History
The self-appointed director had been collecting ceramics for her own amusement for over 20 years, when she finally made the decision to open a museum in 2011. Since then the Museum has lent pieces out for exhibitions: Art Rotterdam, Princessehof Ceramic Museum Leeuwaarden, Special Collections Department of the University of Amsterdam, Museum Boymans Van Beuningen Rotterdam in the Netherlands; the Cock and Bull gallery/Saatchi Magazine Launch, London, United Kingdom; the Brussels art fair, Belgium; Market, Stokholm, Sweden; Volta, Basel, Switzerland. The museum’s collection includes pottery, stoneware and porcelain, and makes a point of insisting on collection diversity with styles from Roman through tribal, high art trinkets to lowly sputum vessels, anecdotal, anthropomorphic, accidental, right up to modern classic design, and hopefully back again.
Public
At a symposium on the contemporary role of museums, held during the Basel Art Fair 2011, Martin Roth, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, stated that ‘collecting is the most difficult task of a museum’. For the FC Ceramic Museum collecting is of course the easiest and most joyful occupation: The Ceramic Museum is constantly acquiring, accepting all works the curator submits for inclusion in the collection. Unfortunately for would-be visitors there is no permanent gallery space, which is the foremost reason for the Museum’s ruthless de-acquisition policy.
The Ceramic Museum pledges to show its pieces to the public, and once launched into the public realm, pieces may then become eligible for de-acquisition. This museum receives no grants, subsidies or sponsoring and the revenue generated by de-acquiring pieces is crucial, providing the means to upkeep the documentation, fascilitate loans, and to man the workshops, public relations department and the management team.
Philosophy
The Ceramic Museum considers the pieces which find their way to a private home to be the lucky ones: these pieces hopefully will be on view in their new home for whoever is in their neighbourhood. This is what every museum piece loves (the alternative is being stored away in a dark depot, and perhaps ultimately being forgotten). Ceramic pieces, especially, enjoy being in the midst of life – for unlike textiles, or paintings, video, furniture or African sculptures they stand the test of time extremely well. They laugh at a couple of thousand years, and prehistoric pieces still valiantly hold their own shape and decoration today.
Friends
An extremely gratifying aspect of de-acquisition is the growing circle of Friends of the Museum. These people take it upon themselves to look after these museum pieces in their own homes, and as such make a contribution to the continuation of the Museum. Mr. Roth’s view concerning his own museum: ‘ the possibility of world museums collaborating with small museums and small communities should always be considered’ I wonder just how small a museum, or a community, and how large the possibility? The Director of the Frik Collection Ceramic Museum certainly hopes to be able to collaborate with the followers, friends and patrons of the museum in the future; the online catalogue resumé is a great help for reference, but a lot more goes on at the Museum. What is the importance of Schleswig Museum Gotthof? What is an engine turned coffee-pot and how will the The Ceramic Museum enter the 3D printing world? How come Meissen have got it wrong, and Peter is confused? Why did copper float about and settle in exactly the right place? Not to mention the yellow kettle postcard and yet another visit to the V&A. The Publishing Department hopes to bring these and many other facts to light in the future.
The self-appointed director had been collecting ceramics for her own amusement for over 20 years, when she finally made the decision to open a museum in 2011. Since then the Museum has lent pieces out for exhibitions: Art Rotterdam, Princessehof Ceramic Museum Leeuwaarden, Special Collections Department of the University of Amsterdam, Museum Boymans Van Beuningen Rotterdam in the Netherlands; the Cock and Bull gallery/Saatchi Magazine Launch, London, United Kingdom; the Brussels art fair, Belgium; Market, Stokholm, Sweden; Volta, Basel, Switzerland. The museum’s collection includes pottery, stoneware and porcelain, and makes a point of insisting on collection diversity with styles from Roman through tribal, high art trinkets to lowly sputum vessels, anecdotal, anthropomorphic, accidental, right up to modern classic design, and hopefully back again.
Public
At a symposium on the contemporary role of museums, held during the Basel Art Fair 2011, Martin Roth, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, stated that ‘collecting is the most difficult task of a museum’. For the FC Ceramic Museum collecting is of course the easiest and most joyful occupation: The Ceramic Museum is constantly acquiring, accepting all works the curator submits for inclusion in the collection. Unfortunately for would-be visitors there is no permanent gallery space, which is the foremost reason for the Museum’s ruthless de-acquisition policy.
The Ceramic Museum pledges to show its pieces to the public, and once launched into the public realm, pieces may then become eligible for de-acquisition. This museum receives no grants, subsidies or sponsoring and the revenue generated by de-acquiring pieces is crucial, providing the means to upkeep the documentation, fascilitate loans, and to man the workshops, public relations department and the management team.
Philosophy
The Ceramic Museum considers the pieces which find their way to a private home to be the lucky ones: these pieces hopefully will be on view in their new home for whoever is in their neighbourhood. This is what every museum piece loves (the alternative is being stored away in a dark depot, and perhaps ultimately being forgotten). Ceramic pieces, especially, enjoy being in the midst of life – for unlike textiles, or paintings, video, furniture or African sculptures they stand the test of time extremely well. They laugh at a couple of thousand years, and prehistoric pieces still valiantly hold their own shape and decoration today.
Friends
An extremely gratifying aspect of de-acquisition is the growing circle of Friends of the Museum. These people take it upon themselves to look after these museum pieces in their own homes, and as such make a contribution to the continuation of the Museum. Mr. Roth’s view concerning his own museum: ‘ the possibility of world museums collaborating with small museums and small communities should always be considered’ I wonder just how small a museum, or a community, and how large the possibility? The Director of the Frik Collection Ceramic Museum certainly hopes to be able to collaborate with the followers, friends and patrons of the museum in the future; the online catalogue resumé is a great help for reference, but a lot more goes on at the Museum. What is the importance of Schleswig Museum Gotthof? What is an engine turned coffee-pot and how will the The Ceramic Museum enter the 3D printing world? How come Meissen have got it wrong, and Peter is confused? Why did copper float about and settle in exactly the right place? Not to mention the yellow kettle postcard and yet another visit to the V&A. The Publishing Department hopes to bring these and many other facts to light in the future.