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Amsterdam Weekend Guide (14-16 February)

In the Dutch capital, a cold snap won’t slow the weekend. Love is in the air, algorithms are taking over and Shakespeare still reigns supreme. This weekend, discover everything from film and opera to new brunch spots, with plenty of culture, music, and food to dive into.

ART & EXHIBITIONS

Reflecting Forward: In Search of Connectivism at Moco Museum

In collaboration with Moco Museum

At Moco Museum, Studio Irma explores the unseen connections that shape our world through immersive digital art in the exhibition Reflecting Forward: In Search of Connectivism. The Diamond Matrix installation reflects human resilience, akin to the process of diamonds formed under pressure, emerging stronger and more brilliant. Andrés Reisinger, one of our most visionary digital artists, transforms Moco Museum into a hypnotic, interactive dreamscape. Bridging the digital and physical, his work dissolves the boundaries between reality and imagination, organic and artificial.

Moco Museum | open 7 days a week | Honthorststraat 20, Museumplein

Still Processing

The newest exhibit at NXT Museum heralds the age of algorithms with a multimedia show that explores the art of image-making in a technological world. Still Processing portrays the ways in which machine processing and human perception intersect to distort and recreate the visual world. Using AI-generated holograms, kinetic light installations, and 3D rendering, seven artists create immersive works that blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy. 

Still Processing| February-October | NXT Museum

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Grote Zaal Koninklijk concertgebouw
Image from Eduardus Lee

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend and love is in the air – whether that’s self-love, romantic love, love for your friends, or love for the city. Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Pllek for a timeless dinner-and-a-movie experience: enjoy a three-course meal followed by a screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Art lovers can take their special someone along to the Amsterdam Museum's Valentine’s Date  which offers a two-for-one deal, or get your fix of sumptuous classical music with Amsterdam tradition Valentine Classics at the Movies hosted by the Concertgebouw, where the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra performs scores from classic romantic films. If self-love is on the agenda this weekend, indulge in some well-deserved pampering at one of Amsterdam’s spas. For more Valentine's Day ideas, check out our tips here.

THEATRE & STAGE

Idomeneo, re di Creta

Image from Hugo Thomassen

Mozart’s tempestuous masterpiece of fate gone wrong is transformed by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and visionary artist Chiharu Shiota. Led by Laurence Cummings, this story of human passion driven to its limits combines the grandeur of baroque opera with a sharp modern edge. A sweeping mythological drama, Idomeneo, re di Creta follows the downfall of a royal family, as a king is torn between paternal love and his fidelity to the gods. Witness all the terror and the splendour of the opera on the stage of the National Opera and Ballet.

Idomeneo, re di Creta| 7-23 February | Mike’s Badhuistheater

TALKS & DEBATES

Nelson Mandela Lecture

Under the theme Face Forward, the 5th ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture brings together compelling performances, discussions and an overarching spirit of resistance. The lecture is headed by courageous Kenyan journalist John-Allan Namu, whose investigative work exposed systemic corruption at the highest levels. 35 years after Nelson Mandela's release, the lecture explores his legacy in a contemporary era of global unrest. Through literature, art and music, panels examine the forgotten war in Sudan, the struggle against prejudice, and the changing face of activism.

Nelson Mandela Lecture | Sunday 16 February | International Theatre Amsterdam

CONCERTS & FILM

Tribute to Ludovico Einaudi

Image from Open Monumentendag

Few contemporary pianists have transformed the landscape of piano quite like Ludovico Einaudi. The virtuoso pianist and composer’s sweepingly immersive songs like Experience and Nuvole Bianche boast half a billion streams on Spotify. At the atmospheric Keizersgrachtkerk, experience his soundscape in all its glory, brought to life by the talented musicians of the Mystery Ensemble by La Chapelle Sauvage. 

Tribute to Ludovico Einaudi | Sunday 16 February | Keizersgrachtkerk

To Screen or not to Screen

Embrace the Bard at Studio/K with To Screen or not to Screen, a cinematic tribute to Shakespeare. From 10 Things I Hate About You (a much-loved contemporary take on Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew) to the 1996 classic Romeo + Juliet, the program spans modern reimaginings and beloved adaptations, showing just how timeless the playwright truly remains.

To Screen or not to Screen | February - March | Studio/K

NIGHTLIFE & CLUBBING

Bart Skils

People on the dance floor
Image from Clemens Wildschut

Amsterdam-grown Bart Skils has proven to be a formidable force in the techno world. With his euphoric soundscape and taste for the melodic and the minimal, Skils adds his name to a long list of Amsterdam-based DJs who produce some of the world’s best electronic music. Catch him at beloved techno stomping ground Lofi in Nieuw-West, for an invigorating start to your weekend.

Bart Skils | Saturday 14 February | Lofi

RESTAURANTS & BARS

Peppi Deli

Along De Pijp’s Tweede van der Helststraat, you’ll find brand-spanking-new Peppi Deli, a sit-down delicatessen and coffee haunt. With its opening weekend just past, it brings a much-needed dose of affordability back into one of the city’s trendiest neighbourhoods (a cappuccino at Peppi's will set you back a mere €2,95). With its elegant interior and reasonably-priced menu, Peppi embodies an elusive thing in this city: refined yet truly unpretentious and, hopefully, here to stay.

Peppi Deli | Tuesday - Saturday, 8am-5:30pm | Tweede van der Helststraat 17

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