Course
Collecting sustainability and climate change for Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
- Date
- Thursday 24 April 2025
- Series
- Museum Lab workshops
- Location
- Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
How can we collect artefacts and their impact today?
How can we collect scientific developments and their impact today? Museum Boerhaave has a collection closely tied to the University of Leiden’s history. The museum was founded in 1928 when many scientific tools became outdated due to improvements in the university’s labs. These old tools, along with other scientific objects, formed the museum’s collection, which now includes around 40,000 items. With science now focusing more on digital technology and big science practices, the museum is rethinking how it collects objects.
In this workshop, students will help the museum explore how to collect items that represent scientific progress today. The museum is working on an exhibition about sustainability and wants to gather objects that show sustainable development or the need for it. After visiting the exhibitions and museum storage, students will suggest an object related to sustainability for the museum’s collection. These items may be shown in the upcoming exhibition and kept for the future.