04:33Workers transform Van Gogh museum into beauty salon in Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was transformed on Wednesday into a beauty salon in a protest against the closure of cultural venues in The Netherlands to curb the surge of COVID-19 infections.
The footage shows a barber cutting a client's hair and beauty salon employees doing clients' nails surrounded by Van Gogh's self-portraits.
The action in the Van Gogh Museum was part of a broader action organised by theaters and museums across The Netherlands, transformed into beauty salons and gyms to be allowed to showcase their plays and exhibitions.
"It was a disappointment that the cultural sector has to remain closed yet again. We do, of course, respect that this is a very tiring situation, but when we realized that shops do get to open which are comparable in the kind of way people move around, we thought it was time to make known that we are also very interested in opening up again," said Lisa Smit, Van Gogh Museum curator.
Clients showed their support to the cultural industry.
"To me, it does make sense that cultural institutions like the Van Gogh Museum can reopen. They have large spaces, if you control the amount of people coming in, then I think it's responsible to reopen," said client Max Smit while his hair was being cut.
Lockdown measures were relaxed on January 14, with all non-essential shops and contact businesses like hairdressers being allowed to reopen again within a limited timeframe, while bars, restaurants, and cultural venues remain shut.
04:33The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was transformed on Wednesday into a beauty salon in a protest against the closure of cultural venues in The Netherlands to curb the surge of COVID-19 infections.
The footage shows a barber cutting a client's hair and beauty salon employees doing clients' nails surrounded by Van Gogh's self-portraits.
The action in the Van Gogh Museum was part of a broader action organised by theaters and museums across The Netherlands, transformed into beauty salons and gyms to be allowed to showcase their plays and exhibitions.
"It was a disappointment that the cultural sector has to remain closed yet again. We do, of course, respect that this is a very tiring situation, but when we realized that shops do get to open which are comparable in the kind of way people move around, we thought it was time to make known that we are also very interested in opening up again," said Lisa Smit, Van Gogh Museum curator.
Clients showed their support to the cultural industry.
"To me, it does make sense that cultural institutions like the Van Gogh Museum can reopen. They have large spaces, if you control the amount of people coming in, then I think it's responsible to reopen," said client Max Smit while his hair was being cut.
Lockdown measures were relaxed on January 14, with all non-essential shops and contact businesses like hairdressers being allowed to reopen again within a limited timeframe, while bars, restaurants, and cultural venues remain shut.