Website: Groeninge Museum

Website Survey of Groeninge Museum in Brügge, Belgium

Website survey: Groeninge Museum

When visiting Groeninge Museum's website we are immediately informed of the Art museum set-up in the historical town of Brügge in Belgium. Three fine art museums collaborate on the web, offer combination tickets and coordinate their exhibitions

User-friendliness
Groeninge is the largest of the three and can boast Belgian artwork spanning from Flemish primitives over Belgian Renaissance and Baroque masters to Post-1945 works. Arents House is located in a 19th century mansions with the 1st floor reserved for the Brügges-British artist Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956) and the ground floor has changing exhibitions. The third museum is Forum+ physically linked to the Groeninge Museum with changing exhibitions featuring contemporary art. The three-in-one concept, entrance charges, contact address and opening hours are listed up-front.

One has the feeling that someone behind the scene is leading us by the hand. Everything seems safe and sound. No need to worry, and you get what you see.

Navigation
Navigation is fairly simple as the site is small and it's easy to form a general view of Brügge and the art scene. On the other hand three menu bars (top, bottom, and left) is not ideal. The left menu contains external links, the upper one is for the chosen topic, here "Fine Arts" and at the bottom there is a "contact us" link.

Every page has this contact link that sends signals that here is a museum with an open approach that would like to welcome and assist its visitors. A drawback is that you have to fill out a form to contact the museum, including name, address, topic, etc. Most of us prefer an e-mail address. Our contact information is often included automatically on our mails.

There is no print function, but a search engine. Being in Belgium, the website is in French, Dutch, English and German.

Content
Besides the basic overview and information described above there is a superb overview of the museum complete with a short description of each room and thumbnail photo. I would like to have seen the rooms in a bigger size than the shown 135 x 89 pixels. The idea with an overview is great - this is a sizeable museum with good Belgian pieces whatever époque you are interested in, but at the same time you won't get lost.

Besides the regular exhibitions there are activities for children and youth - a couple of examples would have enhanced this information. The museum also has access to a high-tech multimedia room that can be rented by schools, companies and others.

On the first page there is a link to a "Flemish Art Collection" that opens in a new window. Three historical art museums in Brügge, Gent and Antwerpen collaborate in different ways. It would have been nice to know what one was linking to, which takes a little bit of reading to find out.

For those particularly interested in Belgian art, it would have been nice if the museum had elaborated on this obvious topic. Some visitors like to arrive well prepared, so why not have the information from the museum rather than Wikipedia, Britannica encyclopaedia or other sources?

Updating
This is an easy site to update - and as far as I can tell, everything looks up-to-date

Aesthetics
The website certainly isn't a trendsetter, but rather an unostentatious website that delivers what is needed. Potential visitors feel welcome, and I suppose that's what it's all about.

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Related Information
Groeninge Museum, Link