Last weekend, the artists living and creating in the Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam opened their atelier to the public. Open Ateliers is an interesting event that I wanted to attend since I found out about it from a friend. I was curious to meet the local artists, to see their working environment and talk with them about their work. I decided to go on Sunday and I invited Andra from Amsterdamming to join me in this adventure, knowing that she would enjoy the event (plus, I always get cool pictures when I spend time with her!).

We had fun, the event didn’t disappoint us. As we were to find out, there were not only ateliers that were open that day: some of the artists opened their homes on this occasion, other exhibited in coffee shops, building entrances and stairways, bookstores, even beauty salons. We followed the red flags indicating the exhibitions, we boldly rang doorbells when it was the case, climbed stairs, talked to people, marvelled at beautiful art or art that we couldn’t understand, we took photos and had a good laugh. We didn’t forget to admire the area while we were moving from one place to the other — it was a beautiful autumn day and that part of the city is very beautiful, a mix of old and new, crowds and empty little streets, kitsch and art.

Among the artists we visited were: Alida Verheij, Denise Rosenboom, Evelyne Codazzi, Hans Puts, Joyce van den Engel, Martine van Leeuwen, Simon Millard. We couldn’t manage to see all the ateliers, but that’s OK because the tour ended with Zuiderkerk, where there was a mix of works from all of them.

You can follow Amsterdamian on Instagram and Facebook for daily stories about life in Amsterdam and travels.