PRESS RELEASE
WITH A NEW BUILDING AND NEW PERMANENT
EXHIBITION THE GALLO-ROMAN MUSEUM SETS
ITS SIGHTS ON BELGIUM AND THE EUREGION
The new Gallo-Roman Museum can now hold its head high alongside the best
archaeological museums in Europe. With the help of Europe and Flanders, the
Province of Limburg invested 19 million euros in its realization. That
investment was forthcoming because the existing infrastructure was no longer
able to cope with the great influx of visitors. Three years after the original
museum closed to the public, a new museum is opening on May 21st.
Executive of the Province of Limburg Gilbert Van Baelen: “The Gallo-Roman
Museum is located right in the heart of the historical city, just behind the Basilica of
Our Lady. In building a new museum, Limburg provincial authorities had more than
one objective in mind:
1.
Located in the oldest city in the country, the Gallo-Roman Museum once again has to
fulfil its role as Belgium's most important archaeological museum, with the difference
that it now has everything it takes to put it on a par with the largest and best
archaeological museums in Europe.
2.
The building project set out to do more than provide a museum, important as that is;
it was also an urban project designed to give the city a new dynamic. The new path
which runs right round the basilica and the adjoining museum square, has created a
new part of Tongeren. Moreover, the building is perfectly integrated into the historical
heart of the city. And it has swept an old eyesore off the map!
3.
The presence of a Gallo-Roman Museum in the oldest city in the country also gives a
real boost to the identity of the city and region as a whole. So in addition to the
investment it made in the building, the Province of Limburg has also provided
substantial resources to promote and run the museum. To this end the province is
working closely with the city council."
Van Baelen went on to explain that the new museum building was designed by the
architects De Gregorio & Partners. Together with Niek Kortekaas, De Gregorio was
also responsible for designing the permanent exhibition. The main building contractor
was TV Reynders – Antwerpse Bouwwerken.
Museum Director Carmen Willems: “The museum team was given the opportunity to
work with the architectural team to reinterpret the building. We thought long and hard
about the way we wanted visitors to feel in the museum and how we wanted them to
use the space. The priority was to make the museum a beautiful place to view
objects from the past. That is why we worked together so hard to come up with the
best possible way of dividing up and arranging the spaces and why we paid so much
attention to visitor flow and the atmosphere in the museum. It was an organic
process. When the architect eventually put the building plans in front of us, they all
made complete sense. We appreciate the fact that rather than present us with a
design for a building, the architect began by getting to grips with the content of the
museum. You can feel that in the building. ”
Coordinator Bart Distelmans: “The layout of the new museum is the result of a long
and intensive work process. We chose to tell the story about the lives of the people in
our region from prehistory to the early Middle Ages and to put the focus on the
relation between cause and effect. It is no accident that our motto is: “What follows is
always intrinsically linked to what went before.” These words spoken by the Roman
emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius were our inspiration when building the
exhibition. The story we present is illustrated with 2,200 authentic objects but also by
means of text, films, evocations, drawings and models. In this way we tried to meet
the needs and expectations of different types of visitor."
Executive of the Province of Limburg Gilbert Van Baelen: “In the new museum we will
also continue to work unabated on our dynamic educational activities for which we
are well known. A great deal of work is also being done on new temporary
exhibitions, which helped establish the reputation of the last museum. The first
exhibition will be 'Ambiorix, King of the Eburones' opening in December. But we want
to begin by enticing the public with our new building and our new permanent
exhibition. The museum team has worked extremely hard behind the scenes and
now we await the reactions of the public with bated breath. We are ready!
For further information: Gallo-Roman Museum: promotional unit:
tel. 012 670 355, e-mail grm@limburg.be, www. limburg.be.gallo