The people who are being shown round the museum this week have, as group characteristic, that they have suffered burns. Bregje takes this marked group to the print room, where works on paper are kept – the most vulnerable in the collection – and she tells them about a number of masterpieces that were, like them, rescued from the flames. Is there such a thing as ‘humour’ at the moment of death?

Arie and Mandy are also caught up in smoke and fire. There is, it seems, an acrid smell of burning in the museum, apparently coming from the hole of Cattelan. Arie thinks it necessary to go down, but fortunately he does not need his fire extinguisher. The artist Jan Koen Lomans who is standing at a laser machine, is, in fact, extremely carefully when making one of his melted paintings.

In the meantime, Mandy leads the fireman who has responded to the fire alarm along hoses and extinguishers to an exhibition in preparation: ‘You can argue about taste’. Next week, the self-portrait that she made with the copier in the library will be hanging proudly there on the wall. And she tries to persuade the fireman to vote for her, because then she may win the competition associated with the exhibition!

This special episode of Boijmans TV was made in collaboration with the Dutch Burns Foundation, with financial support from the Nuts Ohra Fund.

Credits

Boijmans TV is a collaborative project of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, RTV Rijnmond and Ro Theater, developed with support from the VSBfonds and the Mediafonds. The series is produced by the Rotterdam production office Popov Film.

Contributors:

Sander Burger (final editing)
Kuba Szutkowski (producer)
Dragan Bakema (creative producer)
Edgar Kapp (production manager)
Jetse Batelaan (director of tours)
Wilfried de Jong (concept and interviews)
Els Hoek (research and editing)
And many others.