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In defence of being unknown to yourself

s our on- and of ine personalities merge closer together, personal branding has become more and more of a hot topic. owever, while consistenc is ke when it comes to selling products, it can lead to numerous issues when we force it upon ourselves.

f there were ever a word to describe me, it would be inconsistent. wake up ever morning with an almost entirel new set of wants, wishes and thoughts. s a result, can never reall be certain that what think about something is what actuall think about it. ure, have m core set of principles and values that are unwavering, but for the most part, am a new person each da , connected b a name and routine. friend circle is as varied as the come, and m interests are contradictor potif rapped revealed that m most pla ed artists were irvana and Ta lor wift, for e ample .

or ears have been tormented b this lack of uniformit . ne reason is that living unknown to ourself makes ou feel like a prett big imposter. ickle and unreliable are not personalit traits one holds in high esteem for themselves. f onl could know ever thing about m self. f could ust collect each thought, idea and e perience have ever had and then anal se m emotional reactions to them, could know m self. can create a kind of mental image of m self, which can then use as a structure to live in relation to. o more chameleon living am a leopard now.

ut, of course, m decade-long uest for consistenc proved futile. The older get, the more inconsistent seem to become. o, what e actl is the point of consistenc when it comes to our identities

What does it mean to be consistent?

ountless articles will tell ou that consistenc is a crucial habit. or instance, if ou want to develop a skill or improve on a pro ect, ou need to consistentl show up and practice. thers will argue that consistenc is crucial for a functioning societ how could we all live together if we could not predict each other s behaviours Then, of course, there is the argument that we will not foster deep relationships or have a particularl enriching career if we are not perceived to be reliable.

completel agree with these statements. owever, consistenc in action is not the same as consistenc in thought. ou can show up for our ob ever da while still leaving space in our mind to uestion if ou want to be there. hen we start to e amine our lives from a place of uncertaint , each action becomes a choice. This will, inevitabl , provoke a certain degree of an iet , but it could also help us feel more in control.

What does it mean to know yourself?

The standard definition of knowing ourself means that ou understand ourself full . t re uires self-awareness, which is the capacit to look at ourself ob ectivel . r, in other words, through the e es of another. hen ou t pe into oogle the importance of knowing ourself , ou will find an endless stream of articles arguing that if ou work on figuring out who ou are, ou will find fulfilment. The idea behind this is that if ou know who ou are, ou can make decisions that are better for ou, which will lead to more happiness. ence, if ou know who ou are, ou will be less swa ed b other people s ideas of ou.

owever, human beings are ever-evolving creatures, highl interconnected to their environment. f we were to decide that we know for certain who we are, we reduce ourselves to nothing more than a cardboard cut-out of ourselves. e do precisel the opposite of what those articles claim because we reduce ourselves to other people s images of us, which, being born of another s mind, will favour predictabilit and minimise agenc .

Okay, so what do you propose?

think it is important to think about who we are, what we want and how we are perceived. owever, at its core, think self-awareness involves practising the art of being oka with surprising ourself. t means tuning into our emotional responses to e periences and ideas, which will most likel change dail . n some da s, it might even be ever hour.

hen we free ourselves from the idea that we must be who we think we should be, we can e amine our lives from a place of curiosit rather than certaint . n other words, when we accept how unknown we are and will alwa s be to ourselves, we finall gain insight into the patterns of behaviour however contradictor the ma seem that make us who we are.

Written by Molly Fitz

Four reasons why you need a Museumkaart in the Netherlands

reaming about visiting famous works of art, beautiful castles, and ancient dinosaur bones hether ou ve recentl moved to the etherlands or have lived here for ears, ou need to get a useumkaart The useumkaart etherlands useum ass is an annual membership card that gives free entr to man museums in the etherlands.

Unlimited access to over 450 museums

es, ou read that right urchasing the annual membership card gives ou free or discounted entr to over museums in the etherlands, with around museums in msterdam alone. hether ou re interested in art, culture, histor or science, there s something for ever one ost larger cities in the etherlands provide at least one place where the useumkaart can be used. ome of m personal favourites astle e aar near trecht, auritshuis in The ague, the pace po in oordwi k and aturalis iodiversit enter in eiden.

It’s cost-effective

ith an annual fee of around euros per ear for adults and euros for children, the useumkaart provides e cellent value for the mone . ntrance fees at individual museums can be uite e pensive, with some costing upwards of euros. The one-time investment in the useumkaart will pa for itself in about three to four visits. The useumkaart can be purchased online if ou re a utch resident. ust visiting ou can purchase a temporar useumkaart valid for da s at most museums. This temporar card, however, can onl be used at five museums in a -da period.

See masterpieces up close

ou ma have seen famous works in our te tbooks as a child, on television or on social media, but how incredible would it be to see these masterpieces in person ith the useumkaart ou can visit The ight atch b embrandt, The irl with the earl arring b ermeer, a -million- ear-old T- e skeleton and artifacts from the ncient g ptian world. ith all these wonders so close b , wh wouldn t ou take the time to see them

Feel closer to Dutch culture

eing an e pat can make ou feel as if ou re an outsider in a strange countr . To feel a bit closer to the culture of the etherlands, ve found that visiting museums and other cultura sites can be helpful. epending on our interests, ou can learn about artists from the utch olden ge, award-winning utch scientists, medieval castles and even the life of nne rank. ne short museum visit has the potential to better understand the utch. ne of the best parts of living or visiting the etherlands is that in such a small countr , ou re alwa s onl a short distance awa from an ama ing museum visit. o matter what our interests are, ou re sure to find a museum for ou

or more information on the useumkaart, and to see what museums ou can visit with the card, visit museum.nl

Written by Tracey Martin

International BRAFA ART FAIR is back in January

Clockwise from top left

- Aert van der Neer (1604 - 1677), Skaters and ‘kolf’ players on a frozen waterway. Oil on panel, 33.6 x 49 cm. Collection Floris van Wanroij Fine Art. - Frank Stella (*1936), Illustrations after El Lissitzky’s ‘Had Gadya’: A. Had

Gadya: Front cover, CTPVI, 1985. Acrylic/vinyl paint and various print media on collaged paper, 108 x 86 cm. Collection Baronian Gallery. - Karel Appel (1921 - 2006), Untitled, 1974. Oil on canvas, 75 x 100 cm.

Collection Gallery Delaive. - Christian Krohg (1852 - 1925), The climbing plant, circa 1880. Oil on canvas, 36.5 x 30.5 cm. Collection Van der Meij Fine Arts. - Marisa Merz (1926 - 2019), Untitled, 2009. Mixed media on paper mounted on plywood, 70 x 125 x 5 cm. Collection Bernier/Eliades Gallery.

BRAFA - Brussels Art Fair

Sunday 29 January to Sunday 5 February 2023 Open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Evening opening on Thursday 2 February until 10 p.m. Brussels Expo I Heysel, Palaces 3 & 4 (entrance) Place Belgique 1, 1020 Brussels, Belgium

Information and entrance tickets on www.brafa.art

The Brussels Art Fair (BRAFA) will take place from 29 January to 5 February 2023, traditionally the first major art fair of the year to visit. A strong and rich line-up of 130 international art dealers offers an eclectic array of great quality with works spanning art history, from applied classical to contemporary fine art.

With 67 editions to look back on, BRAFA has more than established itself as a major meeting place for art collectors from all over Europe. Thanks to rigorous vetting, the art fair has met the highest expectations of collectors and art lovers over the years. For the first time in BRAFA’s history, a record number of ten Dutch galleries will participate in the fair. Besides familiar faces, visitors can meet newcomers Van der Meij Fine Arts, VKD Jewels, Delaive Gallery and Galerie Van den Bruinhorst.

A walk along ten pioneers in art history

At Old Masters specialist Floris van Wanroij Fine Art (Dommelen), an ice scene with golf players by the important landscape painter Aert van der Neer (16041677) catches the eye. The Dutchman became best known for his remarkable nocturnal landscapes and his ice scenes, of which this is a fine example.

Norwegian artist Christian Krohg (1852-1925) is one of his country’s most important 19th-century painters and is widely recognised as a pioneer of social realism. His surprising perspective, a view of fields past a green creeper in the foreground, is offered by Van der Meij Fine Arts (Amsterdam). The Belgian neo-impressionist Theo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) is among the artists who played a key role in the European art scene of the late 19th century, partly for his active involvement in the rebellion against outdated, prevailing academism. Studio 2000 Art Gallery (Blaricum) presents his atmospheric 1906 ‘Setting Sun near Veere’.

Pioneering design is on show at Galerie Van den Bruinhorst (Kampen). The gallery provides an avantgarde crate table from the 1930s by Utrecht designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964). This simple furniture of the free carpentry method, consists of genuine construction in which nothing is hidden and preferably remains unpainted.

At colleague MORENTZ (Waalwijk), a rare cabinet is on display with a subtle decorative character. Conceived by Italian designer and architect Paolo Buffa (19031970), it embodies a surprising modernity for the 1940s. The front is composed of vertical and horizontal slats placed on top of each other.

Intrigued by how quickly he could create ceramic works and the idea that they were both aesthetic and functional, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) made a breathtaking collection of original ceramics between 1946 and 1973. His 1958 vase shaped like a proud tawny owl is a highlight at Dr Lennart Booij Fine Art & Rare Items (Amsterdam). known worldwide for his turbulent, colourful and semiabstract compositions and as a co-founder of the 1948 COBRA group of Northern European expressionists.

Frank Stella (*1936) is best known for his work in the field of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Baronian gallery (Brussels) exhibits one of his twelve Had Gadya etchings, on the traditional Jewish Passover song, which emerged from Stella’s fascination for the eponymous gouaches by the Russian avant-garde artist El Lissitzky (1890-1941).

Marisa Merz (1926-2019) is one of the central figures and the only woman artist involved in the Arte Povera movement. She employed unusual materials to create sculptures and drawings that reflected a poetic sensibility, while also challenging the elite status associated with artworks in the consumer culture of modern capitalism. Discover her work at Bernier/Eliades Gallery (Athens/ Brussels).

A masterpiece of antique Qianlong porcelain can be seen with Galerie Bertrand de Lavergne (Paris). The large, three-dimensional animal sculpture from ca. 1750-1770 is a naturalistic representation of a Chinese gold pheasant. Introduced to Europe in the early 18th century, this colourful animal became very popular with aviary keepers - including Madame de Pompadour.