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Ladies and gentlemen!

The fact that I am standing before you here today to open this congress on collection mobility has two reasons. The first reason is of course that I am the President of the House of Representatives, in which capacity I have the honour of welcoming you here today. The second reason is that in November 1998 the then State Secretary for Culture, Mr Rick Van der Ploeg, held a speech in a museum in Enkhuizen, in which he appealed for a greater mobility, visibility and accessibility of our museum collections. I will leave it up to you to decide which reason is the overriding one.

At present we are in the Oude Zaal, the former assembly hall of the House of Representatives, which these days is often put to good use for congresses and the like. This used to be the Stadtholder's ballroom from 1790 to1795; then there followed a period of unrest when it served as a military hospital, among other things, after which it became the assembly hall of the House of Representatives from March 1814 to April 1992. Looking around, you will see two forms of artistic expression here: the chandeliers - or lighting units - overhead were designed by a Dutch artist. He also designed the carpet, consisting of 32 smaller carpets of two by four metres each, all of which have different colours ranging from pale to darker shades. They symbolise the colourful constellation of Dutch democracy and society, although for many of the MPs and others working in this House it is also a reminder of the typically Dutch bulb fields.

But I digress . The reason we are all gathered here today is a direct result of the State Secretary for Culture's 1998 appeal for collection mobility. Initially there was some controversy about his appeal, whereby museological presentations of collections - now still largely invisible - would be made in unusual places. In this way they would reach a larger and more varied audience, and would also include people who do not easily beat a path to a museum.

Since the early nineties the House of Representatives had been thinking of ways to embellish old and new parts of the building with art, and the idea of taking works of art from the collections held in storage by Dutch museums and exhibiting them in the hall of this building was already being considered at the time. The activities of the House of Representative's Art Committee led to an excellent relationship with the ICN (Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage). And then, out of the blue, the State Secretary came up with his collection mobility policy.

"The House of Representatives gives Dutch cultural heritage a home" then went from being just a proposition to becoming the pilot project for collection mobility. Public and semi-public parts of the House have been set up with permanent and changeable art presentations from Dutch museums, archives and other organizations. Art should be a part of the House of Representatives as a reflection of the culture of the people it represents, and should serve as an example for other public buildings.

The project has been running in the House of Representatives for four years now, and ever more parts of the building are being drawn into the project. I am an enthusiastic user of this project, and at present my reception and meeting room has been hung with paintings from the Museum of Noord Brabant . Every so often works from other museums are chosen and hung up. These art presentations - and not just the ones in my offices - embellish and cheer up the establishment considerably.

Collection mobility is not only being considered in the House of Representatives. In the Nieuwspoort international press centre, for example, there is an exhibition of internationally renowned artists which runs until tomorrow. I understand this exhibition was organized to illustrate collection mobility to the press - a smart move, because some 300 press journalists use this building.

This congress is about collection mobility. You will have heard these words about 8 times during my speech, and I can assure you, you will be hearing a lot more about it in the future. And that is why we are here!

Ladies and gentlemen! Allow me to give you a warm welcome to the "Museum Collections on the Move" congress. I hope this congress will contribute towards promoting contacts between museums, and form a basis for international cooperation in the future. And may this project find a large European following .