One foggy Saturday morning in mid-January, I visited one of the most iconic buildings in Antwerp: the MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom. I was one of the first visitors, but I certainly was not the only one. A lot of families and some of our neighbours to the north were already on their way to visit the boulevard and the exhibitions. Everyone is welcome here, and the museum belongs to everyone: I felt that immediately. As you make your way on the escalator, you see colourful portraits of people, young and old, with objects they wish to cherish and keep for the future. The exhibition is entitled ‘Alles van Waarde’ [Everything of Value]. Each item has its own story. You can discover the power of storytelling here in the MAS, and especially in the ‘Luister’ [Listen] exhibition.
The Museum aan de Stroom
The MAS, on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, has organised this exhibition of thrilling and moving stories that have found their way to Antwerp from all over the world. Working with author and playwright Dimitri Leue, the museum presents the items in the collection as a touching audio play. The audio play is not an accompaniment to the exhibition: no, the audio play is the exhibition. In this way you really get to pay a lot of attention to the objects and become completely absorbed in the story. As there are hardly any distractions, you see the objects in a different way.
Tine Embrechts is the storyteller and takes on the character of Kameleonie. She puts your powers of empathy to the test. The stories are about cheerful, gruesome, sad and ominous subjects. There is a healthy blend of fiction and non-fiction. Historical facts are laid bare without taboos. The audio play begins, “I am Kameleonie; I am special. I have a condition… My differentness is endearing. I have kameleonitis.” I empathise so much with the character. If the song is about a happy goat, then I feel like a happy goat.
Stories
Each story reveals a new universe and spirits you away into your own imagination. This dream world is also evoked by the design. Each story is surrounded by a timber structure and comfortable seating. Illustrator Shamisa Debroey brings some of the stories to life with her beautiful illustrations. The exhibition is open to anyone from the age of eight upwards. The number of visitors allowed in at any one time is restricted, so that you can simply enjoy.
Co-creation is of great importance to the MAS. This is demonstrated at the end of the exhibition, when you can listen to stories by Antwerp school students. 35 items from the MAS collection were sent to 35 schools. In these schools, students could decide whether they wanted to write a story about the museum piece or use another theme. However, the stories about the object were given the opportunity of a place in the exhibition where the 35 objects are also displayed. As a visitor, it’s up to you to work out which story corresponds to each object.
Satisfied, I returned home, the fog cleared and it turned out to be a sunny day. One thing is for certain: listening is an art, and it’s no coincidence that that is the Guide-ID audio guides slogan.