Luigi Micheletti Award

The judges said: “The National Archives of The Netherlands is, of course, first and foremost an archival organisation and as such primarily preserves written documentation from Dutch society. But it has also realised something which may sound obvious. The collections are not only documentation for researchers in the reading room but are also material heritage in the same way that museum objects are. Exactly as in a museum that means that the archival collections can be used for exhibitions and educational purposes where the institution wants to tell a story and make a point. This is very natural for a museum to do, but the National Archives demonstrates that even an archival institution can do that when the will is there and the mind is set. The exhibitions and educational programmes are of a standard as high as any museum and the National Archives of The Netherlands sets a very good example for other archival institutions. It is first of all a question of will and courage.”