Image and Sound

The Image and Sound Collections held by the IISH include not only around 250,000 photographs but also 120,000 posters, which makes it one of the largest collections of posters in the Netherlands.

The Institute also stores several hundred banners from the labour movement. In addition, the collections include a considerable number of films and videos, several thousand sound tapes and gramophone records.

The Image and Sound collections are accessible through the IISH catalogue.
There is a subject index in the thesaurus.
The catalogue shows digitized copies of visual documents. (low resolution only)
In most cases it is possible to order reproductions, borrow materials for exhibitions. For rates, conditions and facilities, please go to Services.
In some cases it is possible to consult original documents, after consultation with the reading room staff and by appointment only.

iish_geocodes_image_and_sound_collections.pdf

An IISG staff member in the archive, surrounded by film cans. The staff member is holding a can.

Posters

The IISH has a collection of 125,000 posters from various countries, ranging in size from A3 to several metres in size.

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Photos

The IISH collection contains more than 225,000 photographs, more than 170,000 negatives and slides and over five hundred photo albums.

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Prints

The print collection contains more than 60,000 drawings, prints, cartoons and illustrations. Mostly political drawings and caricatures.

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Film

The IISH has more than three thousand films in various formats: 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, on DVD or digital.

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Video

The IISH has more than 5,300 video tapes in the formats VHS, U-matic, Betacam, Betamax, V2000 and Hi8. The videotapes are accessible through the catalogue.

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Audio

The IISH has over five thousand audio tapes in various formats: audio cassette, microcassette, sound tape, gramophone record, minidisk, audio CD.

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Objects

The IISH has a collection of over three thousand objects: sculptures, games, glass and pottery, gavels, propaganda material and much more.

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Textiles

The IISH has more than three thousand banners, flags, pennants, garments and various small objects made of textiles. The textile collection is accessible via the catalogue.

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IISH Collections Textiles | T-Shirt Anwar el Sadat| by Toos Koedam

Buttons

The IISH has a large collection of more than 6000 buttons on all kinds of actions and campaigns. The buttons have been digitised.

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Paintings

The hundreds of paintings in the IISH collection are closely linked to the theme of social history.

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