Court of Busleyden through the eyes and stories of young people

Under the motto "Young people write for young people," the Museum Hof van Busleyden in Mechelen is launching a new audio tour at ErfgoedApp: third grade secondary school students take you along some of the works in the museum. They chose the works themselves and wrote two original stories about them. These tell the true story behind a work. Or is it a believable lie?

Why Ear Dilemmas?

Although Museum Hof van Busleyden had been able to offer an educational package to elementary school for some time, it was still looking for a package for secondary schools. Oordilemmas was therefore initially aimed primarily at school groups. The response was so positive that the museum decided to make Oordilemmas also available to the general public as an audio tour. With this new ErfgoedApp tour, by the way, the museum is not at its experimental stage: it has already created a much-appreciated museum podcast series together with some quirky narrators.

Make Days

In the fall of 2019, four Mechelen third grade secondary school classes from Ursulinen Mechelen and Busleyden Atheneum Campus Caputsteen went to work in the museum under the guidance of De Veerman. The call for the project was launched through the education cell of the city of Mechelen. A number of very different fields of study were then chosen from the responses.

During several "making days," they worked more and more specifically toward the final result. On the first day, the students explored the museum collection in groups. After that first exploration, the students, divided into groups of four, chose an object in the museum. Additional background information was provided to them by the museum guides. With this baggage in their pockets, it was time to give free rein to their creativity. The assignment? Devise a story that tells the true context, but also include a believable lie.

In the next step, twelve young people were selected from the group who wanted to participate intensively in the further process. They received voice coaching and voiced the stories themselves.

Young people writing for young people

The project was pulled by the students, by the museum staff and by De Veerman. Only the audio clips were recorded by an external partner and the graphic work was also done externally.

The finished audio tour ultimately tells the stories of sixteen objects. Want a sneak peek? Then listen to this excerpt about the mysterious Coconut Cup. Do you pick out the true story?