DOKU.ARTS
Zeughauskino Berlin
09.09.–27.09.2015

The New Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with its priceless collection of Rembrandts and Vermeers, is one of the great art institutions of the world. At the beginning of the millennium it was decided to give it a makeover. Though the work needed wasn’t going to happen overnight, no one foresaw the full extent of the difficulties involved. Or that it would be fully ten years before it opened its doors to the public again.

The delays and frustrations (but also the final triumphs) are recorded in Oeke Hoogendijk’s beautifully made documentary. One battle which at times seemed insoluble was with the city’s powerful Cyclists Association, who demanded that the entrance to the museum should continue to be usable as a cycle conduit. Another – this time interior – battle was with the museum’s Paris-based design consultants, whose insistence on a dark grey colour scheme for the walls ran counter to the wishes of the museum’s newly-appointed director. (A previous director, driven mad by frustration, had meanwhile opted for early retirement.) It seems that each day came round with a new burden of decisions to be made, and a new set of egos to be soothed. Not everyone, in this vast cast of characters, is as diplomatic as he or she ought to be.

But the filmmaker has patience, and a wry sense of humour. In the end, the right solutions are found – or at least, the not obviously wrong ones. Catastrophe is averted. So one fine day in 2013, the Queen is there – the director by her side – to unlock the newly refurbished building.