Preservation
Save Our Haring
A preservation project focused on safeguarding the 1986 Keith Haring mural in Amsterdam
How the project started
Mick La Rock: "In 2014 I wondered whatever happened to the huge mural Keith Haring painted in 1986 on the former depot of the Stedelijk Museum and Amsterdam Museum. After research at the Stedelijk Museum's library, I found out the mural was still intact, but covered with cladding.
In 2015, during my time as guest curator for the exhibition 'Graffiti. New York meets The Dam' at the Amsterdam Museum, I received an email from Julia Gruen, the director of the Keith Haring Foundation, with a question about the status of the mural. I am a huge fan of Keith's work since I was a kid. This was for me the sign that I really had to further make this 'my' project after I finished my work at the Amsterdam Museum. There are only a handful of original Haring-murals left in the world: if only I could make it possible to bring the Amsterdam painting back to the Amsterdam people to enjoy!
11 October 2017: NPO Radio 1 interview with Tracy Metz about Keith Haring in Amsterdam: the restored Velum at the Stedelijk Museum and at (2:46) the hidden Keith Haring mural in Amsterdam West. (Dutch spoken)
Redevelopment and partnerships
In 2016 I found out the Food Center, where the Haring is located, was going to be redeveloped and was threatened with demolition. I got into contact with Olivier Varossieau of gallery Vroom & Varossieau because I knew he had contacts in the real estate world and knew their language. I asked him if he would be my teammate in this quest to save the Amsterdam Haring. He gladly joined me and we got in contact with Ballast-Nedam, the developer of the Food Center.
Since that moment we have been in a positive and constructive dialogue with Ballast-Nedam.
In 2017 our contact with the Keith Haring Foundation and their restorer intensified. The KHF became our everlasting source of positive energy and inspiration. We visited and celebrated the revelation of the beautifully restored Keith Haring mural in Paris, a project similar to ours that took eight years of preparation. In the same period the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam revealed the famous Velum by Keith Haring. From that moment on the Stedelijk Museum offered their mental support.
The project is not as easy as it seems due to formerly made agreements and technical difficulties concerning the redevelopment of the building and its surroundings, but everybody is hopeful. Together we are focused on preserving the mural.
In collaboration with
Gallery Vroom&Varossieau
Ballast Nedam
Keith Haring Foundation
Stedelijk Museum