DEPOT – Reflecting Boijmans

While a major renovation forced Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen to shut its doors to the public in 2019, an entirely new building was about to open just metres down the road: the Depot – a shared dream of architect Winy Maas and Boijmans director Sjarel Ex. This documentary tells the story of the establishment of the world’s first museum depot that is entirely open to visitors, while using archival footage from Bouw Museum Boymans to draw apt parallels with the construction of the current museum building in the 1930s.

Maas and Ex show the stripped-down museum and the brand-new depot with a pleasure that is contagious, sharing their passionate views on past and present. The film, which is a monument to the future, discloses the museum’s secrets in passing and divulges details that are normally kept out of view. Both buildings open up, revealing a treasure trove of artistic works. The result is a loving symphony for art and architecture.

DEPOT – Reflecting Boijmans is the latest film by filmmaker Sonia Herman Dolz, who acquired fame for the award-winning documentaries Romance de Valentia (1994), about the art of the bullfight, and Lágrimas negras (1998), about an ageing music group from Cuba. She also made the documentary Conducting Boijmans (2015).

– Christiaan Boesenach

Trailer

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