Ticket Sales Start: September 1, 2024, at 10:00 AM
Entrance Ticket Prices:
The prices include VAT, service fees, and a €1,50 amusement tax for the municipality of Amsterdam.
Children up to 13 years old have free entry (must obtain a free ticket for those under 13 years old).
Free entrance with your Stadspas (available only at the door upon presentation of your Stadspas, not available for online reservations).
Please Note: Everyone attending the festival, including those participating in workshops or masterclasses, requires an entrance ticket.
Take a look at the discovery laboratory where you can use a microscope to examine inscriptions/engravings and impurities in a polished diamond. With a Mohs hardness scale and raw diamond samples, learn from a diamond expert about the diamond material and dive into the world of diamond polishing.
Do you wear silver or gold jewelry? You can have it cleaned for free at the goldsmith’s stand of GASSAN Diamonds, so it sparkles like never before.
Görkem Şen is an artist, inventor, composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, and sound designer. In his quest to find the essence of music, he has created an instrument called the ‘yaybahar,’ which can produce complex sounds in a purely acoustic form, after gaining a thorough understanding of traditional and electronic music elements.
Şen’s desire to explore new techniques and unconventional sounds is a fundamental aspect of his art. He is known for his exploratory and innovative approaches, aimed at pushing the boundaries of musical expression. With his invention, the ‘spring family’ of instruments, he creates entirely new sound textures and melodic structures that go beyond traditional musical forms. Şen’s approach has inspired other artists to seek new forms of musical expression and create their own unique musical instruments.
His invention has been studied worldwide both from a musical perspective and through the lens of physical principles, and is taught at some of the most respected universities.
He has performed more than 40 solo concerts across Europe, America, and Asia.
Over 120 million people have been forcibly displaced across the world, driven from their homes by war, persecution or disaster. Amongst this vast group of people, there are incredible artisans that possess the talent, culture and heritage to create objects of true beauty.
MADE51 is a global brand, an initiative brought to life by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, who connects these artisans with social enterprises. By utilizing Fair Trade principles, they support the design, development and marketing of the unique products that make up the MADE51 collection. Through MADE51, those who have been forced to flee have an opportunity to earn an income while in the midst of displacement. For consumers, these pieces are more than beautiful examples of craftsmanship and heritage, they are expressions of hope.
During the festival we present an exhibition and sales stand with objects made by refugee artisans.
Unique exhibition during Ambacht in Beeld Festival!
“100,000 Trees and a Forest of Thread” is a project where textile artist Sara Vrugt embroidered a forest. This artwork, spanning one hundred square meters, was created in 2020/21 in a public pop-up studio. Over a thousand participants shared nature stories and contributed embroidery stitches, collectively creating a forest of thread on canvas.
This artwork aims to reconnect people with the significance of nature in their lives. Concurrently, through crowdfunding, a real forest of one hundred thousand living trees has been planted, both in the Netherlands and in tropical regions.
After being displayed at various locations, the artwork will be placed outdoors in 2025, in the gardens of Museum Belvédère in Heerenveen. A ceremony will mark its transition to a final “life phase.” The canvas will integrate into nature; the fabric will degrade over time, and seeds embedded in the hem will eventually replace the embroidered trees. Thus, the spiral form will persist with living nature as its material.
Creating connections among people and fostering creativity are fundamental motives in Sara’s projects. Yet, an overarching theme has emerged: nature. Her goal was to engage people through art in planting more trees and raising awareness about our inseparable connection with the ecosystem – interbeing.
Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “The same life force that flows through you, flows through me and all other living beings. We are all interconnected in a complex web; this is ‘interbeing.’ When we harm nature, animals, or other people, we harm ourselves, not in a metaphorical sense, but literally.”
Deforestation, biodiversity loss, heat stress – in the Anthropocene, humanity bears responsibility for these monumental crises. Sara reflects, “Deep down, we all feel that nature is essential to us. Yet, we often fail to act accordingly. I sometimes feel despair over human arrogance and the future of new generations. The large systems need to change, and as an individual, it can feel overwhelming. Nevertheless, every day we make significant choices, even with our fork and wallet. I compel myself to remain optimistic. Through this work, I aim to raise awareness. I believe that once you truly realize that the Earth is essentially your mother, you will care for her better. It may seem like a drop in the ocean, but many drops of water together will not evaporate. Planting one hundred thousand trees aims not only to create more forests but above all, to demonstrate that taking action is within our reach.”
Görkem Şen is an artist, inventor, composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, and sound designer. In his journey to search for the essence of music, after thoroughly understanding the elements of traditional and electronic music, he created the instrument called the ‘yaybahar’, which can produce complex sounds in a completely acoustic form.
Şen’s desire to explore new techniques and unusual sounds in his music is a fundamental part of his art.
Şen is known for his exploratory and innovative approaches; he aims to push the boundaries of musical expression. With his invention, spring family instruments, he creates entirely new sound textures and melodic structures beyond traditional musical forms. Şen’s approach to music has encouraged other artists to seek new forms of musical expression and create their own unique musical instruments.
His invention has been studied both from a musical perspective and through the lens of physical principles around the world and has been taught in renowned universities.
He has given more than 40 solo concerts in Europe, America, and Asia.
Take a seat in the mini cinema and enjoy wonderful documentaries on craft.
Screened in a continuous loop.
Traces of the future + Q&A
23 minutes
A film by Suzanne van Leendert
Traces of the Future is a documentary portrait of Utrecht based photographer Herman van Doorn, who has been photographing for more than 40 years. The film follows Herman in Venice where he documents old crafts and traditional workshops that are disappearing. Reasons for this are mass tourism and cheap ‘replicas’ of traditional Venetian products. Through his photographs, Herman makes us wonder what we are doing as a society, and individually. The documentary is set partly in Venice and partly in Utrecht.
There will be special screenings with introduction and Q&A with filmmaker Suzanne van Leendert and photographer Herman van Doorn on both days, at 12:00 and 16:00 hrs.
Powerful specialist craftsmanship in focus
Fragments of ± 5 minutes
SBB’s expertise centre for specialist craftsmanship.
How do we maintain small-scale vocational education? During the festival, we screen several short films. Take a look at the courses and licensed training companies in piano technology, frame making, reed thatching, natural stone processing, clockmaking and orthopaedic shoe technology.
Uit ander hout gesneden (Carved from different wood)
12 minutes
A film by Jon Earle
Carpenter John van Schijndel from Vlijmen carried out a full restoration on a badly battered monumental door. This film shows how this 110-year-old door was completely restored in his workshop, in an artisanal manner. During the film, Van Schijndel proclaims his opinion that craft skills should be taken to another level, instead of losing our cultural skills and heritage.
Venetian crafts
Films by Lars Hegndal
Mario Berta Battiloro – Goldleaf, 7 minutes
Gabriele Gmeiner – Shoemaker, 9 minutes
Marco Franzato – Glass artist, 7 minutes
Paolo Brandolisio – Woodworking, 11 minutes
Simona Lacovazzi – Glass beads, 4 minutes
XHOSA Documentaire – KABRA
14 minutes
A film by Onitcha Toppin and Giorgio Toppin
KABRA is a documentary on Surinam traditional textile crafts. In this film, creative director of fashion brand XHOSA Giorgio Toppin returns to his motherland Surinam, where he reconnects with their traditions and techniques.
Maisa van der Kolk (82) from Edam collects historical musical instruments.
During the festival, she will take visitors on a musical journey through Europe with instruments such as the bumblebee, string psalter, hurdy-gurdy, nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, Finnish lap harp (kantele), singing saw, zither, balalaika, chopping board, glass organ (verrophone) and gubal.
Photographer Roderik van Nispen has created a series of portraits about metalworkers.
Not a day goes by without the use of metal and yet where it is produced is unknown territory for many. Also for Rotterdam-based photographer Roderik van Nispen. For the past two years, he has been shooting a series of portraits of metalworkers in the Netherlands. An exploration of a sector he was virtually unfamiliar with. Captivated by this tough and passionate sector, he wanted to give it a face. Over 250 portraits show both the craftsman’s side and the highly technological innovations. The diversity in metalworking from raw material to finished product is highlighted. Portraits of the craftsman and specialist behind the product, with no frills in the working environment. Proud craftsmen making high-quality products. A journey through metal.
Especially in metalworking, craftsmanship is still the basis of much of metal production. Surprised by all that is made in the Netherlands from the Hoogovens where the ore is processed into coarse base metal, the blacksmiths, steel hardeners, CNC millers, to the skate grinder who sets world records. An ode to the, in van Nispen’s eyes, too invisible sector.
During the festival, we will exhibit a selection of these photos at gallery NDSM Fuse.
Image: Album Soundtrack of the Plastic Age – Rogier De Nijs
With his album ‘Soundtrack of the Plastic Age’, drummer Rogier De Nijs opposes throwaway society and plastic waste in particular. He is surprised about the ease with which single-use plastic is manufactured, sold and then it ends up in a landfill or in the ocean. His aim is to prove that something that seems to have lost its function can be of value again.
From plastic waste, he builds percussion instruments and composes contemporary music with them. In this interactive presentation during the Ambacht in Beeld Festival, De Nijs lets you see and hear how this works. His statement is ‘BEAT Plastic Waste’.
The album ‘Soundtrack of the Plastic Age’ will be released on 4 September 2023.
Festival address:
NDSM Loods
NDSM-Plein 85
1033 WC Amsterdam
Postal address:
Stichting Ambacht in Beeld
Kalf 158
1509AH Zaandam
The Netherlands
