An Unexpected ART Adventure: Museum Jan Cunen Blijft Slapen
- Rianne van der Steen
- Oct 9
- 2 min read
Today, I found myself quite unexpectedly in the world of Museum Jan Cunen Blijft Slapen. On a drizzly afternoon, I accepted an invitation to view an artwork, which spontaneously turned into visiting several addresses where art and hospitality meet.Behind every front door waited a new story, a new perspective on art and on people.
There was only time left for a few houses. At one of them, I happened to be the one hundred and first visitor a small, funny coincidence that instantly made me smile.
In another house, a woman recognised me: “You’re Rianne in opposite of Grote Kerk, aren’t you?” The lady was surrounded by a lot of women sitting around a big table in the living room. And yes, I confirmed, I was indeed Rianne in opposite of Grote Kerk. It was both funny and heart-warming how, in such brief encounters, art, people, and places can overlap and touch.
At my final stop, just a few minutes before six, I was the last visitor of the day. The resident asked me, “What do you see in the photograph?”
I looked closely.“I see a shiny, aluminium-like form,” I said. “With reflections of blue and white, almost like Delftware. It feels like the mirrored surface of a vase or something similar.”
She looked at me and smiled.“You’re the last visitor,” she said, “and the first to see what she is looking at.”
It felt like a special compliment, as if, for a moment, there was a quiet connection between the artist, the resident, and myself. Three observers, all searching for meaning within an image.
What stays with me most is the pride of the residents — how their eyes lit up as they spoke about the artwork displayed in their homes. The conversations were short but filled with enthusiasm. For a moment, you share each other’s gaze — the experience of art, the wonder, the delight.
Among the works I saw was an oil painting of broad, bold colour fields by Jan Toorop created in 1887, The Pianist, and a striking photograph shot in 1977,Toronto, by Robert Walker. Two completely different worlds, yet both rich in composition, dark colours, and light. The longer you looked, the more you discovered.
Despite the grey weather, it was a warm and extraordinary afternoon, full of reflections, both literal and figurative.
Museum Jan Cunen Blijft Slapen is a unique art tour through a neighbourhood in Oss, where for one afternoon only, artworks from the museum are exhibited inside private homes.
With the help of a simple route map, you wander from house to house, never knowing what awaits behind each door. Every doorstep holds a surprise, every encounter a new perspective on how art lives among us.
Just like these artworks found meaning through their surroundings and their hosts, my own handcrafted designs come alive through their environment and the person who wears them.Design, place, and presence, all woven together in one story.
Imagine wearing a one-of-a-kind-design made just for you, how would that feel?
