Activities in the Season 2006 -2007
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Felixarchives
Monday 14th May 2007
15 of us met for the free tour of the Felixarchives, and what an exceptional visit! At the start the inner street of the old “Felix Pakhuis” is a wonderful sight. The architects together with a team from the archives have turned the old warehouse into a functional, safe and modern City Archive.
Right 1: part of the group in the inner street of the Felix
Archive.
 We then watched a DVD showing all the technical aspects of the move of 16 kilometers of archived documents to the new location. On it we could also see and hear about the work of the ADFAS volunteers, who at the old location cleaned and checked the inventory of 12,000 negatives on glass.
Right 2: Inside the Felix Archives
 Then we went on a tour of the building. Our guide was Werner Pottier himself (who had supervised the volunteers and was the coordinator of the move) together with Liesbeth (Communications Manager) who translated for Werner.
The immense and beautiful reading room with all the inventory books and other electronic research equipment has a marvellous view over the Willem and Kattendijk docks as well as the construction site of the new MAS (Museum aan de
Stroom).
Right 3: The view from the Reading room.
 But the highlight of our visit (not part of the regular tour) was the inside of the containers in which the archives are kept, and the explanations of the very elaborate systems of preservation and recording the exact location of all archive documents. We were even shown the cooled container where all films, pictures, videos and electronic devises are kept, including the boxes with packed negatives on glass!
Right 4: Inside a container.
 Werner and Liesbeth answered all of our questions and the tour ended in the staff’s canteen with a cup of tea or coffee. We also all were presented with a book on the
Felixarchives.
Thank you Werner, thank you Liesbeth, you gave us a very interesting glimpse of the work and aims of a city archive as well as a most pleasant afternoon – GDB
Right 5: Looking at old documents.
A Visit to the Exhibition at the KMSKA
Vlaamse Primitieven: de mooiste tweeluiken
Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych
Saturday 31st March 2007 at 10 am
This will NOT be a guided tour but a PowerPoint presentation in English in the auditorium of the KMSKA
after which you can visit the exhibited works.
About the exhibition:
This exhibition brings together almost 36 pairs of Netherlandish panel paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, including works from public and private collections in Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, the diptych format—essentially two hinged panels that can be opened and closed like a book—was vulnerable to alteration, even the separation and dispersal of the panels. The exhibition will reunite several paintings now owned by different institutions, such as Rogier van der Weyden’s Virgin and Child from California with his portrait of Philippe de Croy from Antwerp (c. 1460), and Michael Sittow’s Virgin and Child from Berlin with his portrait of Diego de Guevara(?) from the National Gallery of Art (c. 1515/1518). Both of these diptychs are examples of a popular theme that showed a donor portrayed on one panel praying to holy
personages depicted on the other panel. Such diptychs, often small in size, were used for private devotion. Another important diptych combines Hans Memling’s Saint John the Baptist from Munich with his Saint Veronica from the National Gallery (c. 1470/1475).
 Many of the works in the exhibition have been given extensive technical examinations that shed light on painting techniques, workshop practice, and the way the diptychs were constructed and
displayed - including some that were not originally diptychs at all but were probably meant to hang side by side as pendants.
A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, in association with the Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge.
Schedule: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, March 3–May 27, 2007
Above: Master of the Saint Ursula Legend, Flemish, active c. 1470—c. 1500.
Virgin and Child (left) , 1486, oil on panel, 28 x 21 cm (11 x 8 1/4 in.)
Three Donors (right), 1486, oil on panel, 28 x 21 cm (11 x 8 1/4 in.)
Property of KMSKA
The above information and image are taken from the
website of the National Art Gallery in Washington.
Visit to the New Palace of Justice in Antwerp
 Friday 20th October,
2006
The new court of justice of Antwerp is the result of a quest of over 30 years. It started with the need for a bigger building, and the need to centralize the different courts in Antwerp. The search for a new location proved to be a challenging one. In the mean time the justice system in Belgium underwent a profound change, the unification of the police departement became a fact and the general awarenes for the need for enviroment friendly and cost effective public buildings became a political matter. The new court of justice of Antwerp had to reflect these changes in society. Richard Rogers partnership, Arup and VK studio’s design really reflects this. The strange rooftop shapes do have a function, they are not just for show. There is a reason why the main entrance is in the top floor. The choice of materials is a result of many tests and considerations. The element of green fits in with the whole concept of enviroment friendlyness. On the tour Key will focus on three storylines: the architectural story, the story of the connection with the surroundings (past, present and future), and the story of the users of the building: de justice system in Belgium.
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