For Living Archive. Meanwhile…behind the scenes an object, letter, photograph or other small memento was chosen from each year of the museum’s existence. Each archive item – seen as a ‘keywork’ for that particular year – is presented within the broader context of museum developments and events in the world. The 70 objects thus illustrate the historical development of this celebrated museum and the contemporary art it has shown and collected from 1936 to 2006.

Living Archive is the title of a series of on-going documentary exhibitions based initially on the Van Abbemuseum archive. The series can be seen in constantly changing forms at various locations in the Nieuwbouw. The living archive contains the ‘future of the past‘ and is vitally important for the museum’s identity and self-consciousness.