Rembrandt Experience Amsterdam

It feels like Amsterdam is booming again. Is this the second Dutch Golden Age? It could be. There is lots of building going on, which is always a good sign for the local economy. There are many new additions of things to see and do in the city as the tourists return in good numbers too. One relatively new addition to Amsterdam attractions is the Rembrandts Experience Amsterdam. It is nestled snuggly by the Leidseplein, so very easy to find. And discover it, you must! It is a stunning audio-visual experience all about the life of Rembrandt. Here we do a Q+A with the founder and learn more about it and why it matters. Read on to find out more.

Everyone has heard of the Nightwatch or seen it at the Rijksmuseum, which is widely considered to be the most famous Dutch artwork of all time. It is beautiful and striking, but then again, many Rembrandt paintings are also a joy to see. He was such a skilled and gifted artist. But how much do we know about the artist and his life? If you have visited the fantastic Rembrandthuis near Waterlooplein, you will have a greater understanding of how Rembrandt and his family lived. It is a top-rated destination for fans of the artist and tourists alike. Indeed, I have been many times. I recently had the great pleasure of visiting the Rembrandts Amsterdam Experience. It is a fabulous installation, and visitors can get a really in-depth insight into the great artist’s life and work. The whole family will enjoy this. There’s nothing quite like it anywhere else in Amsterdam. I wanted to find out more, so I contacted the founders, and they agreed to participate in this Q+A.

q.1 How did you get the idea to create the Rembrandts Experience Amsterdam?

In the past, we have designed experiences and attractions for other museums but also for theme parks. We believe the world of museums and theme parks is coming closer and closer together. We believe that educating or entertaining people with ‘traditional museum’ techniques is not enough anymore to captivate an audience. Also, we were missing a storytelling experience about the last period of Rembrandt’s life, so the idea was born to create an experience about Rembrandt in Amsterdam.

q.2 It is very visually stunning. It is a fun way to learn things. Was that your intention?

Thank you! Our main goal was to make not only a visually stunning experience but also a transformative one. At the end of the experience, people came out and better understand who Rembrandt was and why he was painting in a style new for his time. He used a style he developed in the last period of his life when he was not living in his ‘Rembrandthouse’ but at a small house on the Rozengracht, which no longer exists. We reconstructed this last house to let people feel what he experienced in this last period of his life, but we also look back on Rembrandt’s past. We achieved all this by making a ‘time travel’ which is immersive and incredible for everybody.

q3. Did experts and historians help you with the content?

Before we started working on this experience, we were already passionate about Rembrandt’s life story and work, so most of the research was done by us (we read an unlimited amount of books!), but also we worked with an art historian to check some detailed facts. One of the major plot points in the experience is a visit to the emissary of Antonio Ruffo from Italy, which actually happened.

q4. You have been open for a while now. What are your visitors telling you about the experience?

People like it a lot! They are surprised because you can’t really see from the outside what the experience is like. After their visit, they understand what the experience is: neither a museum, nor a theatre or an attraction, but an immersive 5D experience in which we use all the senses! You have to experience it to understand it. But we are delighted tourists love the concept. Looking at our reviews on Tripadvisor and Google Maps, they are always very positive. Even people who are not into art find it very interesting. We are happy to attract a wide range of visitors, even those who don’t go to museums that often.

q5. Will you be creating similar experiences for other Dutch painters?

We have some great ideas, but the next experience will perhaps not be a painter, so we have to leave you in the dark still…

Thank you so much for these insights into your fantastic venue and experience. I was blown away. It really is one of the most exciting additions to the Amsterdam scene in recent years.