The Hague Full Day Excursion

After finishing his studies in the History of Art and Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam in 2002, Sabry pursued a career in the antiquarian book trade, going on to run a fine art bookstore in Amsterdam, whilst also writing, lecturing and teaching about art. Later he dedicated more time to his work as a writer and art historian. Coming from a Jewish background, Sabry was also always interested in the Jewish history of Amsterdam and has thoroughly studied the life and work of Jewish artists living and working in the Netherlands in this century. He is currently writing a book about German Jewish emigree artists in Amsterdam in the interwar years. The work will come out in fall 2016, published by the renowned Jewish publishing house Querido. Sabry also has extensive guiding experience, specialising on the culture of the Low Countries. He expertise has a vast thematic scope that incorporates the art, architecture, literature and cuisine that helped shape the Netherlands as they are today.

Alette has an MA in Art History (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) and holds a Ph.D. in the History of Science and Technology (University of Twente, Enschede). For both her thesis and her dissertation, she researched the intricate relationship between nature, art and science in the 20th century (thesis) and the 17th century (dissertation). Sculpture parks, ornamental gardens, and botanical gardens form the sites of study. As an independent scholar, she presents papers and writes articles on this subject. Alette also teaches art history and lectures on topics such as 17th-century Dutch art and architecture, 18th century Empire design, garden architecture, and landscape engineering. She has curated several exhibitions and stood at the basis of the exhibition Black is Beautiful on the image of blacks in Dutch art history. She lives in the city where she was born: Amsterdam.

After a Bachelor in History and a Master in Museum Studies at the University of Amsterdam, Barend Blom worked in several museums both as a curator, guide and researcher. First at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam. Being invited because of a thesis on memorials, but ending up researching Jewish food culture! A complete change of subject. But that ideally suits Barend’s many interests. In Museum het Schip he curated several exhibitions on the Amsterdam School, an architectural style unique to the Netherlands. At the Rijksmuseum he worked in the field on which he majored: the manifestation of colonial history in museums in the Netherlands. Here he researched the provenance history of holy heirlooms of the Javanese prince Diponegoro. At the museums he worked he encountered stories of works of art or historic objects that got lost over the years, his latest project is creating a podcast in which he traces down their histories, and with luck the objects themselves. He looks forward to sharing his love for ‘forgotten’ histories with context tours participants.