This Amsterdam Museum Wants You To Explore With Your Eyes, Not Your Camera Lens

by N/A, 10 years ago | 6 min read

Rijksmuseum is an art history museum located in Amsterdam. A recent campaign was announced in a press release explaining how the museum plans to turn things around for a more engaging experience for visitors. With everybody having a highly advanced camera on their person at all times (cell phones), it's hard to get people to stop and look at something for a moment, rather than just snap a photo of it and plan to look at it later. That's why Rijksmuseum is asking visitors to #StartDrawing.

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That's right: when you take a visit to Rijksmuseum you'll be asked to trade in cell phones and selfie sticks for a pad and pencil. What's the point of the #StartDrawing campaign you might be wondering?

Rijksmuseum explains it's the fact that we, as a society, now, "look at things quickly, fleetingly, superficially." Stopping for a moment to look at something and draw what we see will help slow this observational process down a bit.

Wim Pijbes, the general director of the Rijksmuseum, explains, "In our busy lives we don’t always realize how beautiful something can be. We forget how to look really closely. Drawing helps because you see more when you draw."

Instead of moving on to whatever is next in quick succession, snapping away memories (literally, they go away without actual engagement), this campaign helps visitors interact with the artwork before their eyes.

You can see from these photos that the engagement level is much more than what museum attendees and workers may have seen in recent history. Instead, these visitors are finally soaking in the art history they have otherwise missed out on.

The campaign is in conjunction with the "Selfies on Paper" installation. 90 self-portraits from well known artists from the 17th to 20th century have been spread through each floor of the museum, proving the art of the selfie doesn't require a camera.

Rijksmuseum has provided this quick video for a brief insight into what you can expect to see when visiting the art history museum under their new vision (of drawing).

Rijksmuseum explains:

"You don’t even have to be able to draw because this is not about the final result but rather about looking at what you want to draw. When you do this, you begin to see things you never noticed before. You see proportions, details, lines … you get closer to the artist’s secret…. Just think of this as being ‘all about the journey, not the destination."

Well, you know what to do: #StartDrawing (oh, and get a ticket to Amsterdam)!