GRID Grafisch Museum Groningen

Museum of printing and graphic heritage in Groningen, currently without a building of its own and showing exhibitions only at changing locations.

Temporarily closed

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Temporarily closed. The museum has been closed to visitors since 19 December 2022, the collection is in storage, and a new museum building is being planned. Until then there are exhibitions at other locations in Groningen; visiting them depends on the respective host.

About the museum

The museum grew out of an association committed to preserving dying printing presses and the associated craft. In 1983 interested parties converted it into a foundation intended to establish a graphic museum. The city of Groningen provided an old school building on the Rabenhauptstraat; at the beginning of 1991 the museum was officially opened. Later a Werkman studio was added, where the printing techniques of the Groningen artist Hendrik Werkman were shown.

In 2012 the museum renamed itself and planned a renewed concept around letter and image. A few years later it moved to the city centre next to the Martinikerk and now operated as GRID Grafisch Museum Groningen. On 19 December 2022 this building on Sint Jansstraat closed to the public.

Since then the collection has been in storage. It includes printing machines and presses, graphic tools, works on paper and curiosities, as well as almost complete workshop installations such as those of the Stoomdrukkerij Mulder from Oude Pekela, the block-making factory De Poel and parts of Hendrik Werkman's workshop. The museum is working on a new building and in the meantime shows exhibitions at external venues, is present at cultural events and visits schools with the programme "De Druktemaker". Since 2022 the printing tradition has been listed in the Dutch inventory of intangible cultural heritage.