At home in Burgundian Mechelen
Museum Hof van Busleyden, Mechelen (BE), 2024
How can a museum present a more defined narrative and also appeal to a more inclusive audience? Incorporating the stories of local people who lived on the margins, along with a sprinkling of contemporary artworks, brought this permanent exhibition firmly up to date.
Photography: Sarah Geypens
At home
Museum Hof van Busleyden worked with us on the challenge of developing a more defined and inclusive storyline for its permanent exhibition. Together we came up with the concept At Home in Burgundian Mechelen. In a clear new visitor experience, museumgoers step into a variety of local residences of the era: a typical city dwelling and the homes of Margaret of Austria, Hiëronymus van Busleyden, and the Sisters Hospitalliers.
“The most beautiful compliment we received is that the museum now has a soul.”
Kristl Strubbe, director Museum Hof van Busleyden – February 2024
Hidden voices
To make audible the hidden voices of Mechelaars who lived on the fringes of society, we built audio points where their stories can be heard. Visitors can listen to experts talking about groups who have been underrepresented in historiography, including women, executioners, and sex workers. For instance, the audio point beside Adrian van den Houte’s painting “The Camp of Charles the Bold” directs visitors to look not at the army but at the prostitutes and the women carrying baskets on their heads at the edges of the picture. The women may have been in disguise and smuggling coded letters in those baskets. They may not have been sex workers at all but spies working for the Habsburg emperor, playing an important role in strategic warfare.
Modern interventions
The galleries contain subtle interventions by contemporary artists. They enter into dialogue with classic Flemish works and raise questions that are relevant today. For instance, Anouk de Clerq’s video installation “Helga Humming” is displayed beside Bernard van Orley’s portrait of Margaret of Austria. Whereas Margaret does not look at the viewer, De Clerq’s historically costumed Black actor does. Her slowly moving portrait and probing stare constitute a contemporary response to the Renaissance portrait and create a link to the present day.
“The museum has made a quantum leap forward in telling the story of Mechelen’s most important period.”
Bart Somers (mayor of Mechelen), HLN – February 2024
Credits
Client
Museum Hof van BusleydenContent design
Studio LouterSpatial and Graphic Design
Atelier Alkema
OTWAudio
AudioCollectief SchikFilm production
Audiocollectief Schik
Interviews with Bert Watteeuw, Naomi Meulemans, Lisa DemetsCopy editing
Marthy LochtConstruction
Potteau