Hair styling and manicure among Van Gogh’s masterpieces. Thus the famous Amsterdam Museum has been transformed into a beauty center in protest

The director Emilie Gordenker: «We closed and open beauticians». In the Netherlands, other museums have joined the initiative, offering zumba lessons and training sessions to stay open

Shampoo, cut, style and manicure in an unprecedented location. Which? The famous Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Incredible but true. The first time in history, the magnificent museum, which displays the works of the brilliant Dutch painter, has been transformed into a beauty salon. A unique initiative that has undoubtedly given unique emotions and sensations to those who have been able to take advantage of this opportunity: to take care of themselves surrounded by paintings and drawings by Van Gogh.

A decision by the director, Emilie Gordenker, meditated and implemented to attract attention, and to protest against the anti-Covid measures taken by the Dutch government which has closed bars, cafes, theaters and museums, but left hairdressers, beauty centers and gyms open. “We want to highlight an inconsistency in government policy to counter the pandemic,” he explained to Bbc the director of the museum. “A visit to the museum is safe and just as important as going to a beauty salon, perhaps more so. We just ask to be consistent … to set the rules so that everyone understands them. This is not the case at the moment, “he explained.

Protests across the country

Thus, a long table with enamels and lime, as well as a special station with an attached hairstylist, were placed in the center of a room, under the self-portraits of the Dutch master. But director Gordenker was not left alone. In fact, the Van Gogh Museum wasn’t the only one to protest. Other museums across the country have joined, offering training sessions, zumba classes and declaring themselves religious institutions to stay open.

For example, the De Balie debate center, also in Amsterdam, has circumvented the rules by opening its doors as a religious institution called the Philosophical Society, the Community of Reason. The Mauritshuis, where the “Girl with a pearl earring “ by Vermeer, it has been transformed into a training ground on the doorstep of the parliament in The Hague. The Panorama Mesdag in The Hague invited people for an afternoon of “mind-strengthening”, while the Limburgs Museum turned into a gym for the day with a zumba session.

Against the strategies implemented by the Dutch government to contain the pandemic, many sectors have spoken out, defining the choices as “illogical and contradictory”. “It doesn’t work, I can do my job and the people in the museum can’t,” said Mischa, a barber, who brought his traditional work chair, mirror and trim to the entrance to the Van Gogh Museum. “Look around. There is so much space and people can be in a supermarket with 300 people, it’s crazy ».

Surely the goal of the director of the Van Gogh Museum has been achieved. The news went around the world and the media talked about it. Doubts have raised, no answers yet. But, today, one thing is certain: the difficulty lies precisely in finding correct answers and solutions, or adequate to contain infections and fear, which do not penalize individual sectors and categories of work. Art and culture are food for the soul and could help lift the moods weighed down by the long period marked by Covid. By always putting people’s safety first, perhaps a reflection would be useful. And who knows if the Dutch government does not think about it now.