Lint van crèmekleurig gaas van 15 meter c. 1900 - 1915

This fifteen-meter length of cream-colored gauze ribbon was made by Gustav Schnitzler. Without a date, its hard to tell when this functional object was produced, or how it came to be in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Its inclusion here prompts questions about what we consider worthy of display in a national museum. Ribbon is an element of fashion, but it is also an everyday material, and it could have been used for any number of practical or decorative purposes. So what happens when such an object enters the museum? Does this elevate a piece of utilitarian fabric to the realm of art? Or does it democratize the museum by reminding us that beauty and interest can be found in the most ordinary things? To understand the role of objects like these in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, we might consult museum archives and curatorial records, seeking to understand how historical and cultural values influence the choices made about what to preserve and display. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.