Once a year, across the third weekend of June, Amsterdam holds its ‘Open Garden Days’ (‘Open Tuinen Dagen’). This year, thirty canal houses opened their gardens to the public from 14-16 June; some for free, with a €15 ticket valid for all three days and covering all those gardens for which there was a charge. Now, some of these gardens are in fact accessible at any time of the year, and can be experienced as part of ordinary museum visits; but others open only for this annual occasion, and it is a weekend upon which gardens en masse become the focus of attention, at a time of year when they are in bloom, looking their very best – or otherwise, depending upon your taste in seasons and in gardens.
My partner and I visited Foam photography museum on Sunday, which is currently showing an excellent retrospective of Stephen Gill, entitled ‘Best Before End’, and an engaging project by Monica Nouwens, ‘Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before’. Both exhibitions run until 14 July. Foam had its garden open for the weekend; and I took the following photographs.
amsterdamarm 