Introduction:
Quattuor Amicis
The multi-media exhibition Quattuor Amicis (“Four friends”) is the outcome of a semester-long collaboration for the Open Digital Libraries project (www.open-digital-libraries.eu) between the 2nd year Interactive/Media/Design students from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, national library of the Netherlands (KB). The students researched the library’s comprehensive catalogue of alba amicorum to explore new ways into making these resources accessible to a wider audience.
The KB has a large (circa 670) collection of ‘alba amicorum’ or ‘friendship books’. In the 16th and 17th century it was custom for students to travel through Europe on academic trips to cement an international network. They would bring their alba amicorum with them and invite people of importance to add to their collection. At home these friendship books were often displayed for guests, to show the importance of the host’s network and social standing. In a sense, the alba amicorum were the ‘Social Media’ of their times.
For this exhibition the students have investigat- ed various aspects of the historic alba amicorum and their interconnectivity to our present society. By balancing the digital and the physical forms
of expression, the works “„Novi Nexus”, „“Traces”, “„Vester Album Experientia” and “„ Nothing without Virtue” delve into diverse stories of the alba col- lection through a critical lens. These four projects hope to create an incentive on how library collections, in this case the collection of alba amicorum, can function as a source of inspiration for new cultural creativity.
of expression, the works “„Novi Nexus”, „“Traces”, “„Vester Album Experientia” and “„ Nothing without Virtue” delve into diverse stories of the alba col- lection through a critical lens. These four projects hope to create an incentive on how library collections, in this case the collection of alba amicorum, can function as a source of inspiration for new cultural creativity.
Vester Album Experientia.
We invite you into the world of Juliana Roussel’s album amicorum. Towards the late sixteenth century it became popular among young noblewomen to preserve a book in which they collected poems and songs, drawings,
and writings of friends. Through this, they made connections and found like-minded people to capture memories and to construct their identities. Juliana Roussel was one of them.You will be taken on a journey to peek into her collection of contributions through an interactive sensorial exhibition.
and writings of friends. Through this, they made connections and found like-minded people to capture memories and to construct their identities. Juliana Roussel was one of them.You will be taken on a journey to peek into her collection of contributions through an interactive sensorial exhibition.
A project by Anouschka Vreeswijk, Nine de Wit, Lakshmi Vidyasagar & Sorin Angeleanu
