Every morning, I take a photo of Tristan’s bright colorful socks. They peek out of his pants and he laughs when he tells you about his collection that’s full of patterns and prints.
Tristan is a 21 year old student from Amsterdam, born and raised in the Nieuw West. He’s working with us at the Street Art Museums as an intern and is currently studying Cultural Heritage at Reinwardt Academy. To earn money he delivers mail and gives tours at SAMA, so he has excellent knowledge of the city streets.
As a teenager Tristan decided he wanted to be a graffiti artist and took workshops to explore the art, and remembers a wall near his home that would be tagged by local artists.
“I like the movement of street art, the fact the art should be for everyone and not just for the upper class who can afford to go to a museum. I had a few walls with street art around my house and I loved to check them out once in a while because almost every week there would be a new piece on the walls.”
He wasn’t always a museum fan and took some classes in fine art before realizing that he enjoyed history and philosophy a lot more than the strict, technical details of formal art. Cultural Heritage turned out to be the perfect fit and he’s excited to explore how SAMA offers so much more than a traditional art organization.
Tristan sees a future full of experimenting and exploring art, and he’s currently working on digitally registering the SAMA collection. He’s passionate about making his own art and loves to get lost in music while sculpting. He’s got a playlist for every vibe and mood for creating things, and we like how he keeps the museum office a fun place to work.
"My happy place today is putting Pink Floyd on my record player, real loud and real late! My concrete box with my sculpture in front of me, and work till I'm not able to work on my sculpture anymore. And I think in 20 years that would still be my happy place, and I know that for sure ! But who knows? Maybe I will hate making sculpture then, maybe i'll want to work an office job from 9 till 5"
You can schedule a tour of SAMA’s collection with Tristan in Dutch or English, and he’ll also tell you about some great spots to eat in the neighborhood! If you’re lucky, you may also get a chance to see his wonderful socks.
