Marketing coup or paradigm shift? Reflections on the Dutch media interpretations of the 2017 ‘Mata Hari: de mythe en het meisje’

Following the major Fries Museum exhibition about Margaretha Zelle MacLeod aka Mata Hari (1876–1917), this article explores how Dutch arts journalism reflected its successful balance of commercial appeal, subject complexity, and contemporary relevance. The curators aimed to balance research with aestheticism to offer a more sympathetic view of this historically controversial subject. This article furthermore investigates how Dutch arts journalists shaped and responded to this new narrative through an analysis of relevant media reviews and reports. The resulting discourse reflected how the Frie... Mehr ...