Museums You Ought to See in 2020
Good news, everyone! We made it to 2020! If you’re trying to figure out how to maximize adventures//discoveries for the year, allow me to recommend a few museums I am, or would be, excited to visit this year. Some of these are huge, world-renown museums, and some of these are smaller institutions, doing some cool stuff that is worth checking out if you find yourself in their area.
Stedelijk Schiedam Museum
Schiedam, The Netherlands
*website available in English
This museum is making serious effort to create audience engagement opportunities and a community center.
WHY IT’S AWESOME
This is one of my favorite museums, they have interesting exhibits; awesome, cohesive branding; and they are all about community. Upon walking into the lobby, one is greeted by a “Pay What You Think Its Worth//What You Can” sandwich buffet and DIY coffee//tea bar. During my last stay in the Rotterdam, I would take the tram over to work on my laptop and drink coffee. Also check in with them if you live in the area and need someone to sit your beloved plants over the summer holidays; they had a “Plantvakantie” scheme last summer.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO, NOW
The museum currently has an exhibition on modesty in fashion as well as displaying Mark Rothko’s 1960 Grey, Orange and Maroon, No. 8 in an exhibition called “Rothko & Ik”, which has been extended until March 22, 2020. If the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel are too busy//too far away for you, this is the exhibit you want.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Be prepared, make sure your laptop is charged… there aren’t many plugs in the lobby. Also, have some extra cash handy, there are a couple of small bookshops and charity shops on Hoogstraat (High [Main] Street) that I always manage to find small thinks I can’t leave without. One block directly in front of the main entrance is a typical Dutch canal, without the hoards of tourists you’d find in Amsterdam.
Speaking of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum is probably the most famous museum on this list. Despite playing host to millions of visitors a year, battling the crowds is a worthwhile endeavor.
WHY IT’S AWESOME
If you are a fan, or even mildly interested, in Dutch art, this is your place. The Museum has an awesome collection of two of my favorite artists, Johannes Vermeer and the father//son duo of Willem van de Velde (the Elder & Younger). They also have AN AWESOME MARITIME COLLECTION! Bonus: They are very proactive in using technology to reach audiences who cannot make it to the museum AND SHARING their holdings. Sign up for a Rijkstudio account (FREE) and download your favorite works for your laptop background, or plaster it on a Smart Car (I’m serious…they use that as an example)… don’t push drugs, push museum collections. This is the way. Beste Rijksmuseum: Please make 3D object printing next. Because ship models! And sternpiece of the Royal Charles. Bedankt [voor de schepen]!
*If you are only stopping over at Amsterdam Schipol (Lounges 2 & 3) you can stop by Rijksmuseum Schipol—the only museum location the world to display actual masterpieces in an airport. It’s free and open 24/7.
WHY YOU NEED TO GO, NOW
Last year, The Rijksmuseum started a monumental conservation project of their most iconic work, Rembrandt van Rijn’s Nachtwacht (Night Watch). The masterpiece has been kept at its home in the Hall of Honor, but is now encased in a see through box where the all the planning and conservation work has been going on since the project began. If you’re not around but are curious about the project, head to the Museum’s Operation Nachtwacht page for video updates.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
This is one of the most visited museums in the world, be prepared for crowds. The Museum also has a great app with audio tours of all subject types and you can search by a piece you’re interested in, buy your tickets, and tinker with Rijkstudio on the go, and at anytime so you are prepared before you arrive. KEEP YOUR TICKET WITH YOU! The first time I went in 2014, I lost my ticket in one of the exhibits and couldn’t enter the ship model gallery (in a separate area). I. WAS. SO. BUMMED. This summer, I got there (thanks to Amsterdam traffic and hoards of tourists holding up the tram) an hour before closing and made a sprint to see the ship models & Operation Nachtwacht. It was worth it. Budget time and money for the museum shop. You’ll find something. I promise.
Vasa Museum
Stockholm, Sweden
This is my MOST FAVORITE MUSEUM ON THE PLANET. I go at least once every time in Stockholm. Everyone should go. I should probably live in the museum if I could.
One of the longest museums lines I’ve waited in. It was entirely worth it. Vasa Museum, May 2014
WHY IT’S AWESOME
Long story short: A king wanted a super fancy warship (Scandinavian minimalism was definitely not a “thing” in 1626 Sweden) and in the middle of the pomp and circumstance launch//ceremonial first sailing, it sank. in front of all of Stockholm. 300 years later, the entire ship was found mostly intact, and in remarkable condition, in the harbor. It’s now a museum. ITS. SO COOL. The museum was built for//around the ship and it also displays the millions of artifacts found inside. This is your chance to see a 17th century top gallant sail up close. And some cannonballs. And soooo many other things. What I really like is a newer, ongoing exhibit about the women of the Vasa, the women that worked//owned//managed the shipyard, made clothing, lived with the sailors, etc. Women have always played important roles in maritime lifeways but are so so often overlooked. The Vasa Museum has done well to bring scholarship and (literal) faces to the women who critical to the building of the ship.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
The Vasa Museum is one of the most visited museums in Scandinavia. Visiting in the winter usually means less tourists; summer you often battle tour buses and cruise excursion groups. You can spend hours here admiring all the objects and taking in all the information. The gift shop is not may favorite—I think there is more opportunity to create items that are inspired by objects or the ship itself but worth checking out; that being said, they have a large literature offering in a variety of languages and written for multiple audiences.
Fotografiska New York
New York City, New York (other locations in Stockholm, Sweden & Tallinn, Estonia)
WHY IT’S AWESOME
I can only speak for the Stockholm branch—for now—but this is my favorite photography museum. They not only have really great exhibitions and continue to share the same content on Instagram, they also have a wonderful museum shop with material related to their exhibits and carefully chosen offerings related to the area. Their cafe is also really awesome, and many Stockholmers will agree.
WHY YOU NEED TO GO, NOW
The American branch of this AMAZING museum opened on December !4, 2019. The building—itself historic—has been making headlines in the last couple of years as the fake socialite Anna Delvey set her sights on this building for an art foundation. Now, it’s home to a third location for a premier photography museum—Fotografiska’s Estonian location opened in Tallinn on June 19. I’m personally hoping that the museum brings over an exhibition that was on view in Stockholm this summer (and I missed) and is now in Tallinn—a collection of photography by Mandy Barker of sea plastics called “Sea of Artifacts”.
Scalloway Museum
Scalloway, Scotland
If I had to give out an award for "Museum that Required the Most Travel to Get To,” this would be it. To get to the former Shetland capital one has to make their way from the Scottish mainland via plane or ferry (more on that next week!) and take the local bus or a car from Lerwick seven miles over a hilly range that separates the towns, then walk over towards the old castle to find the charming local museum.
WHY IT’S AWESOME
Like I said, it’s the charming local museum. For being a small museum, it is very welcoming; there is seating both inside and outside for visitors to have tea//coffee (both of which are available self-serve, with some treats, in the museum lobby//shop area.) and the one older docent was very enthusiastic to greet everyone and give them a warm welcome to the area, and was eager to learn why they were there and from where they came The shop, while small, honors the both the Scottish and Norwegian heritage of the area well with many books and materials available in both languages. They also sell locally-made knit products at affordable prices, unlike what you may find in Glasgow or Edinburgh for Shetland wool goods. The knit beanie I bought at the museum is now one of my prized possessions, for being thin and lightweight… it’s freakishly warm.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO, ANYTIME
Scalloway has a LONG, LONG history, and because it has been primarily accessible by sea, maritime history IS THE history of Scalloway. Abundant exhibits also demonstrate the how relying on both land and sea is and was required to survive for so long. The most interesting exhibit, to me, and I think many from North America, is about the Shetland Bus. Not an actual bus, but a [North//Norwegian] sea-based network of fishing vessels that carried Norwegian Resistance members & supplies from their/the military’s in-exile base in Scalloway back to Norway to fight the Nazi Occupation in WWII. This is a fascinating story that I knew very little about before going and is a testament to the vitality of cross-cultural interactions of maritime communities and how important they can be; Shetland, over the centuries has been a part of both the UK, Kingdom of Scotland, and the Kingdom of Norway, the bonds of which are still noticeable today.
Replica of a fishing boat bridge that would have been used during the Shetland Bus in WWII. Exhibit panels are written in English and Norwegian. Scalloway Museum, May 2019
EXHIBITIONS TO SEE IN 2020
Every time I start window “shopping” for exhibitions, I come down with a case of FOMO and existential dread because I haven’t been able to figure out how to get all over the world at rapid speeds and reasonable costs. I decided that this year I’m going to share with you all in hopes that if I can’t make it, someone can.
WHAT: JMW Turner: Watercolors From Tate
WHERE: Mystic Seaport, Museum of America and the Sea
Mystic, Connecticut
ON VIEW UNTIL: February 23, 2020
WHY
It’s a boatload of JMW Turners and at its only North American location. 97 Turner works have made their way to Mystic Seaport (always worth a trip regardless of special exhibitions), including some from the Tate in London. I don’t know of may exhibitions with that many Turners—read maritime paintings!!!—so I’m kind of bummed I’m not going to make it up to Mystic before this leaves. Someone go enjoy for me, please!
BONUS
Head down to the wharfs to see a real whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan and its visiting neighbor—and my floating second home these last couple of years— the Draken Harald Håfagre. The Draken is privately owned and not always accessible, watch their website for more information
WHAT: Lost at Sea: Art Recovered from Shipwrecks
WHERE: Asian Art Museum
San Francisco, California
ON VIEW UNTIL: March 22, 2020
WHY
This exhibit is comprised of objects removed from a shipwreck in South Asia and now owned by the Museum. Moreover, the Museum uses these objects to discuss the ever evolving—and ridiculously complicated—nature of maritime archaeology and evaluates how//why underwater cultural heritage is either left at the wreck or raised from the depths. I REALLY REALLY want to try to get to San Fransisco to see this exhibit, as the issues raised are very close to my heart, something I’ve personally worked with, and I think are important to talk about outside of the maritime community. Hopefully, I can get over to San Fran before it is removed from view.
BONUS
San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park is 2 miles away.
HONORABLE MENTION
WHERE: Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, Massachusetts
ON VIEW UNTIL: February 23, 2020
WHY
This museum was founded during Salem’s heyday as a major American trading port when ship captains brought back objects from every corner of Earth to their East India Marine Society headquarters. They recently completed an expansion and renovation of their building, including a renovated Maritime Gallery, which has now moved from the entrance back to the original East India Marine Hall. They have a wonderful maritime collection and from the looks of photos, the redesigned hall looks pretty wonderful, too.
BONUS
Salem Maritime National Historic Park is within walking distance; it’s my Master’s internship site, and I love it. Go and enjoy it!