Exhibitions in The Hague celebrating 80 years of freedom
In 2025, we will commemorate the liberation of the Netherlands eighty years ago. To mark the occasion, the Mauritshuis, the RKD, the National Monument Oranjehotel and the museum Beelden aan Zee are collaborating, each with a special exhibition on the theme of freedom.
Beelden aan Zee Museum: Khaled Dawwa - Voici mon cœur !
The exhibition of Khaled Dawwa's Voici mon cœur ! (Here is my Heart) is in line with the broader theme of the commemorative year, which focuses on local stories and diverse perspectives. Like traditional war memorials, Voici mon cœur ! also fulfils an educational function, serving as a means to create awareness and stimulate dialogue about the impact of war and the importance of freedom. In that context, Dawwa's monument bridges the gap between past and present. As we reflect on the liberation of the Netherlands eighty years ago, his work offers a contemporary perspective on freedom and lack of freedom. It reminds us that the struggle for freedom and human dignity does not end on a historical date, but is a continuous process. On display from 4 April to 2 November 2025.
RKD: Memorials: Statues of liberation
After the Second World War, there was a great need for monuments to keep the memory of the war alive and to commemorate the victims. In total, some 3900 commemorative monuments were erected in the Netherlands between 1945 and 1965. The exhibition Memorials: Statues of liberation shows the history and the creative process behind the design of well-known monuments by four sculptors who played an important role in post-war Netherlands: Mari Andriessen, Willem Reijers, Charlotte van Pallandt and Fred Carasso. In addition to archive material from the RKD, preliminary studies from the collection of the Beelden aan Zee museum are on display. The exhibition runs until September 2025.
Mauritshuis: Facing the Storm – A Museum in Wartime
The Mauritshuis is also commemorating the liberation of the Netherlands with the exhibition Facing the Storm – A Museum in Wartime. The museum went through an eventful period during the German occupation of the Netherlands, with the art collection in storage, propaganda exhibitions, music performances and Arbeitseinsatz people in hiding. The Mauritshuis was located in the centre of the Nazi political power base: all the important organisations of the German administration were literally around the corner. Director Wilhelm Martin had many concerns, including the protection of the world-famous collection of paintings and how to deal with the propagandistic role the Germans had in mind for the museum. Menno de Groot (1931) lived with his family in the basement. Menno's memories and experiences during the war are an important storyline for young museum visitors during the exhibition. Open from 13 February to 29 June 2025.
National Monument Oranjehotel: Freedom under pressure. Political imprisonment, then and now
During the Second World War, the Oranjehotel, the nickname for the prison in Scheveningen, functioned as a political prison. People who resisted the Nazi regime were detained, interrogated, and sentenced here. But political imprisonment has always existed in all places. All over the world there are places that, like the Oranjehotel, symbolise the existence of dictatorships and a lack of civil rights. In the exhibition Freedom under pressure. Political imprisonment, then and now, the museum gives an impression of a number of political prisons in the world. The exhibition puts the Oranjehotel in perspective and pays attention to the way in which the past is commemorated in former political prisons. From Kilmainham Goal in Dublin to the headquarters of the State Police in Sao Paulo. On display until the end of December 2025.
