David Roos, Curator and Creative Director of the STRAAT – Museum for Graffiti and Street Art, Netherlands. Photo © Roderik van Nispen
1.What is your museum about and what is your work there?
We aim to share our passion for this radical art movement with the public, showcasing some of the biggest names and upcoming talent from all over the world. STRAAT is a street art graffiti museum for everyone, made possible by a dedicated team of enthusiasts. I am the Curator and Creative Director of the STRAAT exhibitions and connect artists to the museum with my perspectives on street art.
2.What is the impact on your digital activity? Do you have tips to share with your colleagues?
Instagram is very important for us. Especially during the lockdowns in the pandemic we stay connected with our followers / public by coming up with new material on our social media.
3.What advice would you give a visitor to fully discover your museum?
To fully experience the museum you should take the time. There are more than 150 artworks on side, many of them bigger than outside walls. We have a shop, a gallery and a beautiful view from our cafe. Make sure to get a nice cup of coffee there and make another walk through the museum.
4.What are the future projects of your museum?
Many plans for the future. We aim to bring more and more artists to come paint at the museum. We give an amazing experience to our visitors. It can happen that you visit the museum and see an artist paint live. No other museum has that!
Interview by Fabio Pariante, journalist / Twitter – Instagram
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The STRAAT Museum on social networks: Instagram – Facebook – YouTube
STRAAT Museum is the acronym of Museum for Graffiti and Street Art in Amsterdam, where street art is preserved within four walls, some of these also painted by artists, starting from the facade where there is the multicolored intervention of Eduardo Kobra, in memory of Anne Frank. The museum includes artists from all over the world, divided by themes and each with an explanatory text, among the names are: Alaniz, Steve Locatelli, Vegan Flava, Nils Westergard, Ben Slow, Fin DAC, Alice Pasquini, Guido de Boer, Snik, FAKE, Joren Joshua, Zurik, Rafael Sliks, Tellas, Said Dokins, Welin x Balstrøm, JanIsDeMan, Adele Renault and many others.
There are canvases of any size, works that tell the artistic movement of street art through different cultures and techniques. Each production was created specifically for the museum, within the museum: an unprecedented operation for the urban art sector that certainly is a contradiction for this type of art, but in a certain sense it re-proposes the concept of open-air production as usually happens because the works remain in the same place where they were created! Elected as Best Museum of the Netherlands 2021 at the Tiqets Remarkable Venue Awards, David Roos is the current Curator and Creative Director of the STRAAT Museum.