Binnen was Buiten
De Sandbergvleugel Amsterdam
- An accessible and critical book about an important place in Amsterdam’s cultural history
- NB: This publication is only available in Dutch
Author: Paul Kempers
Design: Roosje Klap
Series: AL AMSTERDAM
2010, Valiz | supported by Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten, The Netherlands Foundatiion for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB), Mondriaan Foundation, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, De Gijselaar-Hintzenfonds | paperback | 224 pp. | 19 x 17 cm (h x w) | Dutch | ISBN 978-90-78088-44-8
During the fifties of the last century, a modest building of glass and concrete arose at the Van Baerlestraat in Amsterdam, which would stir a lot of debate. This new wing of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam was initiated by director Willem Sandberg, whose radical ideas about art presentation received praise and criticism in equal measure. In Binnen was Buiten, art historian and publicist Paul Kempers describes the history of the building that was demolished in 2006, and which had been the embodiment of the democratic, open museum for a long time. During his research on the history of the Sandbergvleugel, Kempers talked to Sandberg experts and Amsterdam-based artists, and collected reactions to the demolishment. In his critical, accessible account of the Sandbergvleugel, he contributes to the on-going discussion about the function of the museum for contemporary art in the twentyfirst century.
Paul Kempers is an art historian and publicist. He has written for magazines such as De Groene Amsterdammer and Vrij Nederland. He also wrote monographs on the Amsterdam-based artist Oey Tjeng Sit and theatre company Alex d'Electrique.