Colonial collectors brought many pustaha into European museum collections, thus separating these books from their communities of origin. What happens to the knowledge that manuscripts contain when they are displaced and access to them is lost?
FREE ENTRANCE | From October 25, 2025, dance is the starting point in the Visible Storage for delving into the MAS collection. Eight people from dance communities in Antwerp rummaged through the depots together with the curators.
The MAS collection comprises approximately 2,400 objects related to the poesjenelle tradition, originating from the former Folklore Museum: rod puppets, stage props, signs, theatre programmes and photographs. We also have rod puppets from other theatre traditions and a number of hand puppets.
In 1890, the painter Louis van Engelen depicted a crowd of Belgian emigrants moving across Antwerp’s Nassau Bridge to the district of Het Eilandje towards a ship. The resident population watches them pass by.
The MAS preserves culturally and historically sensitive Congolese heritage. In what circumstances did this collection of approximately 3,800 cultural objects come into being? A two-year research project will map this out more clearly.
FREE ENTRANCE | In a diverse city like Antwerp, you can find all kinds of traditions that people still actively practice today. In the Visible Storage, eight people invite you to discover the tradition they continue to live and experience. Each of them selected an object that is indispensable to their tradition and shares what that tradition means to them.
How are indigenous Batak belief systems preserved and transmitted today, and what challenges do the communities that practise them face? What meanings are held by the Batak artefacts ulos/uis, pustaha and tunggal panaluan within their communities of origin, and how has this changed over time?
The exhibition brings together more than 150 objects across 5 themes. Behind each object lies a unique story. We give you a selection of remarkable pieces.
