Museum Vrolik closed its doors in 2011 to give its interior a ‘facelift’, as the Dutch Journal of Medicine calls it. The museum started as a private collection of anatomical preparations in the 19th century by Gerard Vrolik and his son Willem. At the time, the collection was only to be seen by a very […]
With burn-outs being occupational disease number one and depression rates rising at all ages, people seem to be searching for something different then western medicine to solve their health problems. Some people seem to replace typical western medication like antidepressants, for alternative medicine like St. John’s wort, an herb that that has risen in popularity […]
Museums about health and medicine can be found in all shapes and forms, and traditional museums are not the only places where people can find information about the history of medicine. For this blogpost about medical museums and exhibits about health and medicine in Dutch museums, I have decided to visit the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. […]
The Universiteitsmuseum in Utrecht holds the historical scientific collections of the Utrecht University. It is closely linked to the towns university, by preserving its former collections of biological, medical, historical and other artifacts which were used for educational and research purposes, consisting of over 60.000 objects. Parts of these collections are being displayed in the […]
Talking about slavery is becoming a more important topic in the Netherlands. Museums are taking part in this conversation by talking about the role the Dutch played and museums become aware of their role in educating society. An example is the exhibition ‘Heden van het Slavernijverleden’ (‘Afterlives of Slavery’) in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. On […]
How do we deal with death? That is what it is all about at the Tot Zover museum located at ‘De Nieuwe Ooster’ graveyard in Amsterdam. The Funeral museum Tot Zover is celebrated because of its very unique concept and location. To wit, the museum houses itself in the former residence of the graveyard director/undertaker. […]
When you enter the term psychiatric museum into your google search bar you will come across images of cages, restraint jackets and shackles. Psychiatric museums are often associated with the history of their gruesome methods of treatment and therapy. People are inclined to look negatively at the material culture of psychiatric exhibitions. Nowadays we can’t […]
‘We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing. By growing these parts separately under a suitable medium’ – Winston Churchill (1931). These words are greatly presented in the ‘Future Foods’ exhibition in the NEMO Science Museum in collaboration with Next Nature Network. This exhibition shows […]
How can we protect the earth from pollution and unnecessary animal suffering? How can we feed the earth’s growing population? How will food products look like in 2050? These are the current and important questions which the exhibition Future Food (Voedsel van Morgen) in De Studio, belonging to NEMO, tries to answer. Thematic structure At […]
“Quiver with horror at skeletons, organs, foetuses and body parts in formaldehyde!” This caption at the website of the Utrecht University Museum refers to the Bleuland Cabinet, home of the private collection of physician Jan Bleuland (1756-1838). Bleuland lived in an age of change. The development of instruments and technics, in which the physician himself […]