Amsterdam Museum postpones opening temporary home as Hermitage closes over Ukraine (update)

The Amsterdam Museum has postponed the opening of its temporary home at the Hermitage because of the war in Ukraine, the organisation has said in a statement.

‘The war in Ukraine has terrible consequences for so many people. We don’t think it would be appropriate to have a festive opening this weekend at a time when there are many demonstrations throughout the country in support of Ukraine,’ director of the museum Judikje Kiers said.

Kiers added that the stance of the Hermitage about its ties with Russia had been ‘too vague’ and that this was another reason to postpone the opening which had been scheduled for March 5.

However, since then the Hermitage has decided to sever all ties with its sister museum in Leningrad over the invasion ‘after having long been silent about the political developments in Putin’s Russia’ and close the museum.

‘Despite years of harmonious cooperation ‘a line had been crossed. War ruins everything’, the museum said in a statement.

The decision to close the museum was supported by Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema who said the council would help think about the future of the museum now that it can no longer borrow works of art from the Hermitage in St Petersburg.