If you don’t collect flyswatters, you may not have had a chance to appreciate their variety. They come in leather, metal and plastic. They’re shaped like guitars and flowers and animals. They advertise, celebrate sports and stump for political candidates. They’ve intrigued Iza van Riemsdijk since 1989.
That’s when she found her first fly swatter on her honeymoon in Japan. It’s pink and shaped like a butterfly, with a polka dot bow tie and a pair of tweezers tucked into the handle, presumably for picking up the dead flies.
“We came back from Japan, and then I saw more and more fly swatters,” said van Riemsdijk. “I was impressed by their form and their colorfulness. And well, I have now over 3200 different ones.”
Over 1,000 pieces from van Riemsdijk’s collection are now on display at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. “SPLAT! The Buzz About Flyswatters” is believed to be the first museum exhibit to explore this common household object.
Van Riemsdijk lives in the Netherlands. But a few years ago, when visiting a friend in Kalamazoo, she asked the KVM if it would like to show her collection. She said that choosing her favorite 1,000 flyswatters wasn’t easy.
“That was very, very, very difficult,” she said.
The museum’s Julie Bunke said she was struck by the variety and artistry of the collection.
“We've almost been considering this as an art installation because it's so unique with all the materials that we've got on display,” she said. “We've got wood, leather, metal, plastic fabric, you name it, and it's on here.”
A retired physician, van Riemsdijk wanted to emphasize the flyswatter’s role in disease prevention historically.
“Medicine is going far and high and — high technology, but actually, the flyswatter had more effect on health,” said van Riemsdijk.
As she walked around the collection, pointing out her favorites, she said that even the simple ones are beautiful.
“When you collect, of course, there are special ones. Right?” she said. “But these are the normal ones. But they are all different. They have different nettings. And they are so...look here.”
She pointed to an unassuming metal and pink plastic fly swatter from the 1980s.
“It's just a normal one,” she said. “But beautiful netting, right?”
“SPLAT: The Buzz About Flyswatters” will run through January 7th.
