Art Zoo Amsterdam

 

May 5 Art Zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands

In Amsterdam, there's a small taxidermy gallery with artfully preserved specimens meant to evoke a “Wunderkamer” (Room of Wonder, or cabinet of curiousities). This Art Zoo is created by a pair of artists called Darwin, Sinke & Van Tongeren (Yes, Two artists, that incorporate Darwin into their name to honor the role of a naturalist in preserving and sharing the wonders of nature). I went for the birds, and to show the boys the dinosaurs. 

‘Stan’ the replica t-rex was curled so he fit in one room, just barely. He shared it with blackened skeletons of birds, an anteater, an ape, and curiously, a purse made of lab-grown dinosaur leather. 

The temporary exhibition ‘RELICS is a collection of gigantic fossils that was transformed into contemporary artworks’. A triceratops skull hung suspended over delicate coral. A mosasaurus skull stood like the globe in the middle of a giant's bone crown. There was also a seemingly un-altered Elephant Bird, a suspended mammoth tusk, and a beautiful cabinet of huge crystals. 

My favorite room was the Dark Salon, modeled after Victorian Era aviaries. There was so much to see! It was dark and the specimens lit just so, son you really had to focus on them to see them. Pictures are fairly terrible representations of the exhibit actually, but I took them anyway. Every kind of beautiful bird that would have been relentlessly hunted for its plumage was represented. The tour (and website) dutifully notes that all specimens are ethicaly sourced and did not die for the purpose of this museum. Hobbit loved the Big Cats: tiger, cheetah, even a black panther. Nemo, found this room the most boring. I would have spent 4x more time there just to really See everything. 

A gorgeous Tulip room, where shelves of specimen jars evoke the grisly rows of preserved animals but instead show colorful and beautifully arranged tulips. It had a magical feel to it all. Contrasting, a cramped workroom showing a typical taxidermist workshop. 

There was a ton of seashell bird art (mostly on the ceiling). I loved all of it. It strangely had a lit of scalpel blades as leaves on vines or even feathers. I'm sure there's a deep meaning somewhere but it just looks nice when you take a step back. 

The cafe was nice, and the boys enjoys the historic yard and the weird head-gazebo (which Nemo decided was a successful Merlin trial). 

Then they just about walked in the river fountain thing, so it was definitely time to go!