Amsab-Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis

About the museum

Amsab-ISG is the memory of social movements in Flanders and Belgium, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Its prehistory begins in 1937, when the socialist insurance company La Prévoyance Sociale in Brussels set up a National Institute for Social History; the German occupier closed it in 1940 and took the collections away. In the 1950s there was a Museum and Archive of the Ghent Socialist Movement in Ghent, and in 1964 a Ghent party archive was set up in the Feestlokaal Vooruit, working with volunteers.

In 1980 the institute was founded, which developed into an independent research centre. In 1991 Belgian archives that had been stolen during the Second World War were found in Moscow; they ended up with Amsab at the time. The institute grew from a party archive into an open house for the heritage of social movements and social engagement in all its forms.

The collection is some sixteen kilometres long and contains archives of trade unions, political parties, mutual insurance societies, NGOs and cultural organisations, more than 100,000 books and 17,000 journal titles, and a museum collection including some 850,000 photos, 35,000 posters and 20,000 art objects. The themes are labour, environment, migration, gender, human rights and global justice. The institute publishes the magazine Brood & Rozen and regularly shows exhibitions in a free public space.

Highlights

• Free public space with regularly changing exhibitions
• Collection on labour, environment, migration, gender and human rights
• Museum collection including some 850,000 photos and 35,000 posters
• Reading room with archives and library, by appointment
• The magazine Brood & Rozen on social history

Founded

1980

Operated by

Amsab-ISG

Director

Paule Verbruggen

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

The exhibitions in the public space can be viewed free of charge. Amsab-ISG is a UiTPAS partner in the Ghent region.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The reception and the public space with the free exhibition are on the ground floor and can be reached without steps. The reading room on the first floor can be reached by lift. The public toilets on the ground floor are suitable for wheelchair users. A sign language interpreter can be arranged on simple request.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

By car, follow the city ring road R40. The historic centre of Ghent is a low-emission zone; check in advance whether your car is allowed in.

Amenities & dining

Publications and products are on sale in the webshop.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit