News and articles about the Boekentoren
This documentary tells the story of the archive (1960-1990) of the laboratory of human movement decomposition. In 2024, the Boekentoren collection was enriched with some 900 16mm films and the accompanying theses from the Institute of Physical Education of Ghent University. The archive offers a unique insight into the scientific study of sport in Ghent.
Heritage Day took place at 2025 on Sunday 27 April. This year the theme was sports and games. We made a selection from our various heritage collections documenting Ghent's diverse sports history. You can find a reference of the presented collection here.
On Loan - This exhibition aims to highlight the traditions and festivals that united Belgium and northern France in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Loan - The Huygens Museum in Voorburg, together with Ghent University, presents a new exhibition on the history of Dutch court poetry.
The most famous masterpiece in the collection is the Liber Floridus.
On 27 April, the Boekentoren partakes in Heritage Day and is inviting you to a day of activities around the Higher Institute of Physical Education's special collection and the Book Tower's heritage collection.
Every year, the Boekentoren gives many objects on loan to museums in Belgium and far beyond. This brings works that are otherwise kept in the depot to the attention of the public. You can find an overview of our long-term loans here.
Seven manuscripts of the Boekentoren have recently been recognized as Flemish masterpieces. These precious, illuminated manuscripts are invaluable to the Flemish cultural heritage. With this new recognition, the Book Tower now has a total of 59 recognized masterpieces.
On loan - This exhibition explores the role Ghent Freemasons played in the development of art and culture at the end of the 19th century. We loaned two catalogi surrounding the artist group “Les XX'.
Bruikleen - Eeuwenlang vormden gigantische poorten de toegang tot de stad. Nu zijn ze verdwenen en vind je op die plaatsen dynamische en kleurrijke stadswijken. Deze tentoonstelling in het STAM laat je zien wat er de voorbije twee eeuwen gebeurde.
On loan - The exhibition is dedicated to the visionaries, producers and retailers in art between 1880 and 1930, of which Henry van de Velde was one of that group’s major representatives. Some pieces of furniture designed for the Boekentoren are on display.
World Digital Preservation Day serves to highlight the importance of digital preservation. As a university library, we are strongly committed to digital preservation.
On loan - MONOS takes a closer look at the architecture of the monographic museum through some extraordinary museum buildings and histories from home and abroad. Some journals from the Book Tower Collection are also part of the exhibition.
Due to the renovation of the Aula, there is a need to house a collection of busts, which now find a temporary home in the Boekentoren.
Het Facilitair Bedrijf (Digitaal Archief Vlaanderen), meemoo, Vlaams instituut voor het archief and VRT, together with UGent, will be organizing iPRES, the major international conference on digital preservation in 2024.
On loan - Jan Vercruysse was an important figure in the Belgian and international art scene in the 1980s and 1990s. As trustees of the Jan Vercruysse Archive, we are of course happy to participate in this exhibition and lend some archive pieces.
Long Time No See: Raoul De Keyser 1946-1964-1980 is an exhibition brings together twenty early paintings by De Keyser including parts of his archival material from the Booktower collection.
On loan - The exhibition ‘Judith, a Carolingian princess in Ghent?’ takes you to St Peter's Abbey and the story of Judith and the Counts of Flanders. The exhibition also showcases some loans from the Book Tower.
On Sunday 21 April, it was time for Heritage Day, this time dedicated to 'Home'. But what makes a place a (real) home?
O1 December 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Virginie Loveling (1936-1923), one of Flanders' greatest writers, at the age of 87. The perfect moment to showcase one of our masterpieces: her war diary.
Virginie Loveling was 78 when World War I broke out. From day one, she kept a diary as a curious, opinionated witness. After her death, the manuscript, along with other ego documents, was deposited in the Ghent University Library. The war diary was recognised as a Flemish Masterpiece and is one of the 52 masterpieces in our heritage collection.
Virginie Loveling's 1914-1918 war diary was digitised in 2023. The complex composition of the manuscript consisting of different types of leaves, bookmarks, wrappers, newspaper articles, fold-out pieces of text... eventually led to 4,000 images that can now be studied and used for inspiration.
Donation of 22 letters from Henry van de Velde to Leon Deprez
Tom Waes, together with historians, archeologists and other experts takes us back to our past in the documentary 'Het verhaal van Vlaanderen'. Episode three focuses on the dark Middle Ages and brings one of the masterpieces of our collection into the spotlight.
With the launch of mmmonk.be, a digital platform, we provide access to 820 Medieval manuscripts from the abbey of Sint-Baafs, Sint-Pieters (Ghent), Ten Duinen (Koksijde) and Ter Doest (Lissewege).
The Boekentoren chose to participate in an unique project: the digitization of more than 170.000 glass plates, safeguarded at different heritage organisations in Flanders.
A behind the scenes of the Boekentoren
The tower is being filled again.
Boekentoren shortlisted for Ghent Architecture Prize 2021
Torens van boeken