Creeping out of Rotterdam's blind spot: The Wereldmuseum lives!
A year ago, I was given a tour at the new opening of the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Rotterdam. Over the years, it had moved into the collective blind spot of the city. Hardly anyone visited that dusty, old building at the waterside anymore. After two years of drastic rebuilding, it finally opened again. I was impressed by the ambitious plans I had heard during that tour of becoming the city’s living room and shaky their cheesy multicultural image. I was curious how much of their plans had succeeded. Time for an update...
...But first a little history.
in 1853 the building that the Wereldmuseum currently resides in, was the very own bachelor pad of the Dutch prince Hendrik. He had bought it to watch the ships sail by from the balcony with his friends. A lot of those friends were actively engaged in the trading business and brought along all sorts of exotic artefacts to their ‘club house’. The place filled with stuff so quickly, that is was decided to turn it into a museum in 1858.
From artefacts to multicultural haven
In the 1980s there was a dominant conception that museums had to actively stimulate social and cultural integration of the different ethnic minorities in the city. The idea behind is was that if an ethnic minority would see art from his/her culture, he/she would feel right at home here. Nonsense, of course. If we see Blue Delft pottery in Japan, we won’t automatically fit in there. Over the years, the set up of the museum became outdated and the numbers of visitors steadily dropped.
Time for new ideas.
The new director, Stanley Bremer, wrote a plan for revilatising the museum. Gone was the elderly home feel, forwards to a relaxed meeting place. A quality restaurant and wine bar was added. Bremer envisioned a place to meet your friends, have good food and see beautiful things. A place where there are parties, movies, workshops and lectures. That was, in short, the new policy for the Wereldmuseum. And most importantly: it should be accesible for all. For every budget and target audience there is something of interest. The standard collections, which was extended from 600 to 2000 objects, is free. The thematic expositions change every half year and stay opened until ten o’clock at night. By doing so, people can grab a bite after school or work and go for a little visit to the museum afterwards.
The emphasis in the regular collection will no longer lie at displaying a certain culture as fully as possibly. So no more imitation huts of straw to ‘ experience the lives of hunters in New-Guinea’. Instead, top pieces from other cultures are put central. Artisticity is top priority.
One year after: what’s the score?
The opening hours was the first thing to go. Because only the regular collection was opened until ten o’clock and not the theme collections, this was a sure mix for confusion. Eight o’clock for all exhibitions, no exceptions, turned out to work excellently.
The combined experience of dining and cultural activity has turned out to be a very favourable one; especially the requests for groups that first want to have dinner and afterwards desire a tour in the museum are plentiful. And the wine bar has become a regular weekend hotspot for the gourmets of the city.
And what happened to the audience?
Aim of the museum was for a mixed audience, a little something for everyone. It turned out, that it is a hard nut to crack. For the most part, the audience is still higher educated, but weekends turn the museum into a playfield for families. So the overall conclusion of the museum executives, is positive. The rate of visitors is still going up and the restaurant and wine bar have their own, regular visitors as well. Prince Hendrik would be proud.
The Wereldmuseum is opened from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00-20.00 Every Wednesday-Saturday there are regular events organised in their World Theater.
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...But first a little history.
in 1853 the building that the Wereldmuseum currently resides in, was the very own bachelor pad of the Dutch prince Hendrik. He had bought it to watch the ships sail by from the balcony with his friends. A lot of those friends were actively engaged in the trading business and brought along all sorts of exotic artefacts to their ‘club house’. The place filled with stuff so quickly, that is was decided to turn it into a museum in 1858.
From artefacts to multicultural haven
In the 1980s there was a dominant conception that museums had to actively stimulate social and cultural integration of the different ethnic minorities in the city. The idea behind is was that if an ethnic minority would see art from his/her culture, he/she would feel right at home here. Nonsense, of course. If we see Blue Delft pottery in Japan, we won’t automatically fit in there. Over the years, the set up of the museum became outdated and the numbers of visitors steadily dropped.
Time for new ideas.
The new director, Stanley Bremer, wrote a plan for revilatising the museum. Gone was the elderly home feel, forwards to a relaxed meeting place. A quality restaurant and wine bar was added. Bremer envisioned a place to meet your friends, have good food and see beautiful things. A place where there are parties, movies, workshops and lectures. That was, in short, the new policy for the Wereldmuseum. And most importantly: it should be accesible for all. For every budget and target audience there is something of interest. The standard collections, which was extended from 600 to 2000 objects, is free. The thematic expositions change every half year and stay opened until ten o’clock at night. By doing so, people can grab a bite after school or work and go for a little visit to the museum afterwards.
The emphasis in the regular collection will no longer lie at displaying a certain culture as fully as possibly. So no more imitation huts of straw to ‘ experience the lives of hunters in New-Guinea’. Instead, top pieces from other cultures are put central. Artisticity is top priority.
One year after: what’s the score?
The opening hours was the first thing to go. Because only the regular collection was opened until ten o’clock and not the theme collections, this was a sure mix for confusion. Eight o’clock for all exhibitions, no exceptions, turned out to work excellently.
The combined experience of dining and cultural activity has turned out to be a very favourable one; especially the requests for groups that first want to have dinner and afterwards desire a tour in the museum are plentiful. And the wine bar has become a regular weekend hotspot for the gourmets of the city.
And what happened to the audience?
Aim of the museum was for a mixed audience, a little something for everyone. It turned out, that it is a hard nut to crack. For the most part, the audience is still higher educated, but weekends turn the museum into a playfield for families. So the overall conclusion of the museum executives, is positive. The rate of visitors is still going up and the restaurant and wine bar have their own, regular visitors as well. Prince Hendrik would be proud.
The Wereldmuseum is opened from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00-20.00 Every Wednesday-Saturday there are regular events organised in their World Theater.
Related links
Related videos
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Sat, 06.11.2010
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Capital of Culture 2001 and City Of Architecture 2007. The Dutch port city is not only one of the most important hubs of global economy - it also reflects symptomatically the urban challenges of our time.
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