I am lucky sometimes to get asked to do unusual events. Earlier this month I had the honour of curating an evening at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, where Girl with a Pearl Earring hangs. One Thursday a month the museum opens late, with special events supporting a theme chosen by the guest curator. I decided on "Selfies" and based the programming around the question of whether and how we control the image we present to the public. I picked 5 paintings from the collection to study in depth, and led a tour, recorded an audio tour, and basically ran around and had a blast. These photos by Billie Jo Krul give you a flavour of the evening:

Here's what you saw at the entrance: an embarassingly massive photo of me, and a programme of events.

Also a pop-up museum of unusual Girl with a Pearl Earring items, including a knitted doll Denise Salway (@KnittingWitchUK) made for me, and a bottle of wine from my cousin Pierre's Chevalier Winery in California:

At my request, there were Gin and Tonics garnished with herbs and fruit. There was music by a DJ who played only "Girls" all evening - either women musicians or with "Girl" in the song title. There were workshops on how to take a better selfie and how to write a story about a painting. The talented cellist Alexander Warenberg played Bach in one of the gallery rooms because I've always thought that if Vermeer were an instrument he'd be a cello.

Mauritshuis director Emilie Gordenker gave me the key to the museum for the night, which pleased me no end. I thought about stealing the Girl, but in the end I merely pontificated about her, and Rembrandt, and Holbein, and Van Dyck...

As the gin flowed and things got crazier, we decided to try out being the Girl with a Pearl Earring ourselves, with the help of an ingenious photobooth:

At the end of the evening Alexander joined me with his cello and he played and I read from the book. It was magic.

In all, it was the most fun I've ever had at a museum afterhours. Thank you, Mauritshuis, for inviting me! For more photos and info, see the Mauritshuis Facebook page.