What do a life jacket from the Costa Concordia, a letter signed by Michiel de Ruyter in 1657, Mesdag's masterpiece from 1898, and a globe from 1613 have in common? All these items form part of the unique collection of Het Scheepvaartmuseum. The history of the museum's collection and its unique objects take centre stage in the exhibition Drive.
Drive sets out the reasons why we collect, and showcases objects collected by people who want to show off their wealth, have an urge to hoard, make their collection or their name immortal, or create a microcosm.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the painting 'Gezicht op het IJ met 's Lands Zeemagazijn' (View of the river IJ with 's Lands Zeemagazijn), dating from 1664, by Reinier Nooms, also known as 'The Seaman'. 'Drive' puts this masterpiece on show for the very first time. It shows a wonderful scene of a number of warships on the water in front of the building that is now home to Het Scheepvaartmuseum.
The exhibition Drive | 100 years of collecting was on show from 1 October 2016 to 2 July 2017.
Flaunting and tempting
We humans can be quite a contradiction. We want to be unique but we also want to belong to a group. We don't want to be the odd one out, but we do want to be different. What defines a person's identity and image?
The universe within reach
Picture the scene: your neighbour has recently returned from a holiday in Thailand, and invites you to come round and look at her holiday photos. She serves nuts in bamboo dishes and tea in ornate porcelain cups.
Striving for completeness
A typical hoarder can exhibit some types of compulsive behaviour, such as sorting, cataloguing, ranking, inspecting, and moving items until they all have the perfect position and the hoard is as complete as possible.
The exhibition is sponsored by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, participants in the BankGiro Lottery, and the Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen (Association of Maritime Funds).
Jubileepartner: Nico Nap Foundation.