Relocation-registration
Project content
With the building of Erfgoedfabriek (The Heritage Factory) and BRUSK – the former a new central depot, the latter a new exhibition hall – Musea Brugge will be taking important steps forward in the years ahead to improve the management and display of its collections. This is something that makes us very proud! Read further to discover everything you need to know about our relocation projects.
Relocation blog: what is happening behind the scenes?
During the next five years, all the heritage artefacts and works of art from our rich collections will be moved to the Erfgoedfabriek and BRUSK. This relocation exercise requires intense preparation and careful thought: every object needs to be registered, photographed, cleaned, packed and made ready for transportation. This challenging backstage work forms the basis for all our museum activities, but often remains hidden from the eyes of our visitors. For this reason, in the coming years we intend to focus the spotlight more fully on the workings of the depot and everything connected with it. In a monthly blog we will be taking you behind the scenes of ‘Musea Brugge is moving’.
Video: Relocation of the Print Room to BRON & BRUSK
Video: Hidden gems from the collection: hearses
Smooth Moving Summer: an update from the Erfgoedfabriek
The regional face of the Erfgoedfabriek. Collection management in the Bruges–Middenkust region
The Erfgoedfabriek: what does the future hold?
The Heritage Factory: A new depot for the history of Bruges and its surroundings
Hidden gems from the collection: Merovingian grave goods
A safe move: how we pack our treasures
Hidden gems of the collection: Little brides and other First-Communion customs
How do you move an entire museum library?
Moving Prints: from passe-partouts to digitisation
Setting up a new museum depot: where do you begin?
Behind the scenes at the Print Room
Hidden gems from the collection: Mourning objects
How do you move a gigantic archaeological collection?
Hidden gems from the collection: School posters or school chat?
Heroes in the spotlight: our relocation volunteers
Hidden gems from the collection: Hat blocks and mad hats
Work-in-progress: from old factory to brand-new Erfgoedfabriek
Hidden gems from the collection: Applied arts
Why is Musea Brugge investing in a new depot facility for our collection?
What steps are being taken to prepare our artefacts for transfer to the new depot?
Video: The Collection Team is getting ready for the big move to the Erfgoedfabriek
Musea Brugge is building for the future
Erfgoedfabriek and the new BRUSK exhibition hall will meet a twin-need that has existed for more than two decades in Bruges: the requirement for a central depot to store and manage our rich collections and a suitable display space for the organisation of temporary exhibitions of a high international standard. What is perhaps less widely known is the fact that BRUSK will also serve as the repository for all our works on paper (the Print Cabinet) and for paintings. Both these projects require intense and detailed planning. For the move to the Heritage Factory, no fewer than 50,000 artefacts will need to be made ready for transport. For the move to BRUSK, more than 25,000 paintings are involved. In this way, Musea Brugge will be taking an important step forward to ensure the future preservation of the priceless heritage entrusted to its care.
Erfgoedfabriek
In total, there are more than 75,000 individual pieces in the various Musea Brugge collections, less than 5 percent of which are permanently on display. At the present time, the non-displayed items are stored in seven different buildings spread across Bruges city centre, but none of these buildings were designed as a museum depot. To guarantee the best possible international standard of storage and care for the entire collection, it is planned to build a new central depot: Erfgoedfabriek or the Heritage Factory. This will also serve as a regional heritage depot and will provide a home for the Raakvlak archaeological service and the City of Bruges costume workshop. From 2023 onwards, the largest part of our collection will be moved to this new building. More than 50,000 objects will need to be packed and made ready for this relocation.
The BRUSK art and museum site
With the realisation of BRUSK, Bruges will gain a contemporary and international-standard display space for temporary exhibitions. The new building will be situated in the heart of the city’s Museum Quarter and will form part of a total project: a museum site that must become a home for research and a meeting place for everyone who is interested in the history and heritage of Bruges and Musea Brugge. The museum site will house a research centre that will also contain the museum library, as well as space for the scientific services of Musea Brugge. Behind the scenes, BRUSK will also house separate depots for paintings and works on paper, and facilities for technical research.
