Planken met hoeden waaraan een pamflet 1876 - 1910

Curator: This etching by Willem Geets, likely created between 1876 and 1910, is titled "Planken met hoeden waaraan een pamflet"—or "Shelves with hats to which a pamphlet." Editor: Hmm, the immediate impression is wonderfully chaotic! It's a crammed display, overflowing with... hats? And then this enormous scroll smack-bang in the front. Curator: Indeed! What we're seeing, in essence, is an advertisement for the "Old Hat Society" in Mechelen, advertising an exhibition concerning hats and headgear associated with the flooding of 1876. Note, also, that the society even gave out a diploma, according to the handbill. Editor: The 1876 flooding! Wow, so this is more than just old hats; these are hats with stories. You almost feel you can imagine their wearers, dealing with catastrophe. But I'm also tickled by this almost defiant use of an etching, something historically formal, for a local exhibition ad! It gives me Wes Anderson vibes. Curator: I agree. And to analyze this through a critical lens, consider who is advertising here and who is the target of this promotion? Perhaps the pamphlet speaks to civic pride following disaster or functions as social commentary on those elevated to the realms of celebrity, with their attire and diplomas displayed so prominently! It definitely promotes the exhibition's message. Editor: That's an intriguing read, the "celebrity" angle... like relics from a specific local experience elevated for collective memory. It’s both intimate and bizarre, I'm completely drawn in. And I'm now picturing tiny spotlights shining on each hat! Curator: Thinking about how these are etched gives them such a fascinating historical record of events – it transforms individual objects into more public items. Editor: So true! Each hat becomes a silent witness. For me, it’s really kind of touching... Curator: Well, it definitely reminds me to examine history, even one represented by old hats, and their ability to unite during a time of adversity. Editor: For me, it just evokes that feeling of peering into a curious, maybe slightly eccentric, neighbor's attic. Wonderfully specific, yet universally resonant!