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The Bokrijk Open-Air Museum is a place where the heritage of buildings, objects, and surviving practices from Flemish rural life have been conserved for 60 years. However it has since become more than a synonym for a 'preserved past'. Bokrijk is now a major recreation area with a museum, an arboretum and an extensive public event programme. In 2016, Bokrijk set out on a repositioning program. Focusing now on contemporary craftmanship, Bokrijk created the BKRK label together with the architect and designer Bart Lens. Its goal is to re-evaluate the craftmanship exhibited in Bokrijk and connect it to its present day practitioners.
The craft of breadmaking was brought to public attention in a museological presentation in the Kilbershoeve farm and its ancient bakery. A hundred objects, selected from the collection, were exhibited in a way previously never seen in Bokrijk. Inside the farmhouse, visitors can learn about the craft of breadmaking with access to various aspects according to their interest. A presentation in the farmhouse exhibits traditional baker's tools from the 19th and 20th century.
In the baking house items related to ‘home baking and eating bread’ are shown. The audio-visual art installation by Bob Takes reveals numerous traditions, rituals, and the significance of bread in the world. A short film shown in the farmhouse, comments on the significance of bread and its economic and social importance for communities. It explains how bread became an industrial food product, why we are still eating bread today and are likely to do so in the future.
To immerse the public in the art of breadmaking the contemporary craftsman Kobe Desramaults, opened an artisanal bakery studio 'De Superette' in the Kilbershoeve. They show that baking bread (in wood-fired ovens) was a common practice in the Flemish countryside. Bread is now baked in Bokrijk in an authentic way, using ingredients, flower, yeast, salt and water, that are all locally sourced. Long fermentation and high baking temperatures are characteristic of the baking process.
The new bakery with its monumental chimney was designed by BC architects & studies. Their trademark is building with local and sustainable materials. BC architects work closely with the builder and other contractors involved to create custom-built, healthy and beautiful buildings.