Father Damien (1840-1889) may have lived two centuries ago, yet his message and values of meaning, connection, respect and solidarity across borders remain burningly topical. He let himself be touched by the story of people on the fringes of society. Even today, numerous factors and circumstances (poverty, illness, loneliness, unemployment,...) exclude people from our society.
Diverse Damien heritage
The Damien Museum in Tremelo keeps the figure of Damien alive and inspires visitors young and old with his story full of values by means of the diverse Damien heritage, numerous objects which have a link with the figure of Damien, from his original letters to works of art, from his liturgical vestments to contemporary biographies.
Donations
Over the years, the Damien Museum in Tremelo has always depended on donations to build its collection. We try to preserve the objects and documents we have received, to make them accessible and, where possible, to show them to a wider public in order to continue telling the Damian story. We would like to give some more explanation on some of the interesting donations we received in recent years.
As a religious education teacher in the Belgian army, Peter Ausloos was strongly inspired by Don Bosco, Phil Bosmans and also Father Damien. After Peter's death, his brother donated books and works of art, including two beautiful altar cloths depicting Damien.
Following the move of the minor brother sculptor Rik Van Schil from Vaalbeek to Wilrijk, a new destination was sought for numerous sculptures and designs in his studio at the Pro Arte Christiana centre. On this occasion, his 1994 design for a Damien statue in St Rombout's Cathedral in Mechelen was donated to the Damien Museum.
Antoon Feyaerts, while searching for Damien books on the second-hand market, stumbled across a copy of Gavan Daws' Damien biography containing an autograph by Alex Wilequet. Both Gavan Daws' book and Wilequet's play helped define the image of Damien that an entire generation cherished in the 1980s. This book is a valuable witness showing how both ‘products’ were used together to reinforce each other.
The transferred archive and documentation material of Stan Wouters concerns the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Damian's death, the beatification and canonisation and the Greatest Belgian election. Because the focus of the material is on what happened on these occasions in Ninde and Tremelo, this transfer is an important addition to our collection.
Donate your Damien heritage
If you have Damien material of your own that you wonder whether it is worth keeping or if you would like to make a donation yourself, be sure to contact us via the contact form.
Through your donation, you will help keep the figure of Damien and his heritage alive. Thanks in advance!