This year’s Museum Week is celebrating 75 years of cultural freedom but coronavirus restrictions have meant the offerings of the country’s museums will have to be enjoyed from home.

Organiser Museumvereniging has made a video for each day of the week highlighting the treasures of 400 Dutch museums. The series kicks off with a digital presentation of art on Dam square, traditionally the site of the wreath laying ceremony to honour the war dead, related in some way to the freedom of cultural expression since World War II.

During the war years the Nazis pillaged the art collections of Jewish owners in particular and the battle by relatives to get them back is ongoing. They also became the arbiters of what constituted art and declared Cubism and Impressionism ‘entartete Kunst’ (degenerate art) while promoting romantic realism conveying so-called Aryan values.

Comfort and inspiration

‘These are scary times and art can offer comfort and inspiration,’ director of the Museumvereniging Mirjam Moll said. ‘Our collections have survived many upheavals. For the last five years we have shown people how special and wonderful our cultural capital is. That is our true gold. Now, more than ever, art is important and that is why we have opted for a digital version of the Museum Week.’

The digital Museum Week starts on Monday with the presentation on the Dam and ends on Sunday the 26th. People can add to the collection by sending in a work of art that have brought them comfort. The complete programme can be found here.

Many of the museums are already offering virtual presentations of their collections. However, some 100 may not re-open at all due to falling revenue, the Museumvereniging warned last week.