Hermitage Amsterdam changes name, severing Russia ties

June 27, 2023 9News Nigeria Europe 0

Set in a former retirement home in central Amsterdam, the Hermitage Museum has been a satellite location for one of Russia’s most famous museums for over a decade. In 2009, the Hermitage Amsterdam opened and began displaying exhibitions with loans from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg’s vast treasury.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Hermitage Amsterdam ended all cooperation with its namesake in St. Petersburg. The museum also closed its Russian avant-garde exhibition alongside.

This September, the museum will fully rebrand under a new name that signifies its new partnerships with renowned galleries in London, Paris and Washington DC.

Starting in September, the Hermitage Amsterdam will be called the H’ART Museum. It has established partnerships with the British Museum, Centre Pompidou and the Smithsonian American Art Museum to bring art to the historic building on the banks of the Dutch capital’s Amstel River.

“It’s an exciting new step for us, a contemporary and future-proof model. We are building on our experience in the international field and are now spreading our wings,” museum director Annabelle Birnie said. “Our programming will be multi-voiced reflecting the times we live in. We will show major art exhibitions as well as intimate presentations.”

The first major show – scheduled to open midway through 2024 – will be a partnership with Paris’ Centre Pompidou focused on Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian-born artist who became a French citizen and died in France in 1944. They have also announced that in 2026, the H’ART Museum will welcome the British Museum’s Feminine power exhibition.