Polanen, Houtrijkers and Other Neighbours

2025 / Museum Het Schip

NL

Museum Het Schip is located in the heart of the Spaarndammerbuurt in Amsterdam West. Yet for many local residents it remains unfamiliar territory, often perceived as a closed bastion — a place you don’t simply walk into.

With the exhibition Polanen, Houtrijkers and Other Neighbours, the museum aimed to lower that threshold and strengthen its connection with the surrounding community. In collaboration with the community centre De Horizon, De Salon, the Hebron Church, and through encounters on the street, I met dozens of local residents. The portraits reveal the diversity, stories and faces of the people who live around Het Schip every day.

By presenting these new portraits alongside the historical narratives in the museum, a dialogue emerged between the past and the present of the neighbourhood. During the exhibition, special open mornings were organised for local residents, allowing them to see themselves, neighbours and acquaintances in the photographs — and to get to know both each other and the museum in an accessible and informal way.