Jenever Museum asks Hasselt residents for their stories
The Jenever Museum in Hasselt is asking locals to tell them stories or show them family heirlooms related to jenever production in the area
Centre of production
Residents can expect an invitation to report all jenever-related items in September. “It’s not our intention to expand our collection or ask people to hand over their pieces,” explained museum curator Davy Jacobs. “We’re just looking for the information or stories behind the pieces, which are without a doubt valuable for the museum’s collective knowledge about local jenever history.”
People are also invited to come forward with any stories they might have about the production of jenever in the area. “We hope to hear these ‘hidden’ stories from people who have a personal, occupational or family connection to jenever,” said Jacobs.
Every month for a year, a jury will choose the best story or object from a specific neighbourhood and make the Hasselaar the “Jenever baron of the month”. They will get a little exhibition and be able to treat friends and family to a glass of jenever at the museum.
The museum presents the history of jenever – adapted and renamed gin by the British – through a collection of 25,000 historical objects. It also operates a bar with hundreds of varieties of the spirit.
Photo courtesy Jenever Museum
About the author
Lisa Bradshaw is the editor-in-chief of Flanders Today. She worked as an editor and journalist in her homeland, the United States, before moving to the awesome city of Ghent in 2004. If she’s not in the office, she’s probably at a film festival.
