Tea with my dear friend and colleague writer Sieneke de Rooij never fails to end in a marvel of imaginative discoveries. This time, we met a the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, a find an sich. Way back in 1921, the Lloyd started out as a hotel, but in the years after it also served as prison and a juvenile detention center before returning to her old use a few years back. Imagine staying in a room that once was the cell of a thief or a murderer… Every writer’s dream.
We sat outside until the sun chased us in. We climbed up to the second floor to the exhibition of the Street Comber. For over a year, the Street Comber made one collage per day out of small junk she found on the streets. The collages on display were gems of intricate genius. With every collage, a card listed when and where the Street Comber found what bits and pieces.
We circled through the exhibition over and over, every time discovering more stories in these tiny but wondrous finds. We left invigorated and with a heads full of new ideas.
Tagged: Amsterdam, Inspiration, Lloyd Hotel, Sieneke de Rooij, Straatjutter, Street Comber, writing
Mina Witteman 