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Why a museum cat?
The Bruges Folk Museum isn’t just any museum. Visitors are allowed a look into the everyday life in Bruges, Belgium as it was in the 19th and early 20th century. Back then, pubs were a major part of people’s lives, so in 1984, the Folk Museum opened ‘In de Zwarte Kat’ – a museum pub, the name of which translates to ‘The Black Cat Inn’. To entertain the visitors and keep any rodents at bay, the museum adopted Aristide I, the first of a long line of museum cats, all called Aristide.
From rags to riches
After Aristide IV suddenly disappeared, the museum reluctantly started the search for a new museum cat. The kitty needed to be male, social, and most of all: plain black. No fewer than 21 felines applied for the position and, being deemed the most social of all applicants, foster cat Nox was hired. Upon his arrival in Bruges, his name was changed to Aristide V and he was assigned a team of no fewer than 6 people to cater to his every need. Talk about a royal treatment!
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A museum cat’s job description
Aristide V spends his days watching the birds and interacting with the museum visitors. He loves head scratches but isn’t much of a fan of noisy kids who tend to chase after him in all their excitement. When Aristide needs a little time away from it all, he visits the tailor’s workshop, where he nestles himself onto the tailor’s fabrics for a comfy nap. Once he wakes up, the black museum cat likes to do a bit of landscaping in the museum garden. Once, the creative kitty popped out all the flowers, much to the dismay of his human servants. Oops! Want to see Aristide in action, you know where to find him!
