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Article
Rijksmuseum
Art: Anytime, Anywhere
Fotograaf: Arie de Leeuw
Since 2005, people all over the world have been able to admire a masterpiece from the collection of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum on their very own desktop. The Rijksmuseum was the first museum to offer a widget, a tiny computer program that allows you to view a different work from the collection every day. The ‘reverse side’ of every work provides more information about the work and the painter. It’s been a big hit, going on the enthusiastic reactions on the website: “Thank you for opening your e-door to this little corner of our computers,” and, “It’s a very good idea, to punctuate each day of our life with a new work of art.”
The widget is part of the Rijksmuseum’s plan to reach visitors in as many different ways as possible during the renovation period up until 2013. Nevertheless, a large part of the collection remains on show and there are also special exhibitions as usual. “During the renovations, we’ve decided to do a whole lot more,” explains business director Jan Willem Sieburgh. “Thanks to new initiatives on the website, like the widget, web visits have grown explosively over the last few years. We’ve opened a branch at Schiphol Airport, and we’ve launched a magazine, Oog (‘eye’). We want to make more surprising encounters possible than just in the museum. With the web, the magazine and the Schiphol branch, we have an enormously extended range and visibility. Moreover, we also present parts of the collection in nine satellite museums, in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.”
Last year, despite the renovation, the Rijksmuseum reached almost normal visitor numbers. 960,000 visited the Philips Wing, and 200,000 visited the Schiphol branch. In 2006, the special Rembrandt Caravaggio exhibition attracted 400,000 visitors. The museum’s presence at such a transit hub as Schiphol is greatly appreciated. Travellers are frequently stressed and overstimulated at the airport, and in that hectic context, the changing Rijksmuseum collection on the Holland Boulevard between the E- and F- piers forms a kind of retreat. “People experience it as a kind of oasis,” says Jan Willem. “It’s like chocolate for the eyes”, as one visitor wrote in the guestbook.”
When the modernisation is complete, the 1885 building will have all the necessary facilities to receive at least 1.5 million visitors per year in comfort and safety. The inner courtyards, which were closed in due to space shortages, will return, again giving the building its ‘lungs’ of light and air. With regard to the classification of different objects, textiles, paintings, porcelain, clothing and weapons will all be shown in combination. The accessibility of the collection will be improved, thanks to modern media such as audiotours and iPod options allowing visitors to compose their own tour.
Jan Willem Sieburgh
Business Director, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Most proud of:
The simplicity and the impact of the Rijksmuseum’s widget.
Dream job:
To do something spectacular and compelling for Amsterdam. For example, make a stretch of the Prinsengracht canal available for boat hotels designed by Dutch designers.
Biggest chance for the creative industries:
Nowadays you can’t predict what will succeed and what won’t. You couldn’t have planned the Prinsengracht concert or YouTube. The Amsterdam Region must give things the chance to blossom.