A series of exhibitions and events about to the sixties, focusing on the revolutionary year of 1969 in Amsterdam.

The sixties started late in the Netherlands. From the mid-sixties there were the playful protests by action group Provo, but it was only in 1969 that events started to get revolutionary. Numerous protests in that year turned Amsterdam upside down and eventually brought about  a definitive change in Dutch society. The Sixties Now! shows how influential these protests have been. The Sixties Now consists of several exhibitions and events:

5th October 2009 – 7th February 2010

This exposition takes the visitor on a tour of forty years of inspired theatre-history. Starting with the notorious Action Tomato in 1969, when two young Amsterdam actors hurled tomatoes at actors of the respected theatre company 'Nederlandse Comedie'. The exhibition shows how the thorough changes in Dutch theatre, that were brought about by Action Tomato, have influenced Dutch theatre until the present. 

5th October 2009 – 7th February 2010 

Ruigoord, a colony of artists on the fringes of Amsterdam, is one of the few  visible remnants of the hippie-era. 34 portraits of prominent Ruigoorders, painted by Hennie van der Vegt, give an impression of the artist village in the Amsterdam harbour area through the years. Apart from the painted portraits, the exhibition also includes several filmed portraits by Mary Benjamins, shown in an installation by Ruigoord-artist Popke Bakker.

November 2009 – 7th February 2010

Amsterdam artist Aat Veldhoen (1934) painted two courful portraits of  aged heroes of the Amsterdam Sixties, shortly before they died. Simon Vinkenoog (1928-2009) and Robert Jasper Grootveld (1932-2009) posed naked, at their own request. They both had strong ties with the above mentioned Ruigoord-community of artists.

November 2009 – 7th February 2010

A photo-presentation of one of the most important fashion innovations of the twentieth century. Photo’s by Ed van der Elsken, Ben van Meerendonk and others show the miniskirt as it was worn in the streets of Amsterdam in the sixties and seventies. The presentation is freely accessible in the courtyard of the museum.