Did you know that the (heirloom) vegetables, plants, and herbs in the castle gardens are also part of our collection?
We call them our green heritage. It is interesting to note that there are many connections between the objects inside the castle and the gardens. If you would like to know more about this, read on!
We are currently working on two special projects, both of which are sponsored by the Mondriaan Fund.
The art of connecting
Currently we’re working on the ‘Art of Connecting’ project. As from 2021 this project aims to make all of the information about our collection more visible, usable, and permanently available via the internet and social media. The objective is to allow far more people to easily benefit from, experience and share our digital heritage. The project is a partnership with Museum van Loon in Amsterdam, since there are many special stories to be told about both museums and their gardens ̶ about the residents, the art objects, international trade contacts, the colonial past, vegetables and plants from afar, what people used to eat and drink, and much more. All these stories enrich our understanding of the past.
Greenery & Sustainability
The Muiderslot castle gardens are in good hands. Henk Boers has been our garden curator (hortulanus) for over 35 years now. Together with the garden volunteers, he ensures that the gardens are maintained carefully. In order to expand and share that knowledge with a new generation, Thiëmo Heilbron started as our Greenery & Sustainability Curator. Thiëmo is a biologist and botanist who believes that plants have special stories to tell, but you need to know where to look and how to listen. For instance, we grow spiky tomatoes in the castle gardens that are both familiar and strange. The plant tells a story about the history of tomatoes, about people in the past, and about today’s tomatoes. Such stories stimulate our imagination and make us view things in a different light. Thiëmo and Henk exchange knowledge and will initiate educational activities. They will also engage in new, unexpected collaborations, such as with the Fawaka entrepreneurs’ school that teaches children about sustainable business.