EUROPE

by Hein van der Kroon, Chairman

The Museum for Peace & Nonviolence began its history in 1995 as the Anti-War Museum, the result of ten local peace organizations in the Netherlands and Belgium joining together for a mobile museum project. In 1998, the name was changed to the Museum for Peace & Nonviolence. The museum is a member of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP): www.museumsforpeace.org.

The Museum for Peace & Nonviolence seeks to contribute to a future where a culture of peace and non-violence prevails. Violence is harmful for the future of the world and for humanity.

The mission of the project has been the foundation of a museum which ordinary citizens, especially students, can visit freely. A mobile museum is effective in attracting a larger number of people, so the project currently has no goal to establish a fixed museum.

The project's main activity involves bringing its peace exhibitions to museums, libraries, churches, schools, and town halls. Exhibitions of the Museum for Peace & Nonviolence have traveled to about 50 cities, towns, and villages in the Netherlands and in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). Depending on locations and facilities, about 10,000 people visit the exhibitions each year.

Those interested in holding a traveling exhibition can email the museum staff and the exhibition materials are sent by post or a volunteer courier will transport the materials by car. The fee is generally low, or free.

The main office for the museum is located in Amsterdam. Another small office, combined with a mini-museum, is found in Delft. The storage facility is in Soesterberg, where the materials for 11 traveling exhibitions are kept. Examples of the exhibitions include: Forgiveness - Reconciliation; A Vision Shared (about the history of the peace movement); Gandhi; Indonesian Resisters (war resisters during the colonial war of the Netherlands 1946 - 1950); German War Resisters during World War II; the A-bomb and Mankind (a gift to us from the Federation of Japanese A-bomb Victims). In total, we have about 400 posters, books, photos, flyers, and a few paintings.

The other important activity is the Virtual Peace Museum, our website. We are currently adding new content and, in the future, the site will be more interactive. The Virtual Peace Museum attracts about 80,000 visitors each year. A museum shop sells games that promote cooperation instead of competition, among other things.

For financial support, the museum relies on about 500 supporters. The staff is composed mainly of volunteers, but since 2008 there is a paid part-time person, an artist who coordinates the exhibits.

The name of our magazine, published twice a year, is Vredesboot (Peaceboat).

Address: Minahassastraat 1, NL-1094 RS Amsterdam. (Amsterdam Office)
Phone: +31-15-785-0137 (Delft Office)
Homepage: www.vredesmuseum.nl
Days open: Varies, depending on the exhibition venue
Admission: Free

(Originally published on May 3, 2010)