Kiwi abroad...: Back in Den Haag...

Yesterday a return to Den Haag city centre for a lunchtime organ concert, an art film installation and a visit to the Escher Museum. The organ concert (Bach) was in the Kloosterkerk, just off Het Lange Voorhout, the organist Eric Quist. Sadly (and amazingly given the volume) I disgraced myself by dozing through much of the performance - no reflection on the composer or the organist, probably just an indication of my weariness!! Next week I am going to another lunchtime concert with a friend of Lauren and Merel's (Raymond) from just down the road. So I'd better be on my best, alert behaviour.

Another church - Grote Kerk Den Haag - was the venue for three 'multi-screen' films by Julian Rosefeldt, collectively named the Trilogy of Failure. There was something quite mesmerising about these films and their soundtrack/s - impossible to describe, just something to experience.

Great that these churches are being used for such cultural events.

I also went to Escher in Het Palais (Het Palais being the former Winter Palace of Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands). I nearly didn't go because the entry cost wasn't covered by my museumcard, but I was pleased that I did. Escher suffers, I think, from over-exposure - we all know his work, and its originality and intent has been dulled by this familiarity. What this excellently curated exhibition did was put Escher in a social and geographical context and show how the constant themes in his work (eg. infinity, transformation, relativity, dimensionality...) developed over time. I was very taken with his early work, probably because it wasn't familiar and it also because it alerted me to the superb command he had of his print-making medium. Excuse my poor photos. I still feel bad about photographing art works :-(