In the basement of the City Archives Amsterdam there are 8 safe deposit boxes. In these rooms, people left their valuable possessions when they went on long journeys to distant places. Now they serve as exhibition spaces. The City Archives Amsterdam invites the Leo Smit Foundation to create an exhibition in these safes with the subject: Forbidden Music. Much music was no longer allowed to be played during World War II. The composers of this music were Jewish, politically undesirable or involved in the resistance. What were their lives like? How did their music sound? Did they survive the war? Dive into the Vault and discover a hidden world.
The exhibition Forbidden Music highlights the lives and work of Dutch musicians and composers who were persecuted during World War II. They performed, taught music, and conducted choirs. The Concertgebouworkest frequently performed their works. Some of them began their careers carefree, others had to flee fascism and antisemitism in Hungary and Germany. Then World War II breaks out and the Netherlands is occupied. The composers are persecuted because of their (mostly Jewish) background. They go into hiding, flee, join the resistance. Many are arrested and deported to concentration camps. Both in the Netherlands and in former Dutch East Indies.
Some of them do not survive the war. The music, lives and stories of these composers are largely forgotten. The Leo Smit Foundation has been researching persecuted composers since 1996 and is committed to making their music heard again. The audio tour and the films are an important part of this exhibition.
The titles of the four larger rooms are:
- Refugees
Géza Frid, Pál Hermann, Zoltán Székely; Hans Krieg, Hans Lachman, James Simon - Famous Women
Henriëtte Bosmans, Marjo Tal, Rosy Wertheim - Indies Sounds
Paul Seelig, Theo Smit Sibinga, Max Vredenburg - Jazz, Blues & Foxtrot
Dick Kattenburg, Leo Smit
In the four small rooms you will see the accompanying films, made by Patricia Werner Leanse.
Forbidden Music in the safe deposit boxes of the City Archives Amsterdam
On view from 15 April to 3 July 2022
Opening 14 April at 17.00
Exhibition curator: Eleonore Pameijer & Anne Houk de Jong
Design RO designers: Monique Rietbroek & Josephine Oudijn.
Graphic design: Tijl Akkermans
