Cultural differences shape and influence the way we experience art. Until recently it was unusual to see people drawing as part of a visit to the Rijksmuseum, or other museums in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam. 



During the Big Draw at the Rijksmuseum sketchbooks and pencils were distributed to up to 20,000 people, inviting them draw in the spaces and galleries throughout the museum and to experience art in a new way.

Every Drawing Tells a Story was interpreted in an imaginative way by a creative education department who encouraged everyone to enjoy the stories behind their collection.

Arrangements of flowers in seventeenth century vases inspired adults to create a flower still life and model drawing took place in the main museum atrium.  Children were asked to spend fifteen minutes contributing to a panoramic drawing of the Netherlands, displayed in the Great Hall under the eye of beautiful stained glass.



Wim Pijbes, the director of the Rijksmuseum said ‘In our day to day life we don’t always realise how beautiful things can be. We forget to look a bit closer. While drawing you begin to see things you never noticed before.  People are always welcome in the Rijksmuseum’.

The Big Draw in the Rijksmuseum took place on Saturday 24 October and Sunday 25 October and was the start of the #hierteekenen creativity campaign to encourage people to start drawing in the museum.