Forty years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-in for Peace in March 1969, their legendary seven-day stay in room 902 (now 702) at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel was commemorated with a series of unique exhibitions.
From Holland with Peace was a three-part photography exhibition that ran from Friday, March 20 through Sunday, March 29, placing the historic Bed-in for Peace campaign in a contemporary context and closely intertwining the themes of illustrative photography, peace and the Netherlands.
These free exhibitions drew attention to forty years of contemporary messages of peace expressed through photography as an art form. The 3 x 40 images were presented on a very large scale.
What happened in Room 702? is a narrative exhibition of well-known and previously unseen photographs made during the Bed-in happening in March 1969. Leading photographers including Govert de Roos, Nico Koster, Claude Vanheye, Cor Jaring and German photographer Elmar Welge presented their perspectives on the events of that time. For the first time, these prominent photographers exhibited their finest work together.
Message by photo 1969-2009 is a selection of forty photographic images made between 1969 and 2009, showing what the Netherlands has produced in illustrative photography on the theme of ‘peace.’
Following a call for entries in the trade media, professional photographers submitted their most compelling visual message of peace. A jury of professionals, experts and enthusiasts made the final selection.
People like U & Me 4 Peace was devoted to the top 40 highest-rated images submitted by the public. The selection was the result of a public co-creation competition that invited participants to submit a contemporary and distinctive photographic message of peace.
Imagine: The Art of John Lennon was described at the time as the largest exhibition of John Lennon’s art held to date. From Friday, March 20 through Sunday, March 22, nearly 190 works were on view at Hilton Amsterdam, including the handwritten lyrics to ‘Give Peace a Chance.’
The exhibition also presented a unique collection of handwritten documents and sketches made by John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their Bed-in for Peace at Hilton Amsterdam. The collection included a highly personal and engaging question-and-answer correspondence between the famous couple and Constance Vrijdags, then an aspiring Dutch journalist and one of the select members of the press allowed to visit room 902.
On Saturday, March 21, Hilton Amsterdam hosted the presentation of Jan van Galen’s book about John Lennon. The commemorative week concluded at Hilton Amsterdam on Sunday, March 29 with Lennon Memorial Day and a variety of events.
