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I’d clocked the unmistakable image of Banksy’s Balloon Girl outside a museum and immediately scrambled for my phone. “Ermegah there’s loads of tickets!” I yelled (quietly), and just like that, we were heading to Moco Museum the next morning.
Tucked into the city’s Museumplein — next to big-hitters like the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum — Moco is Amsterdam’s contemporary art gem.
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Housed in a 1904 townhouse, it’s not your average sterile gallery. Think creaky floors, low ceilings and artwork bursting from every wall. From the outside, it looks like someone’s slightly eccentric home. Inside, it is someone’s slightly eccentric home — one filled with street art, social commentary, digital installations and trippy rooms made for getting lost in.
Moco is a privately owned gallery of owners Lionel and Kim Logchies who have worked with inspiring artists for decades including Jeff Koons, Picasso, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, works and prints of whose can be found among the gift shop.
They say Amsterdam is one of the art capitals of the world, but this really took the biscuit. Both one of mine and one of Allyn’s favourite artists were each taking over the Moco mansion house… together… simultaneously. We couldn’t have planned it better!
Visiting Moco Museum: What you need to know
Location: Museumplein, Amsterdam – right next to the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. It’s super central and easy to get to by tram or bike.
Opening hours: Open daily, usually from 9am–7pm. Check the official Moco website for updated times and current exhibitions.
Tickets: I’d recommend booking online to avoid queues and secure your time slot. Prices vary depending on age and time of visit, but it’s cheaper to book in advance. If you’re planning to visit other museums, you might also want to look into a Museumkaart or Amsterdam City Card.
BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR THE MOCO MUSEUM AMSTERDAM
Top tip: If you want space to explore the rooms (especially the digital/immersive ones), go earlier in the day or on weekdays when it’s quieter.
Banksy at the Moco Museum, Amsterdam
When we visited, Banksy’s work had just taken over the house with his ‘Laugh Now’ exhibition. Featuring over 50 pieces from the renowned artist, displayed for the first ever time in a museum. A collection of renowned street art, rescued pieces from rubble and works not yet displayed.
What we didn’t realise was that this would eventually become Moco’s permanent Banksy exhibition, and one of its biggest draws. Featuring early sketches and iconic works like Balloon Girl, Laugh Now, and Love Rat, the collection captures the humour and rage that Banksy’s known for. Seeing his pieces up close, paired with accessible explanations and clever curation, gave me a whole new appreciation for his art — and Allyn, a long-time fan, was in heaven.
My favourite, like many, is Balloon Girl. Not just because it’s perhaps one of Banksy’s more ‘pretty’ works, but because of the beautiful meaning. Hope is essential and despite bleak, difficult periods of time, happiness is always a possibility that should never be given up on.
At the time, there was also a temporary Dalí exhibition, which felt like a fever dream in the best way. A-level Art-me was living. Surreal sketches, melting furniture, moustaches galore.
While Dalí’s no longer on display, Moco regularly rotates its temporary exhibitions, often showcasing boundary-pushing artists, immersive rooms and thought-provoking installations. Since then, it’s featured names like Keith Haring, JR, Yayoi Kusama, and Studio Irma — so it’s always worth checking what’s on.
We both left feeling incredibly inspired and immediately came home filled to the brim with ideas and enthusiasm for getting creative. Watch this space ey 😉
