About the author
Wandering around Amsterdam’s canals you always seem to discover something new. A little niche filled with hidden treasures. These places are safe havens for collectors, specialists, historians, modernists and the freaks inside us all. The Otherist is exactly one of these niches, a small shop with some of the most interesting items to tickle anyone’s fancy freakish fetish.
Wunderkammers
Two San Franciscans set up shop on the Leliegracht about six years ago. Inspired by the old Wunderkammers from Renaissance Europe, they set out to provide a specific aesthetic. These cabinets of curiosities could be anything; they were people’s private collections, just groups of fascinatingly random objects. “It’s a microcosm of how you view the world,” co-owner Joshua explains.
It’s a microcosm of how you view the world.
Browse around the store and you’ll be admiring porcelain skulls of warthogs with gold-capped teeth, cardboard moose heads to mount on your wall and giant beetles injected with antique mechanics. One of the nice things is the limited availability of the items; every object seems unique. Apparently in Amsterdam this can still be quite a challenge though. As Joshua continues, “The worst is when someone says they’ve seen the same thing somewhere else.”
With six strong years past and little damage from the crisis, it shows that their passion for all things ‘other’ keeps customers coming back. Evidently (and luckily) people are more often choosing quality goods to purchase instead of an H&M goodie bag. Let’s just end it on an-‘other’ quote: “Old things become amazing when taken out of their context.”
The Otherist
Where: Leliegracht 6
Opening Times:
sunday & monday 12:00 – 17:00
tuesday closed
wednesday – saturday 11:00 – 18:30
Website: www.otherist.com
Photos courtesy of Faye Lui.
Sharing is caring!
Tweet
