Museum Catharijneconvent launches phone line for miracle exhibition

The Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, Netherlands, has launched a telephone hotline for its exhibition 'Allemaal wonderen' (Miracles All Around Us), which opened on February 28, 2020, but is currently suspended due to COVID-19 lockdown. The exhibition explores miracles as seen by artists, from Rembrandt to Marina Abramović, and is organized into three sections: birth, life, and death. Callers can choose from four options: hear a miracle story from a staff member who survived the 2004 tsunami, learn about the exhibition, leave their own miracle story on the website, or connect with a Dutch television station. The exhibition catalogue, written by thirteen authors including Susan Smith, asks 'Where does our desire for a miracle come from?' Rosa van der Wielen of the museum stated that the COVID-19 crisis has given the exhibition new meaning, as 'everyone needs a miracle right now.' The museum is one of the largest sacred art museums in Northern Europe, holding works such as the Lebuinus chalice, the Gospels of Lebuinus, Ansfrid, and Bishop Bernold, the imperial robe of Frederick Barbarossa, and Romanesque and Gothic sculptures.