The twenty-third annual congress of CODART opened this afternoon at the recently renovated and re-opened Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn with a festive reception offered by the General Representative of Flanders in the Netherlands. More than 100 members of CODART were welcomed by Annette de Vries, Head of Curators of Het Loo Palace. During the next two days, the congress participants will attend lectures and excursions in The Hague and Gouda. The congress was made possible thanks to the generous support of Het Loo Palace, the Mauritshuis, Museum Gouda, the Friends of CODART foundation and the General Representative of Flanders in the Netherlands.
The Mauritshuis in The Hague will host the first day of the congress, featuring several lectures, discussions, and case studies on the congress theme: Art in Situ: What It Means to See Art in Its Original Setting. Participants are offered the chance to see art in situ in the afternoon during various in-depth excursions, including a very exclusive visit to the Oranjezaal in Huis ten Bosch Palace, the residence of the Dutch king.
On Tuesday, the group moves to St. John’s Church in Gouda where we will visit the unique exhibition organized by Museum Gouda and the church to commemorate the 750th anniversary of Gouda’s city rights. Afterwards, curators are given the floor for brief presentations on current issues in the Speakers’ Corner. In the afternoon, participants can choose from another selection of excursions, including visits to the new Dutch Collection Center (CCNL) in Amersfoort and the newly built depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
There is a an optional excursion on Wednesday to the eastern part of the Netherlands where various historical houses will be visited, including the exclusive Kasteel Biljoen, which is normally closed to the public.