Set design in three acts

Living Room: theatre at home

Nearly three centuries ago, this miniature stage was used in living rooms to demonstrate how theatre worked. The sets were the work of the set painters of Amsterdam’s city theatre at the time, of which nothing survives today due to a devastating fire. The chamber theatre has eight 18th-century and six 19th-century romantic backdrops.

The Studio: source of inspiration for contemporary artists

Baron van Slingelandt’s historic chamber theatre inspired contemporary artists Arne Hendriks and Josef Zappe to create a replica. Using the stage’s technical mechanisms, they open a dialogue about how people interact with the landscape. Throughout the exhibition period, Arne Hendriks will regularly be present, working in an open studio.

The museum: Stedelijk Museum 1922

Realistically painted sets, as shown in Baron van Slingelandt’s chamber theatre, were the standard until around 1900. After that, a new era began in which architects, artists, and theatre-makers began experimenting. This was the start of the age of modern scenography. In 1922, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam organised a major international exhibition on stage design, featuring works by Hendrik Berlage (1856–1934), Henry van de Velde (1863–1957), and Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929). In this third ‘act’, the Allard Pierson presents a virtual reconstruction of this groundbreaking exhibition, developed in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam’s 4D Research Lab.