The Sleeping Beauty scenario

4 August 2024

Two colleagues from the heritage world have jointly published a book worth reading with the intriguing title: Handboek Ordelijk Vergeten (Handbook for Ordently Forgetting). In this book, they are protesting against the current practice in the museum world of ‘cleaning up’ collections by de-collecting: items from the depots are removed, sometimes transferred to other museums, but usually destroyed. Gerard Rooijakkers and Frank Bergevoet, both good friends, propose to store collections that are in danger of becoming unmanaged for a very long time and – so to speak – to forget them. Future generations can then decide for themselves whether they still want to exhibit the collection. At least everything will be preserved for a longer period of time. Interesting idea! If you want to know more or order the book, visit: https://www.erfgoedhuis-zh.nl/publicaties/handboek-ordelijk-vergeten

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