Since 2007 the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN) has auctioned-off pieces which no longer fit in collections of museums and other institutional collections.

The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN) is a knowledge institute for management and preservation of moveable cultural heritage. Their main tasks are: consulting on management and preservation of collections, performing research, managing the ICN collection and disseminating and sharing knowledge.

Before the items are auctioned, ICN tries to relocate the pieces. Museums and institutes can brows through the items ‘on offer’ centrally located on  Herplaatsingsdatabase.nl, an online database managed by ICN.

If and when no new owner can be found amongst the guardians of our national treasures, the works of art are offered to the public through eBay. See >> Museumveiling  ICN clearly aims at relocating the pieces amongst the Dutch public only, as the descriptions are in the Dutch language.

Up to now the items which have been offered are primarily contemporary works of art, design furniture and instruments. The coming weeks it is expected that earlier forms of fine and decorative art will be auctioned.

Participating museums and instates, up to now, are :

• Instituut Collectie Nederland, Amsterdam / Rijswijk
• Industrion, Kerkrade
• Museum voor Communicatie, The Hague
• ING Art Management, Amsterdam
• Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden

In most cases the proceeds are reserved for new aquasitions. In the case of ICN, the proceeds are donated to the foundation ‘Materiaalfonds voor Beeldende Kunst en Vormgeving’. This foundation provides interest free loans to artists, [fashion] designers and  architects. ING Art Management donates the proceeds to Unicef.