Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography

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Huis Marseille is Amsterdam’s first photography museum. Since September 1999, the museum has been offering a rich and varied exhibition program that changes an average of four times a year. The exhibitions are shown in two seventeenth-century canal houses in which many original details are intact, such as opulent ceiling paintings, stucco work, marble, and a red period room in the style of Louis XIV. The museum also has a library, a specialized photo book shop, and a tranquil canal garden which are all open to visitors.

Amsterdam's first photography museum

Huis Marseille is Amsterdam's first photography museum. For more than seventeen years, the museum has offered a rich and varied exhibition program that changes an average of four times a year. The museum was expanded in 2013 with the neighboring building Keizersgracht 399, so that it now has around fourteen exhibition spaces, so that in addition to the changing exhibitions there is also plenty of opportunity for showing its own collection, which mainly consists of leading, modern (national and international) photography.

How do photographers develop a new visual language that is relevant to the artistic nature of photography, while at the same time reflecting on our times? That is the question that is central to Huis Marseille and which influences the exhibition program and collection development. At a time when photography is unprecedentedly popular, when it is accessible to everyone and ubiquitous as a (mass) medium, photography as an artistic medium is constantly changing. Huis Marseille opts for photography in which an artistic visual language is central and which is characterized by a passionate research spirit, as part of a continuous research into avant-garde innovation. In addition, photography in Huis Marseille has a social relevance and many interfaces with the changing spirit of the time.

The fact that Huis Marseille is located in two seventeenth-century canal houses has a major influence on the 'organic' way in which the exhibitions are experienced in the various rooms. The lion's share of the exhibitions in Huis Marseille are developed and produced in-house for the spaces. Huis Marseille is the opposite of a 'white cube': a fact that has a major influence on the experience of the exhibitions in the spaces. At the same time, these authentic spaces are so bright and open that the appearance of the photo works themselves is not hindered by them, but rather enhanced.

How to visit Huis Marseille with your City Card

It is not necessary to reserve a time slot to visit this location with your City Card. Make sure that your City Card is valid at the time of your visit.