Dear reader,
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter! Read about recent news and developments of the International Heritage Cooperation programme of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed | RCE).
Do you have any questions or suggestions? Please let us know.
Happy readings! |
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| | | Kurashiki’s historic core. Photo: Jean Paul Corten |
| | The city of
Kurashiki, located on the Southern part of Japan’s main island Honshu, today is
a main tourist destination due to its picturesque historic core. The Bikan
quarter with its traditional whitewashed warehouses used to be an important
trading centre in the Okayama district during the Edo period (17th century). The huge former textile mills just outside the historic core still
witness Kurashiki’s industrialization during the following Meiji period
(beginning of the 20th century). Today the city still is a leading
industrial city; be it no longer in textiles but in heavy industry.
Now how do
these new dynamics of the vibrant city relate to its appealing historic
features? This was the issue addressed during the one-week workshop as held
mid-November in Kurashiki. The workshop was executed in collaboration between
the local authorities, RCE and the Amsterdam based architectural office
Urban Berry Design. The workshop discussed possible alternatives for tourism
for the historic Bikan area, to serve the city’s own inhabitants again. On the
other hand it discussed the options of using the remaining historic features in
the city quarters bordering the historic core to revitalize these quarters. The
outcomes, presented to the local authorities, will also be presented
at the Dutch pavilion at Osaka’s World Expo in 2025. |
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| | | Forensic Marking. Photo: MSDS Marine |
| | After years of research by a team of Dutch and British maritime archaeologists from the RCE and the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), a shipwreck found off the coast of Sussex in England has been identified as the 17th-century Dutch warship Klein Hollandia.
Research into wrecks like the Klein Hollandia provides valuable knowledge and stories of our maritime history – and highlights the importance of responsible management of these shipwrecks, in order to actively preserve this heritage for future generations. The Klein Hollandia is also important for the development of new techniques. This is where the forensic marking of archaeological objects underwater is being tested.
The quest to solve the mystery of the unknown identity of this shipwreck has been nominated for Research Project of the Year at the prestigious Archaeology Awards 2025. Will you also cast your vote for the Klein Hollandia? | |
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| | | Cover of Dutch Shipwrecks in South Africa: Sites, Stories, and Archives |
| | The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), in cooperation with
its counterpart, the RCE, has
published “Dutch Shipwrecks in South Africa: Sites, Stories, and Archives.” This book is the final output of a joint
project which sought to record the oral history of 20th Century salvage of
Dutch historical shipwrecks in South Africa.
The latter half of that century
saw numerous salvage operations involving removal of valuable artefacts from
Dutch wrecks to sell for profit. Due to the lack of comprehensive oversight at
the time, much of this activity went unrecorded, leaving important historical
knowledge lost or scattered. The aim of this project was to gather and preserve
this information – much of which existed only in the memories of divers and in
their personal notes, sketches, and photos – before it was lost forever. | |
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| | | | Depok Gong si Bolong, Photo: Peter Timmer, RCE |
| | Gong si Bolong’s traditional music, Tari Topeng Cisalak’s dance art,
Dutch-inspired food such as klappertaart and bruine bonensoep, but also the
humanitarian legacy of Cornelis Chastelein. Depok’s intangible heritage
definitely reflects a rich cultural history, diversity and centuries old
traditions.
How could these features and connected sites be managed by spatial
planning looking at their challenges and potentials? This was one of the
questions of the workshop held between 10-15 November in the city of Depok in
Indonesia. Indonesian universities UI, IPB and Trisakti, and the Dutch
organizations Hertiage Hands-on, KIEN and RCE organized the workshop. Main
objective was experimenting on a method in assessing intangible heritage
features in their spatial context. It is the first workshop of its kind in
Indonesia and the results were received with wide interest. The students
created banners with the outcomes of the workshop that will be exhibited at
several places in Depok. |
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| | | Italian delegates during the excursion along the river Eem at Amersfoort. Photo: Martijn Oosterhuis, RCE |
| | On Friday 6 December the RCE received a group of some 30 local
administrators from all over Italy. The recently installed decision makers
attended a short course on city management in Rotterdam, as provided by the
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus
University.
The module on urban heritage strategies of this course was
conducted by the RCE at our premises in Amersfoort. In the module we addressed
the synergy between city management and heritage conservation by means of
a range of lectures and an excursion. It showed that heritage is not only
valuable for cultural expression. If positioned strategically, heritage can
also contribute to economic prosperity, social cohesion, eco-efficiency and
spatial quality. A main point of debate turned out to be national interference
with conservation at local level. The Italian heritage framework is more
centralized than the Dutch. In Italy building permits for listed heritage are
being issued by the national authority. In the Netherlands this is the role of
the local authority. Not surprisingly the local decision makers were quite
enthusiastic about the Dutch way.
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| | | | The entrance of Museum Tula on Curaçao. Photo by Remco Vermeulen |
| | From 28 October to 2 December,
Remco Vermeulen (coordinator for international cooperation on collection
management) visited the islands of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba in the Caribbean,
on behalf of the RCE and the
Consortium Colonial Collections and along with
colleagues from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). The aim of this
visit was to forge connections with museum and cultural heritage professionals,
and to get an impression of several museums on the three islands. The visit was
supported by the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands (RCN).
As part of the programme,
Vermeulen gave a presentation about the Consortium Colonial Collections at a
meeting with representatives of organization involved in history of slavery of
the different Caribbean islands which are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
which was hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Among the
museums he visited with colleagues of OCW and RCN were Museum Kura Hulanda,
Jewish History Museum, Museum Tula, Museum Mongui Maduro, and Tambu Museum Shon
Cola on Curaçao; Terramar Museum, Mangazina di Rei, Bonaire Museum (SKAL) and
FuHiKuBo on Bonaire; and Museum of Industry, National Archaeological Museum
Aruba, Fort Zoutman Historical Museum Aruba, Museum Cas Tan Tin and National
Archives Aruba on Aruba.
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| | | The National Museum in Colombo. Photo by Remco Vermeulen |
| | | From 30 September to 4
October, Remco Vermeulen visited Sri Lanka, on behalf of the RCE and the Consortium Colonial Collections and along with a colleague from the Ministry of ForeignAffairs (BZ). The aim of the visit was to participate in the annual meeting of the Dutch Trading Post Heritage Network in Galle,
including the symposium ‘Shared Heritage for Inclusive Growth’, and to meet with representatives
of museums and heritage organisations. Among the museums and organisations he
visited with the BZ colleague were the National Museum in Colombo, National
Archives of Sri Lanka, Collective for Historical Dialogue and Memory, Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Arts, Dutch Period Museum, and Geoffrey Bawa Trust. |
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| | | | Transfer of the drift meter, brought by cultural attachee Xenia Hanusiak from Australia to the Netherlands. Photo: RCE/Martijn Manders |
| | | Imagine you are flying a plane in early March 1942. The journey from the
Colonial Dutch Indies is bound to
Australia. A course is set. It is an escape from the Japanese, as Dutch rule in
the East Indies is collapsing. You are flying over open sea. There is only
water, not many recognisable points to fly on and it may even be dark at some
stretches. It is windy… so how do you keep your course? In my hand, I hold a
drift meter. This is what you would need. And Dutch - Russian pilot Iwan
Smirnoff from the DC-3 Pelikaan, or his navigator…had one. | |
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| | | The participants of Sharing Stories on Contested Histories 2024 visiting the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam. Photo: Remco Vermeulen |
| | | This Autumn, the sixth edition
of the programme Sharing Stories on Contested Histories has taken place.
For this edition, 20 museum professionals, academics and community activists
were selected to take part in the programme. They hailed from 14 different
countries: Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia,
Netherlands (European Natherlands and Bonaire), Chile/Spain, South
Africa, Suriname, Tahiti, United Kingdom, United States. The programme
consisted of an online first part, with ten sessions with lectures and
discussions in September and October, and of a physical second part which took
place in Amsterdam from 10 to 16 November. During this second part, the
participants visited several museums, such as Amsterdam Museum, Rijksmuseum, The
Black Archives, Imagine IC and Wereldmuseum, they joined workshops by several
heritage professionals, and met with representatives of the new National
Slavery Museum and Consortium Colonial Collections. The participants also
programmed a semi-public event on important challenges they encountered in
their respective practices. The programme was co-created and organised by
Reinwardt Academy. |
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| | | Remco Vermeulen, Dewi van de Weerd, Made Naraya and Marjolein van Asdonck in conversation at Indonesia Now 2024. Photo: Bente Bergmans |
| | On 28 November DutchCulture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indonesian Embassy in The Hague hosted the biannual
Indonesia Now event at the new Indonesia House in Amsterdam. This
2024 edition focused on the future of the bilateral relationship between the
Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in a changing world.
Remco
Vermeulen led a breakout
session on international museum cooperation and the Dutch policy on colonial
collections. Panel members included: Dewi van de Weerd (ambassador for
the international cultural cooperation), Made Naraya (master student Arts and Heritage), and Marjolein
van Asdonck (curator for Southeast Asia at Wereldmuseum, which is also part of the Consortium Colonial
Collections). The fruitful conversation between the panel members resulted in a
broader discussion with the audience, in which the wishes were expressed to
share more local knowledge, work more closely with communities of origin, find
a joint ‘shared meaning’ of the objects from colonial collections, and possibly
expand the network of institutions collaborating in the Consortium Colonial
Collections. |
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| | | | The International Heritage Cooperation programme of the Cultural Heritage Agency of
the Netherlands follows from the International Cultural Policy
Framework 2021-2024 of the Dutch government. Other organisations executing the
national International Heritage Cooperation programme are DutchCulture, the
National Archives of the Netherlands, KIEN and the Embassies of the Netherlands
in the partner countries. For more information on their activities, see their
respective websites.
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.jpg?v=20241213102928 "Forensic Marking UW MSDS Marine")
.JPG?v=20241213094754 "Dutch Shipwrecks cover")
