DECOLONISING MUSEUMS

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THE DUTCH VOC MENTALITY – MIRJAM KOOIMAN Interior of the Tropical Museum (Tropenmuseum) in Amsterdam. Courtesy: Karel Kulhavy L’INTERNATIONALE ONLINE – MIRJAM KOOIMAN – 42
THE DUTCH VOC MENTALITY – MIRJAM KOOIMAN In response to the opposition’s criticism of government economic policy in 2006, the then Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan-Peter Balkenende, called for a return to the “VOC mentality”. This was a reference to the old Dutch trading spirit and entrepreneurialism of the United East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC, 1602– 1798/9)—the world’s very first multinational company. It unleashed a wave of criticism, since such romanticism about the Dutch Golden Age ignores the inherent historical associations with violence, slavery and colonialism. The Premier later stressed that “it had not been his intention to refer to that at all”. However, it was precisely this selective approach to the country’s history and his own unawareness of it, that had so offended his critics. The VOC mentality as a characteristic of the selective historical perspective on the Dutch Golden Age has been a key feature of Dutch cultural policy for many years. The government seized on the economic crisis that broke out in 2008 as an opportunity to make far-reaching cutbacks in the cultural sector, involving such great cuts to subsidies that critics have referred to it ever since as a ‘cultural slash-andburn policy’. Although virtually no part of the cultural sector was spared the effects of the cuts, certain institutions, including Rotterdam’s Wereldmuseum and Amsterdam’s Tropenmuseum and National Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum), were particularly badly hit by the policy. It is worth noting that these museums are the custodians of the country’s collections of colonial history. The reasons given for the cuts were said to be based on ‘impartial economic logic’. The ‘success’ of museums is determined by the number of visitors they attract. Since critical reflection on the colonial past is hardly a great moneyspinner, these museums tend to fall by the wayside. As such, this would appear to be an example of the economic crisis being used to justify an ideological shift of strategy in the nation’s cultural institutions. Only the stringent cutbacks, in part masked by urgent calls for cultural entrepreneurship and financial independence, appear to be linked to a renewed insistence on defining Dutch identity and betray a wilful national L’INTERNATIONALE ONLINE – MIRJAM KOOIMAN – 43
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Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Introduction 8
Page 5 and 6: DECOLONISING MUSEUMS Decolonising M
Page 7 and 8: DECOLONISING MUSEUMS around colonis
Page 9 and 10: THE INVISIBLE AND THE VISIBLE - NAV
Page 23 and 24: RESOURCES — L’INTERNATIONALE BO
Page 25 and 26: COLLECTING LIFE’S UNKNOWS - CLÉM
Page 35 and 36: THE COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES OF THE
Page 39 and 40: FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE VAN ABBE
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Page 55 and 56: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN! - NANA ADUSEI-
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“I GUESS YOU GUYS AREN’T READY
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“I GUESS YOU GUYS AREN’T READY
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THE CULTURE OF COLONIALITY - DANIEL
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OPINIONS - FRANCISCO GODOY VEGA The
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OPINIONS — L’INTERNATIONALE BOO
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OPINIONS - FRANCISCO GODOY VEGA and
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THE COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES OF THE
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF MUSEO NACION
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RESOURCES — L’INTERNATIONALE BO
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A SALT BOX AND A BRACELET CONVERSIN
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF MG+MSUM, LJU
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF MG+MSUM, LJU
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RESOURCES — L’INTERNATIONALE BO
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AROUND THE POSTCOLONY AND THE MUSEU
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF MACBA, BARCE
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF MACBA, BARCE
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INSTITUTIONAL FEVER IN CHINA - COLI
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL The ‘fro
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL Richard Be
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL is still a
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL all contro
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL overcrowde
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL arising fr
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL 2. Gayatri
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL armature.
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL VIVIAN ZIH
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL Citizenshi
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OPINIONS - VIVIAN ZIHERL poet, fail
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DECOLONISING MUSEUMS Nana Adusei-Po
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DECOLONISING MUSEUMS carried out re
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DECOLONISING MUSEUMS the re-opening
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DECOLONISING MUSEUMS

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