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22 February 2026 at 3:30 pm New York time (UTC-5)
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The renewal of the permanent lace display “Lace Unravelled” in the Taxandria Museum (Turnhout, BE) demanded vast research into the social history of local lacemakers in the early 20th century, a topic that was never thoroughly explored. Sofie Wilder studied the collections and archives from August 2023 until March 2024, also documenting oral histories through interviews with descendants of lacemakers and lace merchants. Inspired by the example of the Rotterdam Museum Boijmans, Sofie simultaneously led an ambitious registration project of the vast lace collection with the help of volunteers, many of whom are lacemakers themselves.
Taxandria Museum website: https://www.taxandriamuseum.be/nl
Sofie Wilder
Sofie Wilder
Sofie Wilder (Belgium) obtained a Master degree in conservation and restoration of easel paintings at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2000. In 2001, she obtained her postgraduate degree ‘Cultural Management’ at the University of Antwerp Management School.
She has been involved with the museums of Turnhout since 2008. Turnhout is a city located in the North of Belgium, very close to the Dutch border. The three museums Taxandria Museum, Museum of the Beguinage and National Playing Cards Museum have been integrated into the covenant structure ‘Musea Turnhout’. During the past 17 years Sofie has worked both as general director (2009-2022) and as a collection registrar.
On an international level, Sofie was an active voluntary member of the board (2010-2022) and president (2013-2016) of ICOM Belgium/Flanders and acted as a national correspondent for the European Museum of the Year Award (EMF) (2012-2022).
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