We can all be forgiven a guilty little giggle at some of the more niche museums that crop up: Cumbria’s pencil museum is a prime example (not to be confused with the pen museum in Birmingham, which is a different thing entirely). But being serious, which we try to do at least once a day, these small bastions of esoteric expertise play an important heritage role in maintaining some of the most underrated and overlooked aspects of civilisation. As far as we’re concerned, the fact that there are two museums dedicated to neon signs (Las Vegas and Warsaw, and we’ve visited both) can only be a good thing. The more the merrier.

All that being said, the Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam was a new one on me, until I realised that I was just reading it wrong: Foam is the name, and it’s a photography museum, not a museum of photographs of foam. Duh. What’s even more worrying is that I’ve been there. Anyway, Foam is half of a collaboration that has resulted in a new creative centre in the Dutch city’s Felix Meritis building. The Frame Store is a joint project with Frame Publishers, and functions as an events and exhibitions venue spanning the fields of art, design and fashion, with food and media also on the cards. Two retail spaces have also been included, designed by Amsterdam agency i29. The weird floating effect enjoyed by the products is, just like a classic magician’s illusion, all done with mirrors and black panels.

@framepublishers
@foam_amsterdam
@_i29