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Hokusai Museum, Tokyo

In the in centre of Tokyo, you find an very nice museum, the Sumida Hokusai Museum. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5LwsrGyCIW/ Visi...
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21st Century Museum of Art

In Kanazawa, north of Kyoto at the Japanese coast, you will find ninja homes and this stunning museum by architect SANAA. https://www.i...
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Naoshima island

A fantastic island, full of architecture by Tadao Ando and art by Kusuma, Monet and others. More info will follow. https://www.instagr...
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  • Rain inside the Louvre, Abu Dhabi

  • Oscar Niemeyer in Lebanon

  • Petra is Alive!

  • Contemporary Art Museum Bucharest

  • Bernard Frize, Centre Pompidou, Paris

  • Rila monastery, Bulgaria

artsayssimon

Says: ❤ Art & Design 🌐#artreviews 🇳🇱 🤍🇯🇵

Camille Roulin, 17 years old in 1888. Two portrait Camille Roulin, 17 years old in 1888. Two portraits, two museums, reunion at @vangoghmuseum 💛
From @museum_folkwang and @boijmans, these works are part of the rare set of 14 Roulin family portraits, the postman at Arles trainstation

#vangoghandtheroulins #vangoghmuseum
There’s something deeply human in the work of Mo There’s something deeply human in the work of Mounira Al Solh now @bonnefanten 

🎶 first, listen to the beautiful song in the background 🎶 

Born in Beirut, shaped by displacement, she listens and collaborates, gathering women’s stories from across the Middle East and Europe 🧕🏽👩‍💼👩🏽‍🦰

You see a tent and blue textiles. Here she writes the story of a nurse she knew as a child, a woman who healed the wounded during the Lebanese Civil War, who dared to love beyond borders and expectation. Across the fabric, embroidered images unfold, fragments of myth, plants and animals from Al Solh’s Beirut childhood

At Bonnefanten, her first major solo show in the Netherlands, her art reminds us how survival can look like with color, softness, and songs😚

#mounirahalsolh #bonnefantenmuseum
Happy in Walnut, my favourite piece at @artthehagu Happy in Walnut, my favourite piece at @artthehague

Artist @mickeyphilips.nl, represented by @newhouse.gallery, creates joyful ceramic works with colour running all the way through the clay. Like a cookie cutter, the smiley sausage is sliced into tiles, each one carrying its own beam. On view until Sunday at @fokker_terminal 

To me, the work nods to abstract art and resonates beautifully with my classical Japanese black-and-white prints, and greets me as a fine art piece.

#artthehague #artthehague2025 #modernceramics #ceramicart #instaceramics #dutchdesign #dutchartist #interiordesign #art #contemporaryceramics #atelier #meetthemaker #womeninceramics #craftwomen #craftwomenship #femaleartist #ceramicsofinstagram #handmade #kleur #klei #handmadeceramics #instapottery #pottery
At 98, Lois Dodd still paints the quiet magic of e At 98, Lois Dodd still paints the quiet magic of everyday life: summer slipping into autumn, light dissolving into shadow. Her first European retrospective at @kunstmuseum.nl in The Hague (until January 4) brings together 120 works, nearly eight decades of seeing the world through geometry and patience. Beautiful positioned inside the museum with good lighting 

“If I don’t have geometry, I can’t go on,” she once said. But it’s never forced. just discovered in window frames, cotton clothes, or a single line of light.

Swipe through her seasons and trade the summer in for the colourful autumn☺️

🔴 *Red Curtain, Day Window* (1972)
🌲 *Sheet with Tree Shadows, (1980) my fav!
🌿 *Self-Portrait in Green Window* (1971)
🍂 *View off of Back Deck, October* (2018)
🌬️ *Storm Window – Side Window* (1977)
🍁 *Red Trunks, Red Leaves* (1981)
Selfie with Mozart by Daan van Golden⭐️ Final Selfie with Mozart by Daan van Golden⭐️ Final weekend @stedelijk.museum.schiedam for the #daanvangolden expo.

Golden lived in Schiedam in 1963 before traveling to Japan, where a simple floral gift-wrap design transformed how he looked at art. From then on, he started to capture beauty in the small things, whether patterns, everyday objects, or reimagined details from famous paintings. Did you spot Giacometti and Matisse? His work balances between pop art and meditation, playful yet deeply reflective.

Back in the Netherlands, he created the iconic works we know him for today. Two floors in Schiedam now celebrate his unique journey
@thomasenjurgen 🎷 Improvisation in motion. Thei @thomasenjurgen 🎷
Improvisation in motion. Their works balance between finished art and the act of making, still lifes of bygone moments that continue to shift. Now on view in Bold & Gritty at @stedelijk.museum.schiedam
Ton sur ton🇰🇬 Kok‑Moinok Canyon formed ov Ton sur ton🇰🇬

Kok‑Moinok Canyon formed over a million years ago during the Ice Age. It’s made of clay-sandstone, shaped over millions of years by wind and glacial meltwater

In 1953, Soviets began drilling for uranium here as part of a rare-earth project. By 1969, they moved operations to richer sites in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

It’s a 2.5 hour drive east from Bishkek through the scenic Boom Gorge. But it’s remote and untouched, no tourist stalls, no facilities. Bring your own water and a full tank
Panjakent and the Seven Lakes, Tajikistan 🇹🇯 Panjakent and the Seven Lakes, Tajikistan 🇹🇯

We were offered sweet slices of 🍉. In return, I handed out Dutch wooden shoe keychains 🇳🇱 Always ready to represent 😜 The women laughed from a distance. The men eagerly lined up for a group photo. No words, just joy and connection.

Tajikistan is just an hour from Samarkand, but it feels like stepping into another time. The border crossing stretched over a kilometer, with several dusty checkpoints. It reminded me of Eastern Europe in the ’90s. At the end, a warm “Welcome to Tajikistan.” We met Achmed, our driver with a sturdy 4WD, explored the Panjakent market, and then headed into the mountains.

This post isn’t about art, but about culture. Tajikistan hits different. Persian roots. A quiet strength you only find in places where life has never been easy. The men are open. The women graceful and reserved. The average salary is around €200 a month. Butter is sold by the cup. And yet, they shared melons with us.

🍉🍉🍉 Villages felt close-knit. Posters of their leader, in power for over 30 years, are everywhere. Quiet reminders of who’s steering the nation.

The road to the Seven Lakes was something else. Five hours of gravel, barely wide enough for one car. No guardrails. No signs. Achmed laughed and pushed through at 80. I didn’t mind. The views were stunning. And snow 🤩 still on the peaks in July ❄️

#panjakent #tajikistan #sevenlakes #tajikistanroadtrip #centralasia #silkroad
Registan Square was once the grand stage of the Si Registan Square was once the grand stage of the Silk Road, where scholars, traders, and poets crossed paths

When you stand at the edge of Registan Square in Samarkand, here’s what you see:

To your right, the Sher-Dor Madrasa mirrors the Ulugh Beg one in form, but not in spirit. Built in 1636, it’s famous for the bold tiger mosaics with a rising sun, unusual in Islamic art, as animals are rarely depicted🐯

In front of you, across the square, is the Tilya-Kori Madrasa, built in the mid-1600s. Step inside and you’re surrounded by a sea of gold leaf in the mosque’s prayer hall “Tilya-Kori” literally means “gilded.” This one is the most lavish

To your left, the Ulugh Beg Madrasa rises first. Built in 1417, it’s the oldest of the three. It was once a renowned center of science and astronomy, founded by the Timurid prince Ulugh Beg himself. Look closely at the facade, it’s covered in star patterns, a nod to his love for the cosmos. And with a beautiful ceiling💙

Together, they form one of the world’s most breathtaking ensembles of Islamic architecture. Every night at 9pm a pretty good lightshow starts
Iranian or Samarkand spirit?🌱🇺🇿 Inside t Iranian or Samarkand spirit?🌱🇺🇿

Inside the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, tree motifs repeat like a sacred rhythm. This design moved me deeply by using nature as a metaphor for life🌱

To me, it quietly unites all religions. I even brought home a hand-painted wooden replica. It features my favourite colour too: deep azure blue 💙

Each tree carries meaning:
🌲 The cypress stands for eternity and strength
🌿 The willow bends in grief and grace
🌴 The palm evokes paradise, victory, and peace

The tree motifs come from Persian tradition, drawn by craftsmen from Shiraz and Isfahan, Iran. But here in Samarkand, they were scaled up and multiplied, set into vast walls of turquoise and blue tile 🔹🔹
Built by Timur in 1400, Bibi-Khanym was once one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world. And if your wondering where Samarkand is, it’s in #Uzbekistan
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