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The Arts Intel Report

Loot: 10 stories

Physical objects are paired with virtual reality in this exhibition.

Sept 14, 2023 – Jan 7, 2024
Plein 29, 2511 CS Den Haag, Netherlands

Calling all fans of Donna Tart’s The Goldfinch. At the Mauritshuis, a new exhibition uses virtual reality to immerse viewers in tales of looted art. Ten stolen objects from three historical periods are dispersed throughout the show. Headsets accompany each of the objects, serving as storytelling time machines that take users into the past. The documentary makers Jongsma + O’Neill have curated and designed landscapes from 1795 France, Nazi Germany, and colonized territories. One item in the show is a self-portrait by Rembrandt painted in 1669. After seeing the piece in-person, one can enter the Austrian salt mine where it was hidden by Hitler’s staff in 1945 (along with 6,500 other artworks). “Loot” publicly addresses a fraught topic. —Jeanne Malle

Photo courtesy of the Mauritshuis