Considering everyone is freaking out over Instagram selling people’s crappy cat photos without payment, I can’t think of a better time for us to visit Amsterdam’s Katten Kabinet. Yes, these furry egomaniacs get even more attention with their own museum full of sculptures, paintings and other random cat shit (not literally cat shit…thank god!). Actually the word “museum” may not be appropriate; this is more like a private art collection that is open to the public. A ring of the bell brings a nice lady to open the door where visitors find artwork depicting cats by famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec as well as an old fashioned cat pinball machine, a colorful pom-pom cat sculpture and a costume from the Broadway musical Cats. It’s made even weirder by the fact the museum is located in a classical seventeenth-century style building with antique furnishings.
At times the place appears a bit too serious and grand for a CAT MUSEUM, but maybe that’s the point? It really is like a recreation of an old Cabinet of Wonder. Oh, if you’re wondering why this place even exists, the museum’s founder Bob Meijer started it in commemoration of his ginger cat J.P. Morgan. I’m pretty sure this is the only cat to ever have a museum established in his name. And yes, the dude named his cat after an American banker. It reminds me of this woman I knew who had a cat named Amelia Purrhart. Bob should have gone with J. Purr Morgan. But the really funny part of the museum is a special edition of the one dollar bill on which the portrait of Washington has been replaced with a picture of J.P. the Cat, and the phrase “In God We Trust” with “We Trust No Dog”. Anyway, Bob still lives in the upper level of the canalside building with his family (and five cats of course) so expect to see him or his kitties roaming the place if you ever get a chance to visit. Meow!
