nostalgia

The artworks in this room are all chosen to give you this feeling of nostalgia to your childhood. The love for toys, craziness and just not experiencing what's happening in the world. This type of care free living as a child is something we can learn from.

Of course we didn't all have a broad range of toys in our childhood. But still, use this room and these artworks to take a moment to reflect on the happy moments of your childhood, the times you weren't influenced by social media or the events in the world. Just you playing. Is there a way to bring this back to your current life?

"Shortly after arriving here in Berlin, I started painting toys every day. Later that activity shifted to the evening, with the radio on, before going to sleep. What started as a pleasant, but somewhat non-committal exercise in color gradually grew into a true family and - unintentionally - also became an image of the time. My memories of our toys are already different from someone ten years younger. Each generation has his or her own toys. When we were clearing out the attic of the parental home, I photographed a lot of toys from which I could now draw. Photos were sent to me, and the 1930s toys I captured in the old house in the forests of the Black Forest, where friends once invited me, were very helpful. The internet was a major source of this. Totally forgotten items sometimes, which caused a shock of recognition. Mr. Potato Head, for example; a box with little plastic things in the shape of a nose, hat, glasses that you could pierce a potato."

Erik Mattijssen on his "Toys" series where he painted all types of toys. The work "Unsung Heroes" also reminds us of toys, dolls where you can move all body parts. Or the figures we used to craft with split pins.

"When we were young, my brothers and I were allowed to make ‘party sandwiches’ every once in a while. This was not playing with food: rather, it was about making works of art. We used all possible toppings and gave careful thought to composition, structure and colour. The sandwiches were our canvas, the knives our paintbrush. When our creative needs had been satisfied, we dished up our works of art to our parents, as breakfast in bed. " Maarten Bel on his series "Feestboterhammen".