Museum Het Schip's 'Geen eigen huis' Traces 125 Years of Amsterdam Housing Crisis

The exhibition 'Geen eigen huis – wonen in crisis' at Museum Het Schip in Amsterdam presents a comprehensive timeline of 125 years of housing history in the city. Through dozens of paintings, drawings, original documents, and objects, the show explores social housing, residential towers, and large-scale urban renewal, illustrating how living conditions have evolved over time. The exhibition connects past and present housing issues: a print by Tjerk Bottema (1882-1940) depicting slumlords is paired with a clip from the investigative TV program 'Boos' confronting a landlord with malpractices. A highlight is Carlijn Kingma's (b. 1991) detailed drawing 'De machinerie van de volkshuisvesting' (2025), which visualizes all aspects of the Dutch housing crisis, showing housing as a stark game of winners and losers. Attention is also given to homelessness with the 'Sheltersuit' (2014) by Bas Timmer (b. 1990), a waterproof jacket that converts into a sleeping bag. Amid shortages and scandals, the exhibition offers hopeful visions: colorful models demonstrate future housing possibilities, and a video features René Froger (b. 1960) singing about the importance of 'a home of one's own, a place in the sun.' The exhibition underscores that while the housing crisis remains unresolved, imagination offers ample room for solutions.