activities

Museum Night in Museum De Lakenhal

Saturday 1 June 2024

On 1 June, the 16th edition of Leiden Museum Night will take place. During Museum Night, the entire museum will be open and you can take part in all kinds of activities. Take a look at the programme below.

'make your point' with The Stencil King

all night from 20.00 till 00.30 in the Studio

The exhibition I Will Fight – Anton de Kom and the Surinamese Student Union features a stencil machine. This type of machine was popular in the 1960s and 1970s among all kinds of groups that wanted to distribute printed matter in limited editions. Such was the case with the Surinamese Student Union in Leiden, which used it to print pamphlets and an entire book by Anton de Kom, for example. It is a predecessor of the printer as we know it today, but one that you have to operate by hand. That’s something stencil king Erwin Blok knows all about. Under his guidance and that of our professional museum teachers, you will make your point during Museum Night using the stencil machine. You can make texts and drawings that will be transferred to a stencil. Then you can print it in various colours and layers.

Short readings about Rembrandt's Four Senses

In the Rembrandt Hall

Museum De Lakenhal is celebrating its birthday! In 2024, the museum celebrates its 150th anniversary. We will celebrate this with the presentation Rembrandt's Four Senses – His First Paintings. Rembrandt made this series when he was around 18 years old and living in Leiden. In addition to the Spectacles Seller (Allegory of Sight), the presentation features Stone Operation (Allegory of Touch), Three Musicians (Allegory of Hearing) and *Unconscious Patient *(Allegory of Smell).The four paintings will be on display in the museum for 150 days. During Museum Night, curator of ancient art, Janneke van Asperen, will hold short lectures next to the paintings.

KRISTINA KOVALYOVA with Hristya v Namysti

Enter the world of Kristina Kovalyova, weaving together Ukrainian heritage and the creativity of jazz into an enchanting musical tapestry. Hristya v Namysti is a project by this singer inspired by memories of Ukrainian folk songs, lullabies and fairy tales she heard from her grandparents. Her contemporary compositions evoke a strong sense of nostalgia and touch on themes of change, loss, self-discovery and love in life. With her new international band, she has performed at prestigious events such as Jazzfest, VPRO Vrije Geluiden, the Keep An Eye Jazz Award and the Rough Diamonds Series at the Bimhuis. During Museum Night, she will be accompanied by pianist Jelle Willems.

MUSCLE MEMORY - DansBlok and KASSETT

Musical theatre and dance on the power of bodily memory

I remember how we ate. Facing each other at the table. We talked about the old days. No, the neighbours. I believe. Sitting on your buttocks, she said. Back straight. The music was loud. Or. No. We were eating. We were sitting at the table. She didn't say anything. There was no sound.
I remember, therefore I am: our memories make us who we are. But we also know that our memory is fallible and some memories become deeply hidden. In SPIERGEHEUGEN, KASSETT and DansBlok explore memory. A woman who resolved never to forget anything gets bogged down in the fog of memory on one detail anyway. Slowly, the body, embodied by two dancers, takes over the memory. Driven by driving mechanical but faltering beats, snatches of memory return. SPIERGEHEUGEN takes you into the power of bodily memory.

DRAW SOME MORE

artist Maarten Slof lets you draw with light

Leave your mark in the dark during this museum night. Leiden visual artist Maarten Slof developed the installation Draw Some More, where you draw on panels with light in the dark. The drawings remain visible for only a few minutes. This allows you to react to what your predecessors have drawn, while you yourself lay the foundation for the visitors who come after you. In front of the museum, also take a selfie at the luminous letters NACHT that Maarten Slof made together with Mark Flipse.

I LOST MY WHALE – René Oskam

It is now fo circles around the sun since René Oskam performed during Leiden's Museum Night. In the meantime, all the planets have shifted light years and nothing is as it once was. We have lost things we didn't know we had and found what we didn't actually lose. In his poetic performance-style reading I lost my whale, we get on the creative rollercoaster and go in search of, yes, his whale…

PIANIST WIM VERSCHUREN plays compositions from one century ago

Wim Verschuren (born 1997) graduated with Belgian master pianist Stéphane de May at the Rotterdam conservatory. Since then, he has won many prestigious prizes and is active as a solo pianist. During Museumnacht he plays the grand piano in the Hall of Modern Art with music that fits into the 1920s. It was the time when De Stijl was founded in Leiden by Theo van Doesburg and when his wife Nelly van Doesburg made a name for herself as Pétro with piano playing during the Dada evenings they organised together. Old and modern times revive during this musical programme.

O;RIORDAN

From 20.00 till 00.00

The dj's Chris and Tom O;Riordan favour the obscure, the unknown and other musical oddities comprising Japanese funk, Belgian new beat, Chicago house, South African disco and West-coast electro. They are both founders of independent online radio station Maxi Radio and the well-known disco-only event series Discotuin. While Chris recently opened his own record shop Offbeat in Rotterdam and runs the ACHTERBAN parties, Tom is head of the programme at underground cultural venue Wibar. They spin during Museumnacht for all ears that are willing to dive into the great unknown depths.

TASTING COLOURS AND SEEING SOUNDS

The temporary presentation of Rembrandt's four senses paintings is the reason for this lecture on the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia. Why is it that in some people the stimulation of one sense also causes a sensation in another sense? That someone tastes something when hearing a piece of music, or sees colours when listening to music? Dr. Egbert Lakke and Drs. Onno Overbeek unlock the mysteries surrounding this phenomenon.

Music from RUIS

Brother and sister have a musical bond. It is called Ruis. They are originally from The Hague and make music, for which they are inspired by Leonard Cohen, Adrienne Lenker and Billy Joel, for instance. Sister now lives in Leiden and brother is often abroad, so rehearsing is a challenge, but because they know each other well and because they enjoy making music together so much, it always works out.

TRIBES | CONTRAST

Oppositions and differences help us to make sense of what we experience, but what makes me different from you? How certain can you be of the contrast you see? Is contrast an attraction of opposing nature, or do the lines blur as you come closer, and you find that it is all one and the same? What creates the difference? What do we really know to be true at first appearance of things and life? What do we really know to be true about ourselves? This evening, Tribes will showcase Contrast through the art of dance.

SHORT READING about Kimsooja (in English)

The story behind the exhibition Threadroots by internationally renowned artist Kimsooja is told by Nicole Roepers. She is curator of contemporary art at Museum De Lakenhal.

Photo: Joep Jacobs
Photo: Joep Jacobs

Flash tours at Kimsooja - Thread Roots

Every whole and half hour between 20.00 and 00.30

Enthusiastic tour guides are ready to show you the ins and outs of Kimsooja - Thread Roots. Step into the wonderful world of this Korean artist. Times: every whole and every half hour between 20:00 and 00:30. The tour lasts 15 to 20 minutes.

Practical information