House of the book and Airport Library present 'Songs of war and peace - proud to be a beggar'
In 2020, the Netherlands celebrates 75 years of freedom after the German occupation. As part of the commemoration of the liberation, the House of the book in The Hague and Airport Library present the exhibition 'Songs of War and Peace - Proud to be a Beggar'.
Traditionally, the Dutch love to sing. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries no other country produced as many songbooks as the Netherlands. Even after that, the songbook remained popular. In this small exhibition we tell the story of approximately five centuries of songbooks and songs and we show Dutch songbooks from the Second World War and the liberation period. Songbooks offer their own perspective on those turbulent years.
Airport Library in Amsterdam approached House of the book to jointly develop an exhibition in the context of 75 years of freedom. The exhibition's curators are Jan Bos (liedboekjes.blog) and Martine de Bruin on behalf of the Meertens Institute.