The Amsterdam Museum presents a multimedia exhibition by artist and musician ANOHNI at Huis Willet-Holthuysen from June 4th to October 29th this year.
Not hardcore audio news, but tangentially related because of its multimedia and cultural aspects. From June 4th to October 29th, 2023, ANOHNI, the associate artist of the Holland Festival, presents a multimedia exhibition at Huis Willet-Holthuysen: She Who Saw Beautiful Things. With this art installation, ANOHNI pays tribute to her former collaborator, Dr. Julia Yasuda. The exhibition also showcases photographs taken by her late wife, Erika Yasuda, which are being exhibited for the first time.
Back to Amsterdam
ANOHNI returns to Amsterdam with this exhibition, the city that colored her world during her childhood in the late 1970s. At that time, she lived on Gerrit van der Veenstraat, which she later discovered was the headquarters of the German occupiers’ intelligence service during World War II. This fact inspired her to pay homage to people who have been marginalized and persecuted throughout the ages, not only because of their origins or beliefs but also because of their gender or sexual preferences.
Julia and Erika Yasuda
Furthermore, ANOHNI presents the legacy of Julia and Erika Yasuda in this exhibition. Julia Yasuda, an intersex mathematician from Tokyo, met her wife Erika (1945/6-1986) in the late 1970s. As a photographer, writer, and actress, Erika captured their love in a series of remarkable photos of Julia and their mutual friend Mako Midori, as well as portraits of their two cats. This exhibition showcases their legacy, supplemented with ANOHNI’s own sculptures, videos, photographs, and hand-painted silk. Together, these works reflect a carefully composed vision of femininity and androgyny.
About ANOHNI
ANOHNI is the artist in residence for this edition of the Holland Festival, taking place from June 3rd to 26th. Born in England, she lives and works in America as a musician, visual artist, and theater director. In 1995, she founded the performance group The Johnsons, with whom she performed with symphony orchestras in opera houses around the world, including the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and Carnegie Hall in New York. ANOHNI’s work has been exhibited at the Nikolaj Kunsthal, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, The Hammer Museum, The Kitchen, and Sikemma Jenkins Gallery in New York. She was a co-facilitator of the art project FUTURE FEMINISM, presented at The Hole in New York in 2014, and part of ANOHNI’s artistic residency in Aarhus, European Capital of Culture, in 2017.
Presentation at Huis Willet-Holthuysen
The exhibition “She Who Saw Beautiful Things” can be seen at the impressive Huis Willet-Holthuysen, part of the Amsterdam Museum, located on Herengracht in Amsterdam. The double townhouse features various period rooms and a symmetrical French-style garden, housing numerous impressive historical artifacts. This presentation is part of a series in which Huis Willet-Holthuysen and its collection establish relationships with other collections by contemporary artists.
Curator tours of the exhibition
Visitors can learn more through curator tours, high-end guided tours, given by Dorine Maat, junior curator at the Amsterdam Museum, on June 11th, June 25th, July 15th, and September 10th. The tours are free with a valid entrance ticket. For more information, please visit the website of the Amsterdam Museum.