A Peep behind the Scenes

The Markiezenhof Municipal Museum in Bergen op Zoom (NL) in close collaboration with EFECOT and Museo Nazionale della Giostra e dello Spettacolo Popolare, Bergantino (IT), Schaustellermuseum, Essen (DE) and the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (UK) have the green light for a 1 year project in the Culture 2000 programme.

The project starts at September 2002, and is called “A peep behind the scenes: a virtual exhibition on travelling fairs and showmen in Europe, from the middle ages till now”. The aim is to create a virtual exposition which pays attention in an attractive way to the centuries-old history of the travelling funfair. Attention is given to cultural importance: the fair as the cradle of the cinema, the disco, the circus, the popular theatre, the gaming-hall, the zoo, and so forth. These are all modern cultural provisions that originate from the funfair. Also attention is paid to the community behind the fair: the fairground proprietors, who together with the circus-artists and masters of river-craft, are the last travelling merchants nowadays. The often centuries-old traditions, living-forms and ways of education are illustrated.