In a neighborhood that most museums don't even think about, Marian Duff built something remarkable. OSCAM stands for Open Space Contemporary Art Museum, and that name is no accident. Large glass storefront windows, an open white space, and a program that deliberately steps away from the classic museum atmosphere. Art for residents of Southeast, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the Netherlands, not for visitors who already know where the Stedelijk is.
Duff founded the museum in November 2017, with the official opening following in January 2020. Now, more than five years later, OSCAM is moving to a larger space at 97 Bijlmerplein, still right in the heart of the neighborhood. The opening exhibition is by Black Childish, an artist you can follow through Aug. 30, 2026. The show is called ‘Joy Soldiers: The Language’ and is exactly the kind of work OSCAM stands for: contemporary, unknown to a wide audience, but not because it's not good enough.
The museum deliberately presents itself as a counterpoint to the white museum gallery. Literally: the windows allow the exhibitions to be visible from the public space, so you don't even have to go inside to see anything. That's a choice. As is the focus on young and undiscovered creators, on fashion and design alongside visual art, and on social themes that rarely get starring roles in other institutions. The team consists of 20 people, including the supervisory board.
Art that you come across because you happened to be shopping, not because you went specifically to a museum district.
Bijlmerplein is not a gallery street. There is a supermarket, a hairdresser, stores that sell stuff that people really need. OSCAM is in between, and that's exactly the point. Art you come across because you happen to be shopping, not because you've gone specifically to a museum district. With the new, larger space at number 97, that idea gets more space. Literally.