Exhibition: "Manahahtáanung or New Amsterdam? - The Native Story Behind New York"

 

One thing that I always loved about living in Amsterdam is the sheer variety of museums. At any time of the mont, there are countless wonderful museums and exhibitions around town and I use my annual membership to visit anything that strikes me as interesting. This particular exhibition is showing in a place that is a bit strange - previously used as a retirement home, it became "Hermitage Amsterdam" at certain point and for years it exhibited the art from the original Hermitage in St.Petersburg, until the start of war in Ukraine made this collaboration unwelcome. So the magnificent palace on Amstel became space where two wings are currently used by two different museums: one is called H'ART Museum and another Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel - the second one being a temporary storage for The Amsterdam Museum that is being renovated. Neither of these solutions is very successful, as the space often feels empty and I just wish that things go back to normal. 

While the original The Amsterdam Museum in Kalverstraat 92 is closed for renovation, some selected items are on display under the name Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel. It is literary just a tiny bit of their wast collection and now on one added floor there is a new exhibition that under normal circumstances would probably be displayed in a proper space in Kalverstraat. I always feel a bit frustrated with all these perpetual changes because it feels like a disruption of the original idea. And the word "temporary" is at this point stretching into years.

Well, the new exhibition itself is actually quite gripping. Its all about the native inhabitants of what is today known as Manhattan and was once called by the natives Manahahtáanung. The exhibition follows some drawings, maps and original artifacts from the times when Dutch colonists first came here to establish a new colony and the city New Amsterdam that would eventually become New York. This all happened exactly 400 years ago so it makes this exhibition timely. As interesting as it is, it also makes you feel sorry for duped original Lenape people who really had no chance against the intruders and are unceremoniously pushed aside.