Museum Gouda attracted a record number of visitors this year! No fewer than 64,590 people from across the country—and from Gouda itself—visited the engaging exhibitions and surprising events. “Susanna, from the Middle Ages to MeToo” has been a huge success this winter and, according to NRC and Trouw, is one of the best exhibitions of the year. Museum visitors from far and wide combined their visit with shopping and dining, generating a local economic boost of over €1,500,000 in 2024. The museum also welcomed more than 8,000 children for educational programs and the House of Saint Nicholas. Museum Gouda celebrated its 150th anniversary this year with the reopening of the iconic Gouda IJssalon Italia. Many residents of Gouda loaned their personal items to the museum and came to reminisce. In these turbulent times, the museum also fostered connections within the city, ranging from conversations between (grand)children and first-generation migrant workers to special activities for people with dementia and for newcomers to Gouda.
“We are incredibly proud to be able to close out this anniversary year with a record number of visitors. I am delighted that we have been able to help even more residents of Gouda feel that our heritage belongs to everyone. And that we are doing our part to enhance Gouda’s national reputation as a city of culture and to support the local economy. So the museum is doing well—but this success is fragile. To ensure we can pass on our heritage to future generations, urgent attention is needed for the centuries-old buildings the museum rents from the municipality. So, pride and concern at the same time. But now it’s time to celebrate!” said Director Femke Haijtema. The previous visitor record dated back to 2018, when the exhibition on Pieter Pourbus drew large crowds. On average, Museum Gouda has attracted nearly 38,000 visitors per year over the past twenty years.
5 stars and €1.5 million
2024 kicked off with the successful exhibition “Royal Art,” featuring paintings from the royal collections. This summer, the exhibition “Hete Vuren” was a wonderful collaboration with the Rijksmuseum and five museums across the country. “Susanna, from the Middle Ages to MeToo” is Gouda’s major attraction this winter. The exhibition on Susanna and the Elders—an age-old story about a young woman besieged by two powerful men—explores why artists have captured this #MeToo narrative time and again. The Sekszusjes, known for the candid educational YouTube series of the same name, share their perspective on Susanna’s story in an audio tour and are collaborating on a special educational program about boundaries and consent for secondary and vocational schools. Susanna received 5 stars in both NRC and Trouw and attracts large audiences from across the country. In 2024, two-thirds of museum visitors came to Gouda specifically for an exhibition. On average, they spent over €40 in the city. Museum Gouda thus generated at least €1,500,000 in local economic impact last year. National funds are indispensable for ensuring (inter)national quality; Susanna’s success was made possible thanks to contributions from the Mondriaan Fund, the Culture Fund, and Fonds 21.
Anniversary In 2024, the museum once again organized numerous projects for and by the people of Gouda. Starting on May 12—exactly 150 years after the museum opened—an exhibition on IJssalon Italia was on display; from 1939 to 2002, it served as a gathering place in downtown Gouda. Dozens of items from customers and employees brought the past to life and told stories about the Italian Agnoli family and the hard work behind the scenes. It was the highlight of the anniversary exhibition “The City Collects,” in which the original items gathered by the people of Gouda in 1874 were supplemented with memories from Gouda over the past 150 years, from the neon sign of the Arcadebioscoop and the swimming hook from the Spaardersbad to the suitcase with which honorary citizen Abdellah Laaguili traveled to Gouda.
ConnectionThe Bnadem project, a tribute to the first generation of Moroccan residents of Gouda, concluded in September with a moving storytelling evening. The museum is documenting stories from this community and has developed a set of cards based on historical photographs by Robert de Hartogh, which (grand)children and caregivers can use to engage older adults in conversations about migration stories and memories. In the spring, an evening on art and colonization featuring young experts from the Indonesian community shed new light on royal art as a tool of propaganda. In a special program for people with dementia and their partners, participants experience the museum with all their senses and recall memories. Listening to music, tasting Gouda flavors, dressing up as a marksman: couples get to spend time together, discover something new, and enjoy themselves just as they used to. The museum also organized gatherings during the Week Against Loneliness. In collaboration with the Library’s Language Café, groups of newcomers to Gouda shared stories about their own lives in front of our artworks as part of their integration process, and with the Taalhuis and Samen voor Goud, transition classes of young newcomers came for special interactive tours. Gouda-based artist Dace Sietina transformed a historic gatehouse in the museum garden into a laboratory for visualizing the impact of microplastics, together with fellow residents.
Young Audiences
In 2024, the museum once again organized numerous educational programs and family activities, reaching an unprecedented number of more than 8,000 children and young people. More than 250 school classes participated in one of the many programs in which children reflected on the history of their city and were encouraged to get creative. The museum also organized toddler classes in libraries and community centers, where the museum puppet Klaasje interacted with the youngest children. At Hete Vuren, families decorated countless candles. And in November, Sinterklaas came to stay again, and families from all corners of the city, sometimes for the first time, got to know the museum. The exhibition on Susanna features a special educational program for upper-level secondary school and vocational education students, in which young people engage in conversations about sex and consent in a safe environment under the guidance of specially trained facilitators. The Gouda band Zuster Zonnebloem also wrote a song specifically for Susanna and led a songwriting workshop for young people at the museum.
Together, we shape the city
In 2024, Museum Gouda once again joined forces with a wide range of partners throughout the city. Events such as Festival De Verwondering, organized in collaboration with the Stadsschouwburg, attracted new visitors—for example, to the exclusive fashion show held right in the middle of the museum. Long-standing traditions like Open Monument Day and Zotte Zaterdag, held in partnership with the Garenspinnerij, ensured a vibrant atmosphere at the museum. And Candlelight Evening drew more than 1,400 visitors, who listened to music performed by the great-granddaughter of one of the reading sisters in Tholen’s painting—a crowd favorite at the museum. The support of our many partners, including the Catharina Guild of businesses and the private Crabeth Club, makes the success of Museum Gouda possible.
Heritage Museum Gouda manages the city of Gouda’s collection of artworks and historical artifacts. This is an important public service that ensures our heritage is preserved. Take, for example, the enormous altarpiece by Wouter Crabeth from 1628, which once hung in a Catholic clandestine church and was now at risk of being damaged. The enormous canvas is currently being restored under the watchful eye of various national specialists—a unique restoration effort that will preserve the painting for Gouda and for the Netherlands, thanks to a generous contribution from the Rembrandt Society. Another special collection under the museum’s care—the Hague School and Barbizon School paintings from collector Paul Arntzenius—has been given a new permanent home in the museum’s sunny salon. Gouda residents Rkia Majourhate and Ikram Skouli became part of the museum collection through their portraits by photographer Khalid Amakran. At the very end of 2024, a lost Gouda panel painting from 1582 was also added to the collection, a birthday gift from our Friends Association.
Wieg van Gouda
In 2024, it became clear that the beautiful historic building leased by the Museum of the Municipality of Gouda required significant investment. These investments were needed to ensure a welcoming experience for all visitors, including those with limited mobility, to make this iconic Gouda landmark more sustainable, and to manage the sharp rise in energy costs. To ensure that the museum can continue to fulfill its core mission in the future by ensuring that the exhibition spaces evolve to meet the requirements of lenders. To provide adequate storage space for the city collection, which the museum manages on behalf of the municipality for the city. In short, investments to preserve this monumental municipal building complex—such as the centuries-old Catharina Gasthuis, which marks the spot where our city once began, “the cradle of Gouda”—for the future. The condition of the buildings jeopardizes the museum’s success, and the museum continues to highlight the urgency of these investments.
Preview
The impressive body of work by artist Jo Koster (1868–1944) will be showcased at Museum Gouda in the spring of 2025. Koster forged her own path and was one of the first female artists in the Netherlands to make a living from her art. In the early 20th century, she traveled across Europe by car, sketching and painting wherever she could. Koster could hold her own against contemporaries such as Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig and Co Breman, yet her Neo-Impressionist work is far less well-known than that of her male peers. The major exhibition Jo Koster, Artist will change that starting April 19, featuring more than 90 paintings and drawings. At the same time, starting March 8, International Women’s Day, the exhibition Unheard will be on view, in which we look at history through the lens of 25 women in the museum’s collection. To mark 80 years of freedom, we are also highlighting the story of Edith Beek, a girl from Gouda.
