A collection of old postcards, that’s where it started. The new exhibition ‘I see, I see, what you don’t see’ opens today at the Stedelijk Museum in Coevorden. It revolves around the development of photography in the city, from the nineteenth century to the present day.
A year ago, the museum received a special gift: shoeboxes full of postcards with photos of all corners of the city of Coevorden. Five hundred in total, in black and white and in brown-grey sepia. So old pictures. Some backs still have the stamp, with address details and a handwritten message.
“It is a very special gift,” says director Rik Klaucke. “The cards were collected by someone who did not come from here, but married his wife here in 1966. He lived in Zutphen, but because of his interest in Coevorden, he collected postcards with this city on it.” The collector passed away last year and his wish was for the collection to end up in the museum.
The postcards show Coevorden from the beginning of the last century to the present day. The city has changed enormously in over a hundred years and that is clearly visible. The collection forms the basis for the exhibition.
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