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The Sleeping Beauty Scenario: A Handbook for the Orderly Forgetting of Collections
Price: €32.95 (excluding shipping: NL €4.75, Europe €10.00)
The Sleeping Beauty scenario presents a museum experiment that challenges the traditional boundaries of collection management. Explained in the Handbook for the Orderly Forgetting of Collections, this approach proposes putting the entire collection to 'sleep' for at least one generation, allowing future generations to reassess its value. The handbook is available exclusively from the Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland Foundation.
What is the Sleeping Beauty Scenario?
In a field dominated by careful curation and preservation, the Sleeping Beauty Scenario offers a radical alternative: to systematically forget entire collections for at least one generation. By pausing intervention, future generations will be better equipped to judge the collection’s true value, free from contemporary biases.
About the Book
In 10 insightful chapters, the handbook explores innovative strategies in collection management, from hiding and collecting to forgetting, abstaining and bequeathing.
The handbook introduces the case study of the Streekmuseum Jan Anderson in Vlaardingen, which houses more than 150,000 objects across 150 sub-collections. When the owner can no longer care for the collection, it is "put to sleep" for at least one generation. Our children and (great-)grandchildren will be able to judge what truly holds value. This scenario is not just theoretical—it is being applied in real-time, offering invaluable insights into collection management for museums worldwide.
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A Valuable Handbook for the Museum Field on Collection Management
Whether you're a museum professional, curator, or student, this handbook provides a revolutionary tool for future-focused collection management. Instead of selecting standout pieces, the decision-making process is postponed through orderly forgetting, offering a new and ethically sound approach to collection preservation.
The Sleeping Beauty Scenario was written by:
- Gerard Rooijakkers, ethnologist and cultural historian
- Frank Bergevoet, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
- Evelien Masselink, Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland Foundation
Seven external museum professionals from the Netherlands and Flanders have also contributed their reflections on this experimental method, making the handbook a must-read for anyone invested in the future of museum collection management.
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Product Information
- Title: The Sleeping Beauty Scenario – The Handbook for Orderly Forgetting
- Language: English (for Dutch, click here)
- Pages: 196 pages, full color
- Format: Softcover, limited edition
- Price: €32.95 (excl. shipping: NL: €4.75, Europe: €10.00)
- ISBN: 978-90-808901-8-3
- Availability: Exclusively available at Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland
More Information or Contact Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland?
Evelien Masselink
Coördinator business development, senior adviseur erfgoed en publiek
