You can’t walk through Amsterdam for two minutes without coming across a work of art. Art in public space beautifies its surroundings and serves as a point of orientation. It adds character and atmosphere to a location, tells something about the history of a place or its inhabitants. Sculptures, murals and installations indicate: you are here.
Public art is not static. Meaning and use are constantly shifting. Especially now the debate is raging over the question of who public space actually belongs to, who deserves a place in it, and what we can or even must do with it.
Using concrete, contemporary examples, this book examines and reflects on the role of art in the city’s public space. The potential of the ‘Amsterdam collection’ is laid bare, but so are its sore points. Above all, the authors aim to inspire readers to look more closely. So that even on a short walk we can say: this could only exist here.
With contributions by: Amal Alhaag, Rabiaâ Benlahbib, Jeroen Boomgaard, Edo Dijksterhuis, Jan Willem Kaldenbach, Claudia Linders, Radna Rumping, Suzanne Sanders, Hanna ’t Sas, Sandra Smets and Annemarie de Wildt.