The Art Reaf in the Drents Museum has a huge impact on museum director Harry Tupan: “It’s not going well, I am sad about what happened. What is this excessive violence?”
In the night from Friday to Saturday, Tupan woke up while he was in Brussels. “At that time, the fire brigade, the police and a number of colleagues were already present. I was already told that the golden helmet was part of the loot of the thieves.”
“I have never had such a long drive in my life. You reflect on how this could have happened, but in the end the conclusion is that nothing can cope with a bomb. That means that it is not just a very big problem for Assen , but also for the rest of the Netherlands and far beyond. “
According to Tupan, the use of explosives for a museum robbery is new. “The criminals use new methods to come in somewhere. Also have said professionals around us: you can’t do anything to a bomb. I have seen what it looked like after the explosion and that is why I am still very impressed with what is there happened. “
The museum director and his colleagues have been busy non-stop for days on the aftermath of the theft. He also makes a personal call to the perpetrators: “Please, for the people of Romania, give those golden things back. Put it somewhere, give us a bell. Put it somewhere in a plastic bag where we can find it. Be it. Be Wise, because it’s going to help you give it back to us. “
He has not yet received that bell. “But I can’t wait until I get one.” And then? What if that phone call will come and they want to negotiate? “Then it will also be transferred to the Public Prosecution Service and the police. We are a museum and do not have the competence and authority to do something with it.”
The Drents Museum has borrowed many special items from abroad in the past, such as the Terracotta army, the Dead Sea Roles, the painting Black square from Kazimir Malevich and the Hemel disk of Nebra. Is this still possible in the future after what happened last weekend? “I don’t know,” Tupan admits. “This is what we as a sector have to talk about in the near future.”
For his colleague Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, director of the National Historical Museum in Romania, the consequences of the robbery are great. He was fired on Tuesday by the Romanian culture minister, who criticized his way of communicating. Tupan has had a lot of contact with Oberländer-Târnoveanu lately, especially after the events of last weekend. “I think this is terrible, it’s a personal drama. I have had a lot of contact with him in the last few days to inform him what happened here.”
The resignation of the Romanian museum director shows once again how the art robbery in that country is coming. “This is terrible for the Romanian population and for our colleagues in the museum in Bucharest who have entrusted us with their things. This makes my head every minute of the day.”
The figures of the exhibition Dacia – Rich of gold and silver have now also been announced. There were 87,000 visitors, while 75,000 were expected. But Tupan is not happy. “I would have preferred zero visitors and the things back.”