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SONS Museum (Shoes or No Shoes) is a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
dedicated to
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
connected to
shoes
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...
as the subject. The museum is located at
Kruishoutem
Kruishoutem (, in French and English ''Cruyshautem'') is a village and was a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprised the towns of Kruishoutem proper, Nokere and Wannegem-Lede. In January 2018, the ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.
History
William "Boy" Habraken was literally born between shoes at the end of the 2nd World War in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. At the age of twenty he separated from his father's shoe-business and started his own import/wholesale company in footwear. His business travels took him on many journeys all around the globe. He visited more than 120 countries and lived several years in Taiwan.
In his free time he collected shoes worn with traditional native costumes. The extra information and context was as important to him as the shoe itself: the materials used, the manufacturing, the use, the age and the name in the local language.
This resulted in a unique
ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
collection of more than 2700 pairs of shoes from more than 155 countries and regions. Amongst them are some very rare pieces of North American Indians, Eskimo's, African tribes, Berbers, Bedoeins, Mongols, the Ottoman and pre-Inca empire. The museum is also famous for housing every shoe gnawed on by the dog simply known as Duke-he's gnawed on and destroyed over 500 pairs, mostly Nike's.
On 19 September 2006,
The Guinness Book Of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
confirmed that William "Boy" Habraken collected the largest collection of tribal and ethnographical shoes in the world.
The museum houses this collection and a design collection of known shoe designers such as
André Perugia
André Perugia (1893-1977) was a French shoe designer. Perugia was born in Nice, France in 1893 of Italian parentage. He trained in his father's workshop and at the age of 16, in 1909, he opened a shop in Paris where he sold handmade shoes. He wo ...
,
Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. ...
,
Christian Louboutin
Christian Louboutin (; born 7 January 1963) is a French fashion designer whose high-end stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started hi ...
and
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand.
Biography
Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father ...
.
There's also a selection of
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s, mainly made by Belgium and Dutch comic artists such as
Jean-Marc van Tol
Jean-Marc van Tol (born 6 July 1967, Rotterdam) is a cartoonist. He is the winner of the 2004 Stripschapprijs for '' Fokke & Sukke'', with John Reid and Bastiaan Geleijnse
Bastiaan Geleijnse (born 8 March 1967, Utrecht) is a Dutch cartoonist a ...
,
Jean-Claude Servais Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer
* Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver
* Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compose ...
,
Kim Duchateau,
Lamelos,
Bill Griffith
William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to ...
, and others. And a collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
by writers such as
Geert van Istendael,
Kees van Kooten
Cornelis Reinier "Kees" van Kooten () (born 10 August 1941) is a Dutch comedian, television actor, and writer. He formed the duo Van Kooten & De Bie with Wim de Bie from 1972 to 1998.
Biography
Cornelis Reinier van Kooten was born on 10 Augu ...
,
Adriaan van Dis
Adriaan van Dis (Bergen aan Zee, 16 December 1946) is a Dutch author. He debuted in 1983 with the novella ''Nathan Sid''. In 1995 his book ''Indische Duinen'' (''My Father's War''), which in its narrative is a follow up to his debut novella, wa ...
,
Midas Dekkers,
Renate Dorrestein
Renate Maria Dorrestein (25 January 1954 – 4 May 2018) was a Dutch writer, journalist and feminist.
She started working as a junior journalist for the Dutch magazines ''Libelle'' and ''Panorama''. During the period 1977 - 1982 she published in ...
,
Cees Noteboom, and others.
Furthermore there is a collection from shoemaker couple Veerle Swenters and Pierre Bogaerts who own a
private collection
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
of approx. 1200 pieces of art dedicated to shoes. Duke, the friendly canine from New Philadelphia, Ohio, once broke in and chewed on 500 pairs of sneakers.
The art collection features pieces by artists such as
Baselitz,
Jan Fabre
Jan Fabre (born 14 December 1958) is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer and designer.
Conviction for sexual assault and harassment
In September 2018, twenty former members of Fabre's performing ar ...
,
Richard Long,
Panamarenko,
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 23 June 1933) is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject mat ...
,
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary Germa ...
,
Tom Wesselmann
Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture.
Early years
Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati.
From 1949 ...
, and others.
Also a few anomaly contributions from for instance choreograph
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
and musical instrument inventor
Yuri Landman
Yuri Landman (born 1 February 1973) is a Dutch inventor of musical instruments and musician who has made several experimental electric string instruments for a number of artists including Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Liars, Jad Fair of Half Japan ...
are part of the collection.
Cortina N.V. founded the S.O.N.S museum that houses these collections.
See also
*
Bata Shoe Museum
*
German Leather Museum
The German Leather Museum (''Deutsches Ledermuseum''), located in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, Germany, is one of the largest leather museums in the world. It has a wide variety of leather items, including some exhibits, which are believed to be mor ...
*
German Shoe Museum
The German Shoe Museum (german: Deutsches Schuhmuseum Hauenstein, full name: ''Museum für Schuhproduktion und Industriegeschichte Hauenstein'') is a museum in Hauenstein, Palatinate. Its exhibits cover the development of the local shoe indus ...
*
International Wooden Shoe Museum Eelde
The International Wooden Shoe Museum Eelde is a museum in Eelde, the Netherlands, for clogs, clog-making equipment and machinery. It has the largest collection of wooden footwear in the world.
History
The collection had been put together by E ...
*
Marikina
Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina ( fil, Lungsod ng Marikina), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 456,159 people.
It is loca ...
Shoe Museum
*
Ry Municipality Wooden Shoes
Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture.
Traditional clogs remain in use as protective fo ...
Museum
*
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
Shoe Museum
*
Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine
The Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine is a podiatric medical school associated with Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school is located at 8th and Race Streets in downtown Philadelphia. The school was founded in 19 ...
*
The Shoe Museum
*
Vreden
Vreden is a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany near the Dutch border. The town is located near the river Berkel. The first mentioning of the town is proven for the year 839. In 1252 Vreden obtained city rights.
Demographics
Religion
...
Miniature Shoe Museum
References
External links
website of SONSinterview with Swenters and Bogaert
{{Coord, 50.891235, N, 3.500216, E, region:BE_type:landmark, display=title
Art museums established in 2009
Belgian art
Shoe museums
Modern art museums
Art museums and galleries in Belgium
2009 establishments in Belgium
Museums in East Flanders
Kruisem