Look at it his way
David Hockney has arrived at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem and this time it is all about perspective. Hockeney’s Eye explores the artist’s own experiments with perspective but also juxtaposes his work with that of Claude Lorrain and Pieter Saenredam and the optical instruments they may have used and which the boffins at the Teylers natural history lab copied for the occasion. Until January 29 2023. Website

Stay at home and cross a border
The Crossing Border festival in The Hague is kicking of its annual celebration of international literature and music with a performance by PJ Harvey, who will be reading from Orlam, a narrative poem inspired by Dorset lore and legend. Among the many offerings, lovers of the late and lamented comedy duo Van Kooten & De Bie, will have spotted the rare appearance of Kees van Kooten, talking books, and, hopefully, De Bie. November 2-5. Website

Monitor the midterms
‘Back and forth, with them ahead, us ahead, them ahead, back and forth. The polls have been all over the place,’ US president Joe Biden told the White House ,referring the November 8 midterm elections in his country. But which way will it go and what will the results of the upcoming vote mean for the US and the rest of the world? To discuss the matter, the John Adams Institute and the Financieele Dagblad have invited a number experts to the Rode Hoed where you are welcome to pick their brains. November 10. Website

Look what they found
Forty years of rummaging around in the soil of The Hague building and renovating, has resulted in  thousands of old bits and pieces coming to the surface. Some of the forty objects now on show at the town hall are providing intriguing peeps into the past. The left paw of a young lion, for example, found at the Buitenhof, is proof of the private zoo kept there by a 14th century count, and a pristine medieval pitcher may have been left there to bless the building.

The Binnenhof has been at the centre of Dutch politics for 800 years and archeaologists are hoping the counts of Holland will have discarded more of their bits for them to dig up. Until November 18. Website

See Manhattan at the Mauritshuis
The Mauritshuis in The Hague has saved lovers of Dutch masters a long wait in the queue at Schiphol airport by convincing the folks in charge of the Frick Collection in New York to send over ten of them, including Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals. Most of the works haven’t been seen on this side of the Atlantic in over a century. Dubbed Manhattan Masters, the exhibition boasts the famous 1658 self portrait by Rembrandt. Down on his luck he still defiantly depicted himself clad in gold. Until January 15. Website

Come to the Cabaret
The Queen’s English Theatre Company in Amsterdam is taking on Cabaret, a show which we may not enjoy as lightheartedly now that the extreme right is gaining ground around us and we, like Sally Bowles and Fraülein Schneider, could get caught up in whatever consequences that may have. However prescient, Cabaret is also a defiant f..you to totalitarianism and small-mindedness so there’s hope yet. November 18-20 and December 14-18. Website

Be blown away by baubles
The delicate beauty of the jewellery of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods is enough to strike greed in any woman’s breast so hopefully the Lalique museum in Doesburg has got its security sorted. Apart from René Lalique’s own work, there is rarely seen jewellery, by Lucien Gaillard and Léopold Gautrait, and work by silversmiths Christofle and Archibald Knox, and furniture designer Paul Follot. Stromingen en Gestalten (Movements and shapes) is on until  May 2023.  Website

Change your socks for the Voorlinden
The exhibition of Giuseppe Penone’s land art, in which he shapes natural forms into, well, other natural forms makes you feel like exploring the grounds of the Voorlinden, where his work are exhibited, to see what inspired him. The museum is organising a ‘Silence in your socks’ hour where just 50 people are allowed in to experience the works in contemplative quietude. Wear clean socks. Until January 29. Website

Love a duck
Donald Duck, the ever popular ‘happiest weekly’ in the Netherlands is celebrating its 70th birthday. Fans of the duck with the highest blood pressure in the world are still welcome at the MoCA cartoon museum in Noordwijk aan Zee where the many artists who drew Donald and his mates over the last 70 years, both here and in the United States, are given centre stage. Until November 12. Website

Discover the forgotten artists
The Arnhem Museum, which has a swanky new wing, has dusted off its neo realistic collection to ask why some artists are forgotten while other continue to flourish. The political polarisation of the (pre) war years forced many progressive and activist artists into obscurity, Berthe Edersheim, Harmen Meurs and Nola Hatterman among them. Their work is now shown alongside that of their more famous peers Carel Willink,  Raoul Hynckes and Pyke Koch. From left to right is on until November 20. Website

Get your bargain at the church
Forget that thingy about Christ and the merchants at the temple and enjoy the market at the Posthoornkerk in Amsterdam. For three days it will be stuffed to the rafters with lovely things, including vintage clothing, antiques, art and design. And lots of bits and pieces which fit no category at all. November 25, 26 and 27. Website