A selection of graduates from the Creative Specialist program at the HMC proudly present their graduation projects.
Photo: Merel Schouten, modular sofa system
During this ongoing workshop, especially for children, you’ll learn to create a shape in aluminum. This way, you’ll discover the various forging techniques in a playful way.
Come and watch the blacksmith, try your hand at crafting, and visit the traveling exhibition “On a Visit.”
The workshops are led by experts in gold and silversmithing.
You’ll go home with your own creation.
The Dutch Silver Museum in Schoonhoven is committed to showcasing and preserving the craft of silversmithing. Visitors can see, feel, smell, and hear silver, and discover much more about this versatile precious metal in the World of Silver. With regularly changing exhibitions and activities, it’s worth coming back!
Métier magazine is an independent publication that focuses on the intersection of art and craft, materials and technology. During the festival, you can browse the magazine and, of course, purchase it or subscribe.
New this year: the Ambacht in Beeld Gift Shop!
Discover a curated selection of sustainable items to take home or use during the festival:
Take home a meaningful, sustainable souvenir and support craftsmanship from near and far!
The Netherlands Hat Association (NHV) has been active since 2004. The association’s mission is to bring the hat back into fashion, to strengthen the professionalism of the millinery trade, and to support the professional development of hat makers.
This unique association connects around 300 members from diverse backgrounds: professionals working with all aspects of hat-making, hobby milliners, and hat enthusiasts. For all of them, the NHV serves primarily as a platform—offering opportunities for education, training, competitions, and social events.
One example is the annual NHV Hat Day, an event entirely dedicated to hats. Here, members and anyone interested in hats can exchange knowledge, skills, and ideas about hat design and craftsmanship. By organizing competitions and exhibitions, NHV aims to promote the hat and highlight its place within the fashion industry. Since 2006, the NHV has hosted a series of annual hat-making competitions.
The association also publishes Hatlines, a glossy magazine issued four times a year and distributed to all members. In Hatlines you’ll find reports on NHV activities, tips and techniques, interviews, photo spreads of hat events, and more.
At the Ambacht in Beeld Festival, the NHV will showcase the art of millinery and offer a behind-the-scenes look at hat-making. Visitors can see how measurements are taken, how hat blocks are used, and explore the variety of materials and finishes that go into creating a hat—culminating in a custom-made piece. Through demonstrations and conversations about wearing and making hats, the association hopes to inspire festival visitors to appreciate the hat as a true fashion accessory.
Our ancestors built their homes using natural materials such as loam, straw, and lime.
During this interactive workshop, you will explore up close how earthen construction works together with the team from Bokrijk | Craft & Heritage. You will literally roll up your sleeves and learn a few basic techniques. This hands-on session offers a unique opportunity to discover a traditional building craft that is once again highly relevant today in the context of sustainable architecture and the challenges of the modern construction sector.
In addition, staff members will be available to answer questions and to reflect together on the preservation, transmission, and future of earthen building. Do you already work with historical or contemporary clay techniques, or are you curious about the network of earth-builders just across the border? This is the perfect moment to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and find inspiration. Discover how craftsmanship and innovation go hand in hand within the world of earthen construction, where past and present meet in building expertise!
You will also meet Aïcha and Zabi, two skilled artisans who put their expertise into practice daily at the Bokrijk Open-Air Museum. By the end, this craft will hold no more secrets for you!
Bokrijk | Craft & Heritage has been the Bokrijk expertise centre since 2019, focusing on the contemporary relevance of historic woodworking and building techniques. From its Craftsmanship Campus, the team documents, researches, supports, and communicates about craft heritage throughout Flanders and Brussels. As a service provider, C&H is part of a strong national network and also acts as an international knowledge hub. Jeroen Desaver and Rien Bogaert will be present to share more information.
It is practically a no brainer that the Knowledge Centre for Intangible Heritage Netherlands is present at the Ambacht in Beeld Festival. Practicing traditional craftsmanship or trades is an important domain of intangible heritage. The Knowledge Centre supports artisans in safeguarding intangible heritage, preserving techniques and skills, spreading knowledge, and passing it on to future generations.
During the Ambacht in Beeld Festival, the Knowledge Centre provides information and is happy to explore, through personal conversations, what the Knowledge Centre can mean for your intangible heritage community.
The Netherlands Open Air Museum has a crafts workshop with a wide range of programs for both museum visitors who want to experience the making process themselves and experienced craftsmen and craftswomen seeking specialized knowledge. The offerings include short workshops, one-day workshops, multi-day masterclasses, and lectures by curators and professors.
The Netherlands Open Air Museum and the Knowledge Centre for Intangible Heritage Netherlands work closely together to promote crafts and stimulate knowledge transfer.
During the Ambacht in Beeld Festival, Ambachtelijk Vakmanschap Nederland will be present with an information stand.
Stichting Ambachtelijk Vakmanschap Nederland is a new platform, a network of professionals. Together, we strive for better visibility and connection within the craftmanship sector, aiming to address urgent challenges.
Are you interested in joining or becoming a friend of AVN? Visit the stand and talk with us about the activities AVN organizes for the sector and the possibilities to get involved.
In the performance The Spinning Sheep, Linda Molenaar spins her own wool as a sheep.
Artist Linda Molenaar creates performances about the relationship between humans and animals. With her “animal images,” she holds up a mirror to you in a simple way. Not a critical or social one, but a quiet reflection that invites you to really look at yourself. The more you look, the more you see.
And if you look closely, you’ll also notice her fascination with natural and tangible materials and construction.
Besides the performances, Linda warmly invites you during the festival to experience what it’s like to spin yourself an ancient craft she specifically learned for this performance from real spinners.
Festival address:
NDSM Loods
NDSM-Plein 85
1033 WC Amsterdam
Postal address:
Stichting Ambacht in Beeld
Kalf 158
1509AH Zaandam
The Netherlands
