lynden of Unseen Amsterdam Photography Fair on her Adopted City
Unseen Amsterdam spotlights what’s new in the globalized world of photography — be it a Greek photography collective in the CO-OP sector, an Iranian gallery at the fair, or a Polish publisher in the Book Market area. Heading into its seventh edition (September 21-23), the fair returns to Westergasfabriek, a former gas-works factory turned creative complex, with a spectrum of Contemporary photographers, independent publishers, panel discussions about the medium’s evolution, and outdoor installations. Unseen’s artistic director, Emilia van Lynden, dispensed advice on where to go in the city. Notably: skirt the pitfalls of gentrification, enjoy the pleasures of a classic “brown cafe.”How long have you been living in Amsterdam?Seven years.What are your “can’t leave without seeing this” recommendations for the city?Amsterdam’s neoclassicism is one of its highlights; it’s full of phenomenal, intricate architectural details. I happen to have studied neoclassicism! I recently bought an architectural map of Amsterdam and went walking through the center to see the highlighted buildings’ ornamentation. People miss these details, because when you’re biking everywhere you have to focus on the road.Also the Royal Palace, built by Jacob van Campen, is phenomenal and right in the center. It’s vast, but people never go inside … Even locals don’t realize you can go inside.What is the most overrated thing people advise visitors to check out when they are in town?The neighborhood called De Pijp… it’s very typical, but so overly gentrified it has lost its atmosphere. I try never to go there. It’s still quite hip, and everyone flocks there for brunches, but it doesn’t reflect the diversity of Amsterdam.Where would you head for the best shopping?I recommend the Oud-West quarter, which is where I live. But a specific boutique I love is Athenaeum Boekhandel, a magazine/book shop. You can spend your whole weekend in there: they have limited edition magazines, books about fashion, fine arts, photography, lifestyle. They’ve got every great publication you would want!What’s an authentic item you could only buy locally?Really good eel, gerookte paling, which is just delicious and comes from the North Sea.And the truffle cheese — also fantastic.Where would you recommend people stay when they visit?Sir Adam Hotel, just across the water from Centraal station. It’s in the A’dam Toren, which was recently built. It’s got a phenomenal panoramic view — for Amsterdam it’s quite tall, at 22 floors. There aren’t any skyscrapers or tall buildings in the city. Otherwise, the Conscious Hotel has just opened in Westerpark near Unseen; that’s really nice.What are the best venues to check out exhibitions or collections in the city?The Royal Palace of Amsterdam, which I mentioned, is also a museum; they showcase architecture from the time of Napoleon. The Museum Van Loon is a 17th-century rich merchant house; they have the Great Masters, but also continued to collect through the centuries. They integrate Contemporary art in quite a traditional setting. They have a wonderful garden and a very typical coach house, where they also host artists in residency.If you walk around Jordaan, it’s the neighborhood where most of the Contemporary art galleries are; they’re almost all on Halsstraat. Foam is fantastic for viewing young practitioners of photography, which is close to Unseen’s mission. Huis Marseille is on same canal; they have a great show on now of portrait photographer Koos Breukel. Of course, the Rijksmuseum museum, which also has a beautiful library.What are the ideal spots to see live music?Paradiso. It’s an old church transformed into a club. They highlight a lot of the arts, performances as well as exhibitions.Do you have a favorite author who writes about Amsterdam in an especially evocative way?Russell Shorto’s “Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City.” It covers lots of different periods and gives you a really good idea of the city.What are your favorite spots to relax in after spending the day at the fair?Near Unseen, I like Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam. It’s not the most original name, but it has great bistro food—seafood, steak tartar—and great service.Further into town, I love Cafe de Wetering; it’s what we call a “brown cafe.” They only take cash, they serve beer or house wine, Dutch cheese and sausage. It’s tiny and super local; there’s a fireplace people sit around in the winter and play boardgames. It’s very cozy.What are you most looking forward to about this latest edition of Unseen?We’re showing over 300 artists, and there are fantastic exhibitions like Futures, a platform that features artists across Europe, from Romania to Spain to Ireland. We’re excited to see and meet the people we’ve engaged with in a digital way. Unseen is a very personal event: it shows the human being behind a body of work. It is special, relative to art events, because it is driven by this: the artists are present.And the Wersterpark, where Unseen is situated, is a really nice area: for families, or for anyone really. It houses our event, but they also put on art shows to fashion shows, food and music festivals. It’s a hub that really brings people together.http://www.blouinartinfo.comFounder: Louise Blouin p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #d81e00} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #232323} span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none} span.s2 {font-kerning: none} p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 11.0px} Read more