Museums across Friesland launch exhibitions to celebrate re-opening on Saturday

Translated by Thomas Ansell

After several long months of remaining closed, museums across the Netherlands will be able to re-open from this weekend, following the Dutch government’s announcement of ‘step 3’ of its plan to lift Coronavirus regulations. The total numbers of guests allowed inside at once is limited, and those wishing to visit must book tickets online beforehand and wear a face-mask, but the re-opening is still a celebratory occasion for many places. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân.

Frisian Handball’s Olympic History

Both the Skûtjesmuseum in Earnwâld, and the Keatsmuseum in Franeker will be launching new exhibitions to coincide with their re-opening, and both are dedicated to uniquely Frisian things: traditional flat-bottomed boats (Skûtjes), and the sport of Kaatsen (Frisian Handball).

Bram Bonnema, of the Keatsmuseaum in Franeker, says that their exhibition called From Paris to Pyongyang  has an Olympic theme to mark this year’s Tokyo Games: “we’re really looking forward to re-opening. We had wanted to show this exhibition in 2020 to mark the Olympics, but they were postponed, and so we also moved the exhibition to a new date.”

The Keatsmuseum can only take in 20 people at one time, but that’s a big improvement on being empty, says Bonnema: “we are so happy that the doors can be re-opened to people, our team is very ready to receive new visitors on Saturday. The exhibition will be available until November 13, so there’s plenty of time for everyone to come and see it.”

“The exhibition looks at Kaatsen at the Olympics over the years, and also about the various people from Friesland that won medals. We have about 30 medals in the museum to exhibit. Kaatsen was played at seven Games, from 1900-1912, and then at Barcelona in 1992, and Mexico in 1968”, says Bonnema.

A fine weekend for sailing

The Skûtjesmuseam in Earnewâld has used its Coronavirus closure to mount a refurbishment, with volunteers contributing time working as carpenters and painters, says Age Veldboom. A new screening room has also been built: “it’s great, we have a huge number of historic sailing-related films, including movies from the 1930’s, some great instructional videos, and news reports.”

Image via the Skûtjesmuseum, Franeker.