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Artefact story

Merry-Go-Round: the cloakroom becomes an entrance event

Leaving a coat is usually a small pause before entering a museum. Merry-Go-Round made that pause part of the visit’s design: storage rose into the air and the entrance acquired a changing overhead presence.

Written and reviewed by PatinaHall2 minutes readPublished 25 October 2026

Coat clusters hang from red-and-white patterned ropes above an open floor, with metal-mesh lockers nearby.
PatinaHall editorial reconstruction. It is not a documentary photograph. An imagined entrance setting explains overhead storage and collective display. It does not reproduce Boijmans architecture, the artefact’s exact mechanism, present visitor use or a load assessment.
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Key facts & takeaways

At a glance

Subject
Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack, Boijmans V2669a-o(KN&V)
Entry
Artefact story
Last reviewed
25 October 2026
Object dated
2008documented

Three things to remember

  1. Boijmans records the commission and creation in 2008.
  2. The designers are Wieki Somers and Dylan van den Berg.
  3. The exact artefact is V2669a-o(KN&V), currently listed in storage.

Start with the small ritual

A cloakroom has a clear task: receive what visitors do not want to carry. Merry-Go-Round took that practical moment seriously enough to make it memorable. The suspended coats became part of the room’s visible life rather than disappearing behind a counter.

Boijmans records the commissioned work in 2008 and credits Wieki Somers and Dylan van den Berg through Studio Wieki Somers.1 It is one particular museum artefact, accessionV2669a-o(KN&V), with a site and a history.

Move storage into the air

The studio describes an inspiration in mineworkers’ hanging storage, developed through ropes, pulleys, weights and lockers.2 Moving coats upwards freed the floor while giving the entrance an overhead field that changed as belongings arrived and left.

That is the furniture idea worth noticing. An activity normally treated as a service at the edge of a room can help organise the room itself. The stored objects become a collective presence without losing their everyday identity as coats.

Three coat-like shapes hang from a line above an open floor; an arrow points upwards.
Original PatinaHall schematic, not to scale. Moving storage above the floor changes the room’s visible organisation. This is not the accession’s layout, a pulley plan or a load assessment.

Let the record keep its own time

The museum records 2008, while the studio archive page carries 2009.12 Those entries need not be forced into one date. The date on the archive page does not by itself establish another creation date or explain the difference.

Boijmans now lists the work in storage.1 Its original operation remains an engaging design story: arrival, storage and display were brought into one encounter. The cloakroom showed how a familiar practical ritual could give a museum entrance its own character.

Research notesEvidence, connections and limits

This concerns the exact commissioned Boijmans artefact V2669a-o(KN&V), not an invented retail model. Museum 2008 and studio archive 2009 are distinct records. The museum currently lists storage; the article describes original operation, not present visitor access or installation safety.

Evidence map

Connected subjects and evidence

Reviewed facts

  • Object dated 2008documented

    Boijmans records creation, commission and acquisition in 2008 for V2669a-o(KN&V). The studio archive page is labelled 2009; the reason for the difference is not established.

    Reviewed 25 October 2026 by PatinaHall editorial.
    • Source 1Specifications: artists, accession, commission, creation date and location
    • Source 2Project explanation and mechanism paragraph

Reviewed connections

  • Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack, Boijmans V2669a-o(KN&V)attributed toWieki Somersattributed

    Boijmans credits Wieki Somers and Dylan van den Berg through Studio Wieki Somers for this commissioned artefact. The museum is commissioner and Adessium supporter, not proven manufacturers. Its current location is storage; original operation is not evidence of present visitor use.

    Reviewed 25 October 2026 by PatinaHall editorial.
    • Source 1Specifications: artists, accession, commission, creation date and location
    • Source 2Project explanation and mechanism paragraph
  • Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack, Boijmans V2669a-o(KN&V)attributed toDylan van den Bergattributed

    Boijmans credits Wieki Somers and Dylan van den Berg through Studio Wieki Somers for this commissioned artefact. The museum is commissioner and Adessium supporter, not proven manufacturers. Its current location is storage; original operation is not evidence of present visitor use.

    Reviewed 25 October 2026 by PatinaHall editorial.
    • Source 1Specifications: artists, accession, commission, creation date and location
    • Source 2Project explanation and mechanism paragraph

Research trail

Sources and further reading

  1. Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack, Boijmans V2669a-o(KN&V): Specifications: artists, accession, commission, creation date and locationboijmans.nlAccessed 25 October 2026
  2. Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack, Boijmans V2669a-o(KN&V): Project explanation and mechanism paragraphstudiowiekisomers.comAccessed 25 October 2026

Last reviewed 25 October 2026. Found an error or a stronger primary source? Contact PatinaHall.