48 | the xpat journal | 2012

By Connie Moser

The superposition of two creative dis-ciplines – film and architecture – both dealing with reality, fiction, illusion and real experience, govern two design mo-tives: plural perspective and physiologi-cal effect.

Designed by the Vienna-based firm Delugan Meissl As-sociated Architects, the imposing complex houses four screens, 640 seats, and 1,200 square meters of exhibition space. There are three smaller halls – one of 67 seats with the nostalgic character of a Paris cinema circa 1900, two with 130 seats, and a large screening auditorium with 315 seats intended for film premieres and regular screenings.The cinema-going experience as a game of light, space and movement is evident. The white roof covering the building refers to cinematography, while the façade re-flects light in constantly changing conditions, reflected in multiple ways by smooth, crystalline surfaces, thus subjecting the building’s appearance to permanent op-tical changes during the course of the day. The spacious, luminescent EYE Bar-Restaurant offers breathtaking views of the waterfront on the IJ (pro-nounced ‘eye’, a play on words; both to see and to be, as visual identity). And of course the museum shop offers film paraphernalia.

FocusEYE is the only museum in the Netherlands that is com-pletely dedicated to film and the moving image, taking cinematic language as the point of departure for its exhi-bitions. Film is exhibited as art, entertainment, cultural heritage, and a conveyer of information. EYE offers ex-hibitions and corresponding film programs with a keen eye for current, historical and artistic developments, paying particular attention to young people as well. In addition to films for children and their families, EYE or-ganizes educational programs and activities for children and adults alike. To give an impression of how Dutch film is received abroad: in 2011 over 700 different Dutch films were shown at over 800 film festivals around the world. EYE’s two-month showing of Dutch Movies: English Subtitles promoted a greater appreciation for Dutch films. Besides retrospectives, thematic programs, se-ries, and screenings of restored classics and silent films with musical accompaniment, EYE also screens art house films by contemporary filmmakers from both home and abroad.

ExhibitionsEYE organizes four exhibitions each year, featuring in-ternationally acclaimed filmmakers and artists, accom-panied by film screenings and other activities. In order to make this possible, EYE collaborates with organiza-

Approaching EYE from Amsterdam’s waterfront, a sense of anticipation arises. This monumental structure, a veritable white wing flung out across the bank, transcendent and dramatic, harbors suspense for the visual experiences housed within.

EYE - the new film museum A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE OF LIGHT, SPACE AND MOVEMENT

Photo Iwan Baan

the xpat journal | 2012 | 49

CULTURE

tions such as the Deutsches Filminstitut in Frankfurt, the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, the Center of Vis-ual Music in Los Angeles, and the MoMA in New York.Autumn’s exhibition, Expanded Cinema: Isaac Julien, Fiona Tan and Yang Fudong (with four installations) showed film in unconventional forms on multiple screens, around which visitors could walk and view the moving images from various angles. Jaap Guldemond, Director of EYE exhibitions, explained, “There is little or no possibility to sit, so the visitors determine how they view it, making it a self-determined, interactive expe-rience. In a single-screen theater, the viewer’s vision is dictated, but multi-screened, parallel montage allows them to change the parameters of their viewing experi-ence within new spatial dimensions.”The complexity of the image matrix, using film as a material to create art in architectural film installations, challenges viewers to interpret various facets of the film for themselves. In Isaac Julien’s, nine-part multi-screen installation Ten Thousand Waves (2010), old and new Shanghai is brought together in a dynamic film essay. The fragmentation of the story results in an entirely dif-ferent perception of reality. “The single-screen perspec-tive is dated, it doesn’t fit with modern times,” Julien remarked. “The multi-screen interface reflects our digi-tal daily life; e-mail, Internet, Facebook, etc., creating synchronicity. There is an immersive quality in working with multiple screens.”The cinema can also be a spectator’s darkness for an out-of-body experience. Filmmaker Fiona Tan’s Saint Sebastian (2001) follows young, kimono-clad women engaged in Zen archery. Filmed from the front, as well as from behind, the non-narrative structure projected on two sides of the same screen, with two different

soundtracks, portrays the physical and mental con-centration of the contest, yet for the archers, nothing is planned, intended, desired or expected.

Conservation and PreservationOne of EYE’s most important tasks is collecting, con-serving and restoring film footage, much of which is of historical importance. Internationally, EYE is a pioneer in the restoration and digitization of film. Over 20,000 nitrate films from the first half of the 20th century de-mand constant attention. These extremely flammable materials (stored in bunkers) are disintegrating; in or-der to be screened, they must be copied. The collections are also insufficiently accessible, making it difficult to search or reuse them. The ‘regular’ celluloid films in EYE’s collection – approximately 30,000 films from 1950

EYE - the new film museum A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE OF LIGHT, SPACE AND MOVEMENT

Photo Denis Guzzo

Photo Denis Guzzo

50 | the xpat journal | 2012

CULTURE

to today – also need special care, as many of them are in danger of fading and deteriorating due to ‘vinegar syn-drome’, a form of acidification. Nearly 50% of films made before 1950 have been lost to decay, damage or fire. The Images for the Future-project, started on July 1, 2007 with financial assistance from the Dutch government, enabled EYE and other project partners (the Nether-lands Institute for Sound and Vision, the Dutch Na-tional Archives and Knowledgeland) to realize, in part, their goal to restore, conserve and digitize a portion of the 22,510 hours of film, 137,000 hours of video, 123,900 hours of audio material and 2.9 million photographs, and to make them accessible via applications and the-matic, interactive websites. www.imagesforthefuture.nl

Despite the adoption of the UNESCO Charter of the Preservation of the Digital Heritage in 2003, there is still insufficient awareness of the risks of loss of digital herit-age, even though knowledge is today primarily created and accessed through digital media. EYE’s unique Des-met Collection (documentary heritage) submitted by

the Netherlands, was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2011. EYE is also active through ed-ucational and specialized websites, such as Filmeduca-tie (an expertise center for film education), MovieZone (a film website for young people), Film in Nederland (a collection and history of Dutch cinema), Instant Cin-ema (experimental films), Scene Machine (an interac-tive website on which you can make films yourself with available footage), and Ximon (a VOD/EST platform). www.eyefilm.nl/en/watchfilmsonline

CollectionsThe earliest materials date from the start of the film in-dustry in Holland in 1895. The museum collection in-cludes 700,000 photographs, slides, negatives, lobby cards and postcards, 60,000 movie posters, around 37,000 films, 62,000 kilometers(!) of film music (sound tracks, show tunes), and vintage film equipment. In ad-dition, many Dutch filmmakers, screenwriters and film critics have donated their personal paper archives. The EYE film library is comprised of 30,000 books, DVDs, CD-ROMs, journals and periodicals (back to 1850) and digital news clippings.The museum’s Basement (open daily from 10 A.M - 6 P.M., free admission) offers visitors of all ages the op-portunity to search through EYE’s digitized collection in an interactive way. Here, visitors will find a digital vault, film installations, viewing pods, and a play-ground. The highlight is the Panorama, a room where visitors are surrounded on all sides by film fragments, and where they can browse the footage with the help of seven control panels. On weekdays, one of EYE’s information specialists is available in the Basement to answer visitor’s questions.

EYE is located on the northern side of the IJ waterfront, directly across from Amsterdam’s Central Station. There is a free ferry service to and from Central Station 24 hours a day, while motorists and cyclists can park at the back of the building. Additionally, EYE is fully accessible to the disabled.

Open seven days a week: 10 A.M. to 1 A.M., and until 2 A.M. on the weekends. IJpromenade 1, Amsterdam. Tel.: 020 - 589 14 00, Internet: www.eyefilm.nl.

PRACTICAL INFO

Photo Iwan Baan

The Dutch and their Delta Living below sea level

Have you ever wondered what the current climate change and rising sea levels mean for the low-lying and densely populated Netherlands? How can a land below sea level exist right along that very sea anyway? What happens when the rivers reach the ocean, and what are the consequences of this sub-sea-level position for the harbors?

The answers to these and many other questions are in this book. Author Jacob Vossestein, a geographer and anthropologist, provides great insight into the watery issues of the Nether lands, many fascinating and fun details and tips on where to go and see these.

Available at the book store and www.hollandbooks.nl

ISBN 978 90 5594 788 1 296 pAgeS 220 STuNNINg phoToS hArD Cover eNglISh prICe € 24.95

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