The Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs has agreed to sponsor the renovation of a room in the Kunstkammer collection as a nod towards 500 years of shared heritage. “In the early 16th century, the Hapsburg Empire, which included Spain and France, was effectively ruled from the courts of Margaret of Austria, in Mechelen,” explains André Hebbelinck, representative of the Flemish government in Central Europe. The room, one of the many of the collection that cover some 3,000 square metres, will be filled with objects from this period.

The sculptures, tapestries, jewellery and furniture of the Kunstkammer collection tell the story of Europe through the objects of its ruling class. “These objects are more than just well-made things,” says Hebbelinck. “They were important symbols used by Europe’s rulers to propagate the myth of their wealth and might.”

In addition to the sponsorship, Flanders will take part in a series of cultural exchanges, including lectures by art historians on particular objects on display.

The Kunstkammer collection won’t be open to the public until December 2012, but the museum is already hard at work creating a buzz around the project. It aims to reach out to the general public, Hebbelinck says, and not just to experts in art history.

It is in this democratic spirit that they’ve placed a large construction container in front of the museum (pictured) equipped with video screens that show the work in progress and 3D-simulations of the final product. Anyone can become a patron of one or more objects in the collection. “We’d like people to adopt an object as their own and retell its story, adding to its history,” explains Hebbelinck.

There are also more concrete incentives, including one that hits close to the Flemish heart: Buyers of an annual pass to the museum will receive a shiny, gold-plated bicycle helmet. “The helmets have been an enormous success,” Hebbelinck says. “You can actually see people wearing them riding through the streets.” One bicycle messenger company has fitted all its messengers with the gilded headgear.

www.khm.at