The survival of Het Schip museum threatened: ‘No subsidy will make us wing lame’

Things are not going well with museum Het Schip in the Spaarndammerbuurt. Despite a good assessment by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), the museum, which is devoted to architecture and specifically the Amsterdam School, receives much less subsidy, which puts the museum’s survival at risk.

–

In museum Het Schip, which has three locations, exhibitions are held about the Amsterdam Style, an important building and art style. But there are also exhibitions on other architectural styles and, for example, public housing.

‘We received very good advice. But due to a lack of money at the AFK, more than 147,000 euros is deducted from our subsidy, which is one third of our operating budget, ‘says museum director Alice Roegholt. With this operating budget, the museum pays fixed costs, such as personnel costs and the rental costs that the museum pays to owner Eigen Haard. These are costs that the museum cannot actually cut. “If we do that, we will be paralyzed.”

Our ‘Dear Lord in Solder

Het Schip is in a similar situation to the Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder museum. That museum did not even receive any subsidy anymore, but eventually became saved by the church. According to culture alderman Meliani, the former hidden church is a ‘unique institution within the cultural infrastructure of Amsterdam’.

But Roegholt thinks that Het Schip is just as unique and therefore deserves an alternative subsidy. ‘It is a workers’ palace that got off the ground because of the enthusiasm of alderman Wibaut. It is part of the beautiful working-class neighborhoods that were built in Amsterdam at the beginning of the twentieth century, which is truly unprecedented in the whole world. ‘

–

The fact that the museum should close its doors is ‘really not negotiable’ for the museum director. There has already been a speech at the city council and recently the museum also started an online petition to draw attention to the financial need. ‘I notice that policymakers who decide about us have often never been to the museum. We want to show that we are not a back room in West. ‘

Het Schip has hoped for this week’s city council meeting, when a decision will be taken on the culture budget. “We hope we get good news before then.”

–