– This post was written by Mick Murray –
Amsterdam’s STRAAT Museum is by far the world’s biggest – and best – street art museum. Located on the NDSM wharf, an area known for its rugged industrial charm and connection to the Amsterdam street art scene, this unique museum features wall-sized works of street art as far as the eye can see. We visited STRAAT to talk to the museum’s hard-working curator, David Roos, who showed us around and told us some of the fascinating stories behind the artworks.
Meet your insider
Thanks for welcoming us! Please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do for STRAAT Museum.
I’m David Roos, and I’ve been the curator and creative director here at STRAAT for the last 1.5 years. I’ve been working here in two phases: during the building phase at the very start when all the artists came to the museum, I was co-curating with someone else. Last year I came back to help build things up again.
The curation of the museum means selecting the artists, inviting them, and welcoming them to come and paint at STRAAT. That’s a really broad range of artists, from local talents to big names from all over the world. Besides that, I’m the team lead here at STRAAT, setting up the museum’s vision of the place together with the commercial director. I also help with lots of other things, like building up the foundation for outside walls!
How do you select the artists who get to display their work at STRAAT Museum?
The selection of artists is based on – well, for sure personal interest and taste – but also the desire to really make it a broad range of different voices.
There were always a lot of artists around, travelling and visiting Amsterdam, and via-via we came into contact with a lot of them. If we notice someone’s around, we’ll invite them to check out the place, and if they want to paint something they’re more than welcome to do so.
I think this selection of artists is for everyone – young or old, you’ll find something to enjoy.
How did your street art story start? How does someone become the curator of the world’s biggest street art museum?
My personal story is that I went to Berlin to study international health. There, I was exposed to street art every day. I was taking pictures on a regular basis, and ended up posting lots of them on Instagram.
I was always promoting artists on there, which is how I got to know most of them – like INO, the guy who made the giant butt mural in the back. I was always tagging him and crediting him for his work, and in the end he agreed to come to Amsterdam to paint for the museum. There are a lot of these personal stories to share – there’s a story to every painting that you can see here.
What’s your favourite part about working here?
It’s a very flexible situation over here, and very dynamic. While we’ve already been open for a year, we’re really just in the beginning stages. We’re making small baby steps but there is no end to this museum; it will develop like the (street art) scene is developing – every day. It’s a very big challenge with a very small team. Most museums work with teams of dozens of people – we work with a dozen max! It’s challenging and fun.
The history of STRAAT Museum
What is the history of STRAAT Museum? How did it all start?
Just outside of the museum, there’s a big flea market called the IJhallen. That’s been here since I think ‘99; the IJhallen market used to be inside this building, and there were lots of local graffiti artists working in the area (including on the outside of the building).
At some point the owner said ‘’Okay, these guys are painting, I don’t like most of it but I like a couple – let them make something as a sort of decoration for the place”. So when people visit the flea market, it’s not an empty old building, but it’s also nice to look at. One thing led to another, and in the end the plan evolved: let’s make it a museum.
At that stage I came in, in 2016. We worked here, in this very office – this used to be a completely empty space, old, with broken windows – we were sitting in a corner over there huddled around a little electric heater. That was basically it! We were just wearing winter coats, inviting artists in. We had a mobile WiFi spot and that was it.
You’ve made a lot of progress in 5 years.
It’s a lot of work and a lot of blood, sweat and tears! I left the museum for a couple of years and studied medicine and moved to work in that sector – then the owner asked me to come back last year and to help open the place up once and for all. We managed to do it!
With the coronavirus pandemic, it was very difficult of course – last year was technically the first anniversary of being open, which wasn’t as nice as it could have been, as we were only open for 26 weeks out of the 52 due to the lockdowns.
It has been fun to finally see visitors entering the place and enjoying it; we get a lot of good reviews through Tiqets – and we were nominated for the Best Museum in the Netherlands award this year – so that’s definitely a motivator to keep on going! We just keep believing in the bigger picture.
That’s one thing we noticed on Tiqets – the reviews are good! Like, really good. Lots of people leave stories talking about how much they enjoyed it.
Yes! We get some really good and nice reviews, and we love sharing these with the team. Our staff get a lot of attention in the reviews; visitors always say they’re so kind and really take the time to explain everything to everybody. That’s something we really want to continue and keep doing in the future.
Street art in Amsterdam and STRAAT Museum: A love story
It seems like STRAAT Museum came about very organically. Is there a street art scene in Amsterdam that developed around here?
It very much fits the area! People are still painting outside here on a daily basis. That was also the reason why the owner got inspired in the first place, and invited some of the local artists to come and paint. The original investor didn’t have anything to do with art at first – but of course he’s definitely built up an appreciation for it over the years! If it wasn’t for the street art scene in the surrounding area, he wouldn’t be doing this. So there’s a definite correlation with the NDSM area itself.
The Anne Frank piece outside – was that commissioned by you guys or was that already there?
We took care of that together with the Anne Frank Foundation. Kobra, the artist from São Paulo, paints inspirational people and role models. He always had a wish to paint Anne Frank, and with this project everything came together.
How does STRAAT Museum attract so many international artists?
I think the main reason why this museum can exist is that we’re very much looking towards being an ethical place with integrity, and not just a background for companies to have their events. We think it’s important to show our respect to the artists that came here, to really make it work. The works we display are on loan – we paid for the flight, hotel, and all materials, but in the end the artists own the artwork. They still own it, and the copyright is completely with them.
It’s a very special place – normally when you visit a city, you can see one or two works of street art like this. Here we have 150 together in one place, and that’s very special.
It’s amazing to see them all in one place!
Yes! If I knew one of these pieces was somewhere in a city, I’d go there. For a museum like this, I’d go there even if it was overseas. You have a very small group of people like me who are the same, but you can see that more and more people are getting fond of street art. It’s a big process of history and evolution, and for sure Banksy was part of this change, as well as Keith Haring and others. But yeah, you can see that street art is getting more and more popular for a bigger range of people.
Of course this is still a commercial way of expressing and exhibiting street art, but I think the way we do it is very raw, very industrial, with paintings the size of murals, and the artists come here with complete creative freedom to paint whatever they like – that’s very much the same as outside painting. For us it still feels very much the same as what they do outside on the street.
The idea we have about street art is that it’s often a bit anti-establishment – so it must be hard at times to convince artists to exhibit their work in a museum?
It very much is! One thing I care about deeply is making agreements with the artists, and making sure it’s not a super-commercial museum. I want to make sure the art is their property, their copyright. That’s why a lot of artists are happy to exhibit here. Their work is respected in every way, which is why STRAAT Museum is such a unique place in the world – there aren’t many places like this, and definitely none as big as this one. For sure it’s the biggest street art museum in the world.
We try to give something back to the artists with the shop as well – we also have a gallery, with works by the first graffiti writer of all time, Cornbread from Philadelphia. We recently had the opening of that show with Cornbread himself as a guest, and a lot of graffiti writers showed up to pay their respects.
Walking around STRAAT Museum: The stories behind the art
At this point, David takes us through some of the most spectacular artworks on display at STRAAT Museum – including his personal favourite(s).
Wow. That’s not even a question – just wow.
So this is the entrance! You enter, and coming out of the tunnel, you should indeed have this ‘wow’ experience right at the beginning. It’s a place where you can also maybe see artists at work; we had an artist come last week, we had Cornbread painting, there’ll be an artist in November, etc. That doesn’t happen in most museums. Here, you can actually see the artists painting the work that visitors the next week will only see as a canvas – you were there! That’s something very exciting about the place.
So there’s real engagement with the street art community as well.
Yeah! It’s funny because lots of people – including my parents who were here recently – say that they see we have 20-30 new artworks every time they come back to visit. But we don’t! You get so many impressions when you walk around here that when you come back and visit again, you keep seeing new things.
This one on the left is beautiful!
It’s by Monkeybird – it’s actually stencil art. So you put layer over layer over layer with different colours, and in the end this image comes up. Monkeybird is an artistic duo from France: one has the alias of a monkey and the other one a bird. Most of the time they include these animals in their work. It’s beautiful indeed – they actually have two pieces in this museum.
How do you display so many different works of street art in a way that makes sense?
So the museum right now is divided into five different themes. We did interviews with all of the artists who came here, and based on these interviews we selected the five themes; not the other way around! The themes ended up being Personal, Aesthetical, Emphatic, Grounded and Conscious.
The museum also educates people about the history and terminology of street art.
Yes! So this is the section about terminology, which also features a timeline of the history of the art form. It shows what kinds of street art there are – it’s not only spray paint or what some people just call graffiti – you also have acrylics, stickers, urban installations, and other things like that.
At STRAAT Museum, we try to share a bit about the history of street art and those who started it, like Cornbread who we talked about earlier. We also create a lot of things – like educational programmes – to try to explain street art to kids, for example. A lot of schools are interested in coming to learn more about it. There’s a lot to learn about street art; graffiti writers tend to start when they’re 13-14, so it’s especially interesting for them to learn about the art and what they can do, where it can lead to.
Do you think people have misconceptions about street art?
So graffiti is more the tags, while street art is more the pretty images that evolved as a result. Ultimately, everything evolved and came from graffiti. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, that’s how it all started. Street art wouldn’t be here now without people tagging the subways and stuff like that – so there is a difference between graffiti and street art, but they are for sure connected with each other.
We try to explain what moves people to make tags or graffiti in the streets. That way you can understand it more and more. Often, from graffiti, people try to change their style and make it more personal and find their own way of writing – as you can see here!
If you start reading from the top – it says “Do you read me? ”. That’s a wonderful kind of way of writing – for some people it looks like something abstract or a labyrinth, but it says so much more. And it all comes from graffiti!
Lots of the works here in this section seem to be based on the Netherlands, or even Amsterdam and the NDSM area specifically.
This is the Grounded section – most of the works are linked to the Netherlands or to Amsterdam and the surrounding area. We have representations of Dutch myths, the three crosses of Amsterdam, and one of the artworks even shows how you arrive here at the NDSM wharf with the ferry.
Here you have a bike with a multicultural family, which is how this artist from Brazil sees the Netherlands. It’s an interesting way of expressing Holland – you see that a lot, people coming from around the world who are inspired by what they see here, and they take that into consideration when coming up with their design for making a work here.
What’s the story behind these two murals?
The artist who created this work passed away 3.5 years ago. His name was Treze; he painted the work to the left. Just two weeks ago, we invited his widow to come and make this work to the right. I thought it was a beautiful thing to unite them here at STRAAT right next to each other. The works have completely different styles, but Treze and his wife were very much inspired and helped by each other. There are so many beautiful stories here, but this is for sure one of the most impactful ones for me.
This mirror sculpture is quite powerful too.
Yeah – this one is made by Icy and Sot, two brothers from Iran who were exiled from their country and went to New York. They always make works based on the refugee experience and their stories. This is the international symbol of the refugee, so by making it a mirror you see yourself in the lives of others – and you can imagine how it must be to be a refugee.
We’re now in the Conscious section – here it’s more based on statements that artists try to express. This section is about refugees, climate problems, animal welfare, and more.
Every now and again you can see a white canvas – there will be an artist coming at some point. The plan for this one is to get a German artist – I would like him to paint this one, at least the idea is there, but we’ll see if we can actually get him over here.
Logistically, it must be hard to get artists here from all over the world.
It’s exciting but difficult – especially during Covid, when we couldn’t invite any artists except Dutch artists. Last year we welcomed 20-25 Dutch artists to come and make a work here, so the local street art scene is well-represented here.
We have to ask this unfair question. What would your favourite work at STRAAT Museum be?
This one would be one of my favourites – by Eddie Colla from America, as the background implies. It’s a work made in 2017, and it pretty much sums up the whole of the last few years, with the background telling the story of Biden and Trump, Black Lives Matter, and even Covid.
It looks like a work that in some way really foresaw the future. That’s why this is also in the Conscious section, because it really produces a statement. Colla hated what the United States had become during the Trump presidency – this artwork was in some way, in 2017, the artist’s way of saying goodbye to America as he moved to Paris (where I met him for the first time). It’s a powerful image and for sure one of my favourites.
This artist, Wasted Rita, is amazing too! She’s from Portugal, and she came here to create this – it’s hilarious because it’s a bit of a commentary on the instagrammable world we’re living in. You can see that everywhere in museums these days – people taking selfies and sharing them.
There’s so much colour here – what’s the story behind these artworks?
Here you can see the Personal section – there are many Latin American artists here, who paint using lots of bright colours. They use themes like Inca, Maya, and Aztec culture, the Amazon, birds, the rainforest, and more.
I invited this artist, Mateus Bailon, to come here recently. I met him in Lisbon; the guy who painted the bike we saw earlier connected us, and told us we should meet, so I invited Mateus to come and paint – a couple weeks later he came here and created these beautiful birds on the left.
That’s the lovely thing about STRAAT – you meet so many exciting people and every artist is so different. I think the way we display things and the open-mindedness leads to the amount of variety we have here. There’s not one mainstream group of artists that’s selected here.
Enjoying street art in Amsterdam
If someone wanted to support the artists or bring home a souvenir… can they do that?
Yes! We try to give something back to the artists – by selling books, original artworks, their own merch, and things like that. We have the shop, and as you might expect from a street art museum, we advise you to Exit Through the Gift Shop.
The Cornbread gallery opened up only last week. We found a lot of old newspapers at the flea market from the years that Cornbread was active. We got him to tag those, as well as a collection of traffic signs.
And then, of course, you also need to have a cafe for people to relax and enjoy the exhibition from a different angle – so we also have that. This little area feels a bit like home, a bit cozy. It’s still a great way to enjoy the art, while you’re having a drink or eating something.
STRAAT Museum should obviously be the first place people visit if they want to see street art in Amsterdam, but are there any other locations they could go?
There are definitely a few good spots. Certainly the NDSM Wharf, where we are located. Different parts of the wharf have hidden gems and treasures. You also have Flevopark, where lots of local artists go to paint. You have Wibautstraat as well, behind the Student Hotel. Also at the Student Hotel itself, you can find a couple of great murals.
For the rest, there are plenty of hidden treasures around Central Amsterdam as well – for me as a street art photographer it was always fun to just go and stumble across things in the street and take pictures.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy a trip to STRAAT Museum. From solo explorations to guided tours, date nights, or luxury accommodation packages with local hotels, seeing incredible street art in Amsterdam has never been more accessible.
All photos used in this article were taken by Callum Tyler @ Tiqets.
