"She used to collect (read: steal) her mother's jewellery. Now she collects a Museum Night full of memories."
Iris van Dijk designs jewellery inspired by historical artefacts — the kind of objects that carry stories in their materials and forms. Her Museum Night route is a tour of beautiful things: decorative arts, applied design, and the craftsmanship of centuries. She's particularly drawn to the canal houses, where the objects on display were once part of a living domestic world.
Beautiful Objects
A route for people who love things — the weight of silver, the grain of wood, the glaze of a 17th-century tile. Iris's picks celebrate craft, decoration, and the objects that outlast their makers.
The Route
Go straight to the decorative arts galleries. The Delftware, the silver, the furniture — this is the collection that first made me want to be a maker.
View museumThe Willet-Holthuysen collection is full of extraordinary objects — porcelain, glass, silver — all in their original domestic setting. Magical.
View museumThe Van Loon family's collection of portraits and decorative arts is less well-known than Willet-Holthuysen but equally beautiful.
View museumPipes as objects of craft and beauty. The meerschaum collection on the top floor is extraordinary — carved portraits, animals, mythological scenes.
View museumA Golden Age canal house with a collection of historical musical instruments. The evening concert is included in the Museum Night ticket.
View museumPhotography as a craft. The current exhibition at Foam includes work by photographers who use analogue processes and handmade materials.
View museumThe design collection at the Stedelijk is the best in the Netherlands. Rietveld, Mondrian, Sottsass — the objects here changed the world.
View museumEnd the night with printmaking. The workshop is open and you can try the presses yourself. The smell of ink at midnight is unforgettable.
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