Visit time: 60 - 90 minutes
From the 1960s onwards, the Netherlands aspired to be modern. The distinctive design associated with Dutch modernism was abstract, geometric, white, grey and black. ‘The Modern Netherlands 1963–1989: The Design of a Model Nation’ presents a lively survey of design, architecture and art in the period in question.
From the 1960s onwards, the Netherlands aspired to be modern. The distinctive design associated with Dutch modernism was abstract, geometric, white, grey and black. While part of an international modernist movement, it was also typically Dutch in terms of both its visual language and societal ambitions. State-owned enterprises like the PTT (the postal service), the railways and the tax department were an important client for designers and combined in this way to communicate the country’s anti-traditional, open, tolerant and democratic post-war values. From postage stamps to large-scale civil engineering projects, the government made its mark on every form of public design.
Critical reappraisal
In the course of the 1990s, this characteristically Dutch modernism gained a negative reputation. Thirty years on, virtually every trace of the style has been torn down, cleaned up, stored away or forgotten. The time has now come, however, for a critical reappraisal of Dutch modernism from 1963 to 1989. Viewed in the light of the world-famous Dutch Design movement, the designs produced in that era are seen once again as visually fresh and socially ambitious.
A feast of recognition
The Modern Netherlands 1963–1989: The Design of a Model Nation presents a lively survey of design, architecture and art in the period in question. For everyone who remembers that time, the exhibition is a feast of recognition. It features designs and works of art by Gijs Bakker, Joost Baljeu, Wim Crouwel, Ad Dekkers, Herman Hertzberger, Kho Liang Ie, Emmy van Leersum, Aldo van den Nieuwelaar, Bruno Ninaber van Eyben, Jan Slothouber & William Graatsma, André Volten, Carel Weeber and others, produced on behalf of the Dutch postal service, state mines and department of public works.
The campaign image
A special campaign image was chosen for the exhibition Modern Netherlands 1963-1989: the photograph taken by Paul Huf of designer Wim Crouwel for Avenue magazine. Timo de Rijk, the curator, says of this image: ‘I see the designer. I see the relationship between a number of different disciplines. I see the design of yourself; the idea that the future, society and humanity are malleable. This image is therefore a perfect reflection of the themes of the exhibition Modern Netherlands 1936-1989. The design of a guiding country.”
Do you want to know why the exhibition Modern Nederland covers the period from 1963 to 1989? This video explains why!
Animation by Romee van der Schoot (@romee.art)
The exhibition texts
For this exhibition, Timo de Rijk wrote essay-like exhibition texts about how the Netherlands managed to manifest itself as a modern country in various ways during the period 1963-1989. The texts discuss in detail the role that designers, the government and cultural institutions played together in preparing our country for a new era within a short period of time.
The exhibition design
The exhibition was designed by Jan Konings and Simon Davies. During the design process, they gave a great deal of thought to how design can best be displayed and what the difference is between an art museum and a design museum. In this interview, they talk more about the creation of Modern Netherlands 1963-1989.
The exhibition concludes with the question, ‘How did we fare after Modern Netherlands?’. Curator Timo de Rijk answers this question in a text that all visitors receive after the final theme.
‘During the 1990s, Dutch modernism from previous years took on a negative connotation. Criticism focused on its one-sided moral intentions and non-committal consequences, the infamous “teacher modernism”. More than a quarter of a century later, much of this Dutch modernism has been demolished, rebuilt, repainted, cleared away, stored in depots and forgotten. But Dutch modernism is ripe for a critical reappraisal, as an instrument for self-reflection, in the light of Dutch Design and what followed.”
De Peperklip by Carel Weeber, photo by Rob Bogaerts, National Archives via Wikimedia Commons
