In the new exhibition ‘Please Touch’, the Dutch Silver Museum challenges a centuries-old museum rule: ‘Do not touch’. Whereas museums today usually protect almost all their objects behind glass, Please Touch invites visitors in certain cases to touch the works.
Silver objects are delicate: fingerprints can cause lasting damage, and air pollution makes silver tarnish and turn black. Yet these objects were originally created to be used. Showpieces were passed from hand to hand at festive dinners, and religious objects were touched in the hope of healing. The usage left traces: tangible memories of human interaction.
Please Touch casts a critical light on the conserving character of museums and raises questions about the relationship between touch, experience, and meaning. Touch is a basic human need; from birth, babies learn to rely on their senses for nourishment and development. Feeling can unlock memories or transport the mind to different times.
The exhibition invites visitors to reflect—literally and figuratively—on what is lost when touch is absent. How heavy is a silver bowl? How does the surface of a centuries-old chalice feel? Alongside original objects from its own collection and from other museums, the Silver Museum presents specially made replicas and new artworks, such as those by silversmiths Maja Houtman and Thalen & Thalen. Some of these works are specifically intended to be touched, enhancing the value or experience of the object. There are also unique objects that, over time, have been transformed by the touch of people, water, fire, or earth.
Visitors are invited to consider the effect and significance of sensory contact in museums for personal experience.
The exhibition will be on view from 30 October, 2025, through 13 September 2026 at the Dutch Silver Museum in Schoonhoven.
For more information, activities, and ticket prices, visit www.zilvermuseum.com.