The Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) has published a list of 160 stolen instruments in a bid to uncover the misplaced artefacts.
The museum, located next to Place Royale, noticed the dent in its collection while going through its inventories. It is appealing to the public to come forward with any information on the instruments' whereabouts.
Any theft, however, did not occur recently. The 160 instruments in question disappeared over the course of one and a half centuries of conservation, either when the collection was scattered across buildings with little or no security, or through an ill-supervised lending system.
The MIM now favours the preservation of instruments as artefacts over any enjoyment of the music they produce.
"At the time, the idea was to hear the instruments and have them played," conservationist Pascale Vandervellen told RTBF. "Today, we want to conserve and pass on our heritage, and we no longer lend out instruments."
Some of the instruments the MIM has reported missing. Credit: MIM/KIK-IRPA
On its website, the MIM has published a detailed description of each stolen instrument and has asked anyone with information to come forward, "as trivial as it may seem".
The museum says police involvement might be necessary, but it hopes any issues can be resolved "amicably".
