From the Birgittine crown to the creations of Stephen Jones and hats worn by politicians during 'Prinsjesdag': the exhibition 'Krona als hoofdzaak' shows veils, crowns, hats and their meaning. In an infectious and uncomplicated way, headgear depicts how times change, how a hat, cap, veil or cowl brought groups of people together or distanced them from each other. This exhibition responds to the name of the museum. Krona is the Swedish word for crown and refers to the special crowning of the veil of the sisters Birgittinessen who live in the abbey next to the museum.
From the Middle Ages to the present
The works presented mainly come from museums in the Netherlands and abroad, regional collections and Krona's own collection. For example, attention is paid to the exceptionally beautiful 'poffers' made of lace that were worn around 1900 on special occasions by women in Brabant (southern region in the Netherlands), to the extravagant hats in paintings by the Antwerp Mannerists around 1530, but also to the impressive and extremely simple and austere hoods of nuns and monks from France, captured by photographer Roland Fischer. The austerity of these monkshoods is in stark contrast to the hats worn on Prinsjesdag by Annemarie Jorritsma, Caroline van der Plas and others. The presentation of the headgear is supplemented with film fragments from the archive of the Eye Filmmuseum and elsewhere.
Krona als hoofdzaak is the first in a row of three festive jubilee exhibitions. In each exhibition during the jubilee period, attention is paid to Krona's link with the past, the importance of the present and the imagination of the future.