Valuation trajectory

Mu.ZEE appreciates

Mu.ZEE appreciates its collection with the support of the Flemish Government and a wide range of cultural partners. The application and methodology of the valuation process is based on the one hand on the keys provided by the Flemish Heritage Institutes, on the other hand specially adapted to the needs of our policy and our collection.

The valuation is applied with an internal core team, sounding board groups and multiple stakeholders. For this we engage the wide network of Mu.ZEE and its partners, as well as the call below.

The theoretical framework of our valuation process is determined by our current mission and vision, i.e. our social function as a museum of modern and contemporary art in Belgium. We want to interpret our collection as broadly as possible within a transhistoric and transcultural policy. The needs of our audience and contemporary issues from society will be made readable by means of a collection analysis after the valuation.

What is valuation?
Appreciating an art collection means appreciating the works of art. There are different forms and definitions of value, which can be very different per institution. In some collections, certain pieces may have a higher value than other pieces, because for example a comparison is made in the condition, the use value or the financial value.

Mu.ZEE does not want to compare, but to view and discover side by side. In a visual arts collection it is not possible or not obvious to use a traditional value scale. After all, you cannot put a score on the meaning of an artwork or the individual aesthetic experience. That is why we have drawn up a number of adjusted criteria based on existing scales and our current policy. Our criteria will test the presence or absence of certain types of value. Based on various yes-no questions, we indicate the qualities of a sub-collection or a work of art and we look for different manifestations of art-historical, social-social and research or use value. We look at the image itself, but also at the social, historical, social and biographical context in which a work or an ensemble was created.

Thanks to our appreciation, we reveal the interests, needs, and concerns that surround our artworks. This determines the decisions we make as a museum. With the knowledge from the valuation process, we can collect, store, research and disclose better.

Appreciate for the future
The appraisal process will provide an overview of our art collection and its potential. It will reveal certain positive policy points, gaps and mistakes. This gives us a better definition of our collection, the long-term loans and the needs of this responsibility. Step by step we increase the knowledge about our artworks for future research and use. We complement the collection according to the flaws, and try to arrive at new interpretations that can present interesting and relevant narratives to our spectators through exhibitions and events. Finally, the valuation will also be a major step forward towards digitization and online knowledge access.

We value and define today's snapshot for quality in tomorrow's museum. Mu.ZEE also strives through this project to improve its responsibility as a public meeting place for art and culture.

Is M. Flemish Government, VKC, KMSKA, FARO, CAHF, Heritage in Sight.