Groninger Museum 
The Groninger Museum takes pride of place in Groningen, dominating the tourist’s view when emerging from Groningen railway station. Bizarrely, the museum straddles three islands that are in the canal that runs past the railway station. Its stunning design is even more bizarre and is very much a work of art. Just like most modern art however, it divides opinions rather strongly. Many will fall in love with it at first sight and just as many will dislike it.
There is a good explanation of why the building is the way it is. The talented architect Alessandro Mendini invited three architects to assist in the design of the building. Oddly though, each was given a section of the building to design, independent of the other sections. The result is a building with, from the outside, a split personality. The three sections sit connected but disjointedly so. This however further accentuates by contrast the clever design inside the building.
Much like its outside facade, the curatorial direction of the museum is rather schizophrenic. The museum is a combination of both permanent and temporary exhibitions, with the temporary exhibitions taking up a large portion of the museum. The works on show cover a wide gamut from historical pieces, regional artworks to modern applied arts. All together this amounts to an excitingly eclectic mix, while the seemingly randomness of what is shown in the temporary exhibitions offers up the unexpected.
The Groninger Museum is the highlight of Groningen. Depending on your tastes, your get different levels of enjoyment from the exhibitons, however the building itself is ultimately the highlight. Not the best museum in the Netherlands, but certainly worth a visit.
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