Hoorn museum nets EU Cultural Heritage prize

The Westfries Museum in Hoorn has won the Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award 2014, the museum announced on their website. The Westfries Museum received the distinction in the category of Education, Training and Awareness. The prize was handed out for the project De Zaak-Coen, which was set up after a heated discussion arose around the statue of Jan Peterszoon Coen (1587-1629) in the center of Hoorn. Coen was a controversial man of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The museum tried to facilitate debate and discourse around Coen, utilizing an exposition in the form of a court hearing with the public making up the jury. They also published a magazine and created a website. The jury for the prize were impressed by the museum's quick reaction to the heated debate. The Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award is a prize given by the European Union every year to around thirty cultural institutions. Only six of those, however, stand a chance to win the Grand Prix, which includes a prize of €10,000. The Westfries Museum is also in the running for the Grand Prix, which will be announced on the 5th of May.