News

Open Air Museum wins BankGiro Lottery Museum Prize

The Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund today announced that the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem had won the BankGiro Lottery Museum Prize 2009. An impressive 28.6% of the 51,339 people who participated voted for the Arnhem museum. The Open Air Museum therefore left the four other nominated museums (Spoorwegmuseum, Museum het Dolhuys, Beeld en Geluid and the Tropenmuseum) in its wake.

Director Pieter-Matthijs Gijsbers: “We are absolutely delighted that the Dutch public has voted for the Open Air Museum in such large numbers. We are a museum about and for all Dutch people. For almost a century we have been telling true stories about the history of the everyday lives of ordinary people and also talking to such ordinary people. When these same people then choose you as the country’s best history museum, it is the crowning glory of all your work and a huge boost as we continue towards our centenary in 2012. I would like to express my warmest thanks to everyone who voted for us!”

From the jury’s report
What the jury of the BankGiro Lottery Museum Prize 2009 wrote about the Open Air Museum: "This museum has succeeded in bringing national history and the culture of everyday life to a broad audience, in an appealing, carefully tended and exemplary way, with an eye for the individual visitor. It has a very welcome, public-oriented approach and offers the visitor a rich variety of object-oriented presentations, experiences, personal explanations and contextual depth. Nostalgia goes hand in hand with historical and contemporary experiences. Visitors learn things, derive pleasure from this and leave the museum having enjoyed a genuine experience and knowing more than they did when they arrived."

Investing in the public
The Open Air Museum will be using the part of the prize available for discretionary spending to develop educational projects for children with special needs. A cultural/educational outing can be a particularly enriching experience for such children, but the opportunities available are limited. Together with specialists from the field, successful educational projects offered by the museum will be developed further so that children with special needs can also experience an unforgettable day at the Netherlands Open Air Museum, with the emphasis on what they can do rather than what they cannot.

Date: 30 2009