The combination of historical heritage and Dutch design works excellently in the boned architecture of the Priory Emmaus ★★★★☆

At the entrance of the former nunnery of the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulcher in Maarssen, there is a shiny wastebasket made of polished bronze by Studio Job. With an ironic twist, waste – the trademark of designer Job Smeets – has been elevated to a very expensive showpiece. The trash can symbolizes the earthly possessions that the nuns renounce upon entering the monastery. You might also spot a handful of deadly sins in the exclusive design: vanity, greed, intemperance and perhaps even envy. Precisely the temptations against which the nuns armed themselves with retreat.

The exhibition Vorm aan de Vecht sheds light on the history of the nunnery on Buitenplaats Doornburgh with contemporary works of this kind by more than 75 designers, fashion designers and photographers. Such a contrast between old and new – in other words: historical heritage and Dutch design – can just be an artificial trick. But in the bone-in architecture of the Emmaus Priory, it works superbly. The national monument from 1957 is in itself a wonderful representation of the tranquility and regularity of monastic life. In a dead straight corridor with a tight rhythm of windows and doors, a sumptuous dress with colorful cape by couturier Jan Taminiau now stands pontifically. Or a carefully sculpted gold leaf vase by designer Aldo Bakker. They are celestial objects made with great devotion – painstaking work, so to speak.

Explores 28 themes Shape at the Vecht the aspects of monastic life. The design is often of the traditional kind. The art is expressive, but never really makes it difficult for the viewer. In the chapel there are mysterious photos by Suzanne Jongmans of young people wearing a hoodie or a wrapping paper headscarf; they look like monk or nun. ‘Close to nature’ refers to the leafy park around the monastery, designed by Jan David Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam’s Vondelpark with his son. This includes the subdued underwater photos by Danielle Kwaaitaal and a fragile clock with minute insects as hands by Wieki Somers.

It’s an understated yet layered window that Shape at the Vecht offers on the unique priory in the Golden Bend of the Vecht, where the Amsterdam elite already withdrew in the summer in the 17th century. Sometimes the link of the objects with the monastery is purely visual; a geometric folding screen made of 3D-printed bioplastic from the start-up Aectual has the same compelling rhythm as the architecture. Then again the daily rhythm in a monastery is depicted in a subtle way. Arnout Meijer’s lamp looks like a sunrise or sunset and thus represents the natural clock of the nuns. It’s a pity that the room texts are sparse – the Aectual folding screen gets even more context when you know that it is made from recyclable bioplastic, so that it gets an eternal cycle of rebirth.

Though faith also includes confusion and doubt. Li Edelkoort sows it in the mini exhibition Animism, in which the trend forecaster argues that things and plants also have a spiritual soul. In many cultures, divine powers are attributed to trees, rivers and even stones. This link between human culture and invisible forces of nature is represented by poufs that look like gigantic pebbles, a shell-shaped chair and a teardrop-shaped tapestry. Because if the divine presence can be hidden in architecture, as in this monastery, why not in a piece of furniture?

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