Closing the Vault

A new treasure for Amsterdam

The Iron Chapel is Amsterdam’s historic city vault. For centuries, it safeguarded the city’s most important documents, including the Tolprivilege. On 8 February, the chapel will be filled with a new treasure for Amsterdam, once again becoming a place of preservation for the next 100 years.

750 Years of Amsterdam

Nuur’s project NN XXX ties into the celebration of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary. Each year, one vase will be auctioned. In 2125, exactly one hundred years later, the final vase will leave the chapel, marking the completion of When Doubt Turns into Destiny.

About the Exhibition

From 7 September 2024 to 9 February 2025/2125, the Oude Kerk will present a new large-scale, context-specific exhibition by Navid Nuur (Tehran, 1976 – lives and works in The Hague). Nuur invites you to experience the church through your senses. He strips the history of Amsterdam’s oldest building down to sensory experiences focused on the here and now: seeing, smelling, hearing, earth, air, and light. At the same time, a key element of the exhibition will not conclude until a hundred years from now.