photo Benno Ellerbroek Hoorn is an old city in the North of Holland on the shores of the former Zuyder Sea. In the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries it was wildly prosperous, and sent its merchants and soldiers the world over in search of glory and domination. Great profits, Read more…
The regional museum “Waterlands Museum & Speeltoren” is a museum dedicated to the history of the region just north of Amsterdam, called Waterland. The main town of the region is charming Monnickendam, and the main landmark of Monnickendam is it’s ancient belltower, the “Speeltoren“. The tower houses the oldest carillon Read more…
For a new exhibition for the marvellous West Friesmuseum in the city of Hoorn we had the challenge of working in a beautiful period room from the middle of the 18th century. When working in a rich historic space it is necessary to take account of more layers of aesthetics, Read more…
https://www.vanhulzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kanon_model-1.mp4 For the Mauritshuis in The Hague I was engaged on a project which included research and exhibitions about plundered art or “roofkunst”, meaning specifically the works of art and artifacts that were stolen from colonialized countries and other subjugated peoples during the Western push to dominate the world. The Read more…
Commissions come in all shapes and sizes. Additionally, the emotional teneur can vary quite a lot. Recently I’ve made two small paper-cuts that have served as memorials to the recently deceased: One as a pall accessory —the pall being the cloth that lays on a coffin at a funeral service— Read more…
My immersive installation “Black Eden” is open in the pop-up annex of M. Museum, in Almere. Black Eden which alternatively could be called “Carbon Garden”, is about cognitive dissonance in a scorched paradise. It’s a comment on human self image and ecology. Museum M. is making its mark by orienting Read more…
From the category “things I forgot to post”: looking back on some great drawings and models from a commissioned remodel-concept for a medieval castle from 2 years back. Kasteel Ammersoyen is on the edge of Gelderland near Den Bosch, and is now preserved as a museum. Within the portfolio of Read more…
As a young man I lived in Rome. I learned Italian as one would —being before the time that speaking English was self-evident— and immersed myself in the glories of Rome: baroque architecture, ancient marbles, Carolingian mozaics, etc. But the thing that has endured with me the most is the Read more…
I’ve been doing quite a lot for the North Holland Archives the last couple of years (see: Women in the Resistance and Johan Enschede: Printer of Value). But I hadn’t expected to do any sculptural work for them. Yet when they asked if I knew anyone who could upgrade their Read more…
I’ve had three recent paper cut commissions, specifically for horizontal banners celebrating lives: a 50th anniversary, a 50th birthday, and the passing of a lived life. The Anniversary banner combined emblems of a shared life in a matrix of baroque ornament, all framing portraits of the beloved. The Birthday banner Read more…
Dogbone is a furniture design concept that I’ve been working at for a few years. It’s accessible, customizable, and collapsible, and based on real world solutions in the exhibition industry.
Design for the exhibition Vrouwen in verzet (Women in the Resistance) at the North Holland Archives in Haarlem.The Noord-Hollands Archief revisits the subject of the role of women in the resistance against Nazi Occupation in the period around World War II. A hitherto neglected subject, Vrouwen in Verzet sets the record Read more…