Ghent University Museum

關於

GUM & Botanical Garden, or the Ghent University Museum and its botanical garden, is a museum that uses academic heritage to illustrate how science works. Since its opening in 2020, the GUM has combined diverse scientific disciplines and shown how doubt and failure are part of the research process without emphasizing success stories. The GUM describes itself as a “Forum for Science, Doubt and Art” that also provides space for artistic research.

In 2022-2023, PHALLUS. Norm & Form was the first major exhibition, followed by Wunderkammer of TRUTH in 2024-2025 and BORDERS in 2026-2027. The exhibitions explore relevant themes that stimulate the imagination, and every two years GUM hosts DARK WEEKends, an Art & Science Festival. Prof. Marjan Doom is the artistic and general director of GUM & Botanical Garden. She previously wrote the manifesto Museum of Doubt for Academia Press, which served as the basis for the current vision of the GUM.

The scientific heritage collections of Ghent University comprise more than 400,000 objects from a wide range of disciplines. The Ghent University Museum (GUM) is responsible for the management and sustainable preservation of these collections. The Botanical Garden houses a wide variety of plant collections spread across the outdoor garden and various greenhouses. In the autumn of 2020, the GUM and the Botanical Garden joined forces to operate as a single entity.

GUM & Botanical Garden is located on the Ledeganck campus of Ghent University, within walking distance of the Citadel Park and the MSK and SMAK art museums. The façade of the building features a giant mural of several animal skeletons by artist ROA.

In 2022, GUM & Botanical Garden, together with graphic designer PJOTR, received the bronze medal of the Henry van de Velde Award for Graphics and the museum gained a special commendation at the European Museum of the Year Award. GUM & Botanical Garden also received the Ultima Culture Prize for Movable and Intangible Cultural Heritage 2023. The juries of the latter two awards praised the museum for encouraging its visitors to ask questions and think critically. MuST (the Museum Student Team) was also mentioned positively for its significant influence on the museum's operations, which attracts many young visitors.

內容改寫自 Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。照片來自 Wikimedia Commons.