Refurbishment work at the Bruges Folk Museum has finished. Next Saturday, the museum will reopen. The museum will feature two new rooms where board games and textiles are on display. ‘We can display part of the largest collection of board games in the world,’ says curator Geert Souvereyns.
Bruges Folk Museum displaying world’s largest collection of board games reopens
Colin Clapson
Published:
Every year, some 20,000 visitors visit the Bruges Folk Museum. Here, visitors can learn about the lives of everyday people in Bruges in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Displays at the museum have undergone a major overhaul. ‘Child-friendliness was an important starting point. We installed 7 game stations and there are now also child-sized text panels.’
In the new games room, visitors can discover a section of board games from the collection of the Vives Games Lab. ‘They possess the largest collection in the world: an asset like that must be displayed,’ says Souvereyns.
‘Every six months there is a different theme and the games change. Our first theme is Bruges: games made here, games in which the city plays a role or which were played in Bruges.’
The Folk Museum’s textile room, with typical clothing and handicrafts, is also new. ‘Until the 1960s, all girls were taught handicraft at school: the embroideries in the room are great examples of their work,’ says Livia Snauwaert of the Bruges Heritage Cell.
A second part of the renovation effort will follow in February, with the opening of the revamped ‘Children of the Past' exhibition. ‘It used to run up to World War II, but we are now going up to the 50s and 60s,’ says Souvereyns.
‘In the new display, children from that period will be able to relive their childhood in an interactive way: this is sure to spark interesting conversations between grandparents and their grandchildren.’