Auction: Navid Nuur’s Amsterdam Vase
20 October – 23 October 2025
From 20 October (00:00) to 23 October (21:25), we will be auctioning the first vase by Navid Nuur.
Vase Project NN XXX
In the winter of 2024–2025, Navid Nuur created hundred unique Amsterdam vases from clay and materials sourced from the city. He took them into the streets, rolling them against façades, doors, bridges, and street furniture, imprinting the vases with the literal textures of the city. He collected the glaze from all over Amsterdam, using shells from the IJ, glass from cafés, coals from a shawarma shop, ashes from a pizzeria, and silt from the canals. In this way, he imbued this universal and age-old object with the spirit of Amsterdam. The vases are stored in the Iron Chapel, the city’s historic vault, where for centuries the most important city documents were kept, including the Toll Privilege (1275), the oldest document mentioning the name Amsterdam.
Factsheet
Would you like to know more about the vases and the project? The factsheet explains how the hundred city vases will be auctioned one by one over the coming century, how the Oude Kerk will use the proceeds to support new art, and the role played by the centuries-old Iron Chapel. It also provides background information about the artist.
Anniversary Breakfast (27 October)
On Monday 27 October, during the Amsterdam 750 Anniversary Breakfast, Navid Nuur will retrieve the auctioned vase from the Iron Chapel. That morning will also see the premiere of the film about the project, and the launch of a publication detailing the making process of the vases.
