The word on the street is out that five-star Amsterdam hotels are among the world’s finest. Offering a splendid blend of old-world graciousness with new-world amenities, guests here will be able to choose between traveling while remaining super-connected to the world at large, or hiding away in the luxury here. Both options are heavenly, as attention to style and detail show from every pocket. With excellent room service, and customer service that exceeds all expectations, guests will experience unusually decadent levels of rejuvenation of mind, body, and spirit.
The city itself is one of the most spectacular in the world. It’s long been a tourist hotspot, and the locals seem to like it very much, as well. By most accounts, it is one of the most sensibly-run cities in the world, with social services that seem to work without much interruption, a very lively nightlife, and a cultural scene that is impressive. The arts here speak to a very hip community, and the content is very local, but the sensibility is unmistakably global. Artists have had a long relationship to the city, as a place to live and work, and to find inspiration. One inspired and rather fascinating new project for Amsterdam is Red A.I.R., an artists-in-residence program in the Red Light District.
The project is to house eight artists in old brothels that have been converted to studios in one of Amsterdam’s more popular sections. These artists, Laurence Aëgerter, Mounira Al Solh, Alexis Blake, Egle Budvytyte, Francesca Grilli, Achim Lengerer, Ahmet Ögüt and Niels Vis, live here for eight or nine months and work in their respective mediums, photography, performance, video, etc. They will post updates on their works-in-progress while part of Red A.I.R., and occasionally have formal shows. The aim of the project is about space, of course. The idea of redefinition of space, and how space is considered in the public and private life of Amsterdam, are taken into consideration and examined for the duration of the project. There has to be some degree of familiarity between the brothel and the Red A.I.R. communities, and some moments of tension, or at least uneasiness, arise, as the two circles come into contact with each other. It is an interesting experiment in art and living, one that is spectacularly Amsterdam.
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