Having written Amsterdam’s STRAAT Museum catalogue is one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of! I passionately worked at it during my time in The Netherlands, interviewing the artists who came to Amsterdam to create their artwork for ‘our’ street art museum and documenting their creative journey in this 300-page art book.
“While visiting STRAAT Museum to create their artworks, the artists revealed their creative journeys and personal perspectives. Connecting the dots between the works and their stories, it transpired that many key aspects of street art were still present in the museum’s collection. Based on these findings, the collection was categorised into five key narratives shared by graffiti and street artists worldwide, which gave birth to Quote from the Streets.
By featuring 77 artworks by artists from 27 nationalities, this catalogue partly reproduces this opening exhibition through an extra-layer of in-depth content. It reveals the stories that remain untold in the streets, while underlining how these artworks and their narratives connect to one another. This is what makes all of them, indeed, part of the same movement.”
from the Catalogue of Amsterdam’s STRAAT Museum
Read also: Street Art Inside: The STRAAT Museum in Amsterdam
The editorial work on the catalogue of Amsterdam’s STRAAT Museum began with the recording of hundreds of hours of original interviews with the artists represented in the museum collection. In order to address the public’s misconceptions about this art form, while respecting the core aspect of a global art movement that has always taken great pride in defying art world labels, we gave voice to the artists themselves through an extensive use of quotes.
Another key feature is the photo documentation of the work in progress of the artists, which is important not only to unveil their creative process but also to show that the artworks that are now on display at STRAAT Museum are born exactly where the public is going to see them. They were created to exist in a certain place (a vacant warehouse of The Netherlands Docks and Shipbuilding Company, NDSM) in respect of the condition of site-specificity that is at the core of street art.
The catalogue follows the five key narratives that give shape to Quote from the Streets, the opening exhibition of Amsterdam’s STRAAT museum:
- Aesthetic, which explores street art’s pursuit of perfect shapes;
- Personal, which views street art as a reflection of the artist’s universe;
- Grounded, which reveals the connection between street art and its environments;
- Empathic, which zooms in on how street art communicates with its audience;
- Conscious, which demonstrates street art’s power to raise awareness for social and environmental causes.
Read also: The Museum is Open, Now What?
Thank you so much to everyone in the core team that collaboratively established the museum, to Giovanna Di Giacomo for the team work on this beautiful catalogue, and to Christian Omodeo for the great foreword. Published by Lannoo.
I’m so excited to finally hold it in my hands!
