The museum as a meeting place...

Another way to approach the artworks is by interacting with the museum staff: the hosts, hostesses and the cicerone (who answers visitors’ questions). They are not only there to give practical information, but are happy to point out ambiguities and alternative ways ofapproaching art and the museum – attempting to connect these with the visitor’s own personal interests and associations. This often hold the key to unexpected and revealing points of view.

'A museum and works of art communicate ideas, but it is the visitors who give them meaning,' says Charles Esche, director of the museum.

Or as one visitor put it, ‘For me, a visit to the museum is a relaxing day out. I was worried, at first, that it would be too demanding for me, but it’s not the tags are inspiring and the tour of the museum with the cicerone offered all kinds of new insights.'