The Atlantic World and the Dutch (AWAD): International Conference

The concluding international conference of AWAD was held at the Municipal Archives of Amsterdam from 28 until 30 November 2006. This event represented an important step towards the preservation and dissemination of knowledge on shared cultural heritage in the Atlantic region.
Representatives of various cultural heritage organizations and research institutes in Aruba, Brazil, Ghana, Guyana, the Netherlands Antilles, Surinam and the United States, in addition to several experts from Dutch cultural heritage sectors and research organizations were present.
The discussion focused on the necessity for future action regarding the preservation,
accessibility and research of the shared heritage. Other points on the agenda were the need to extend and implement the digital research guide (database) set up during the previous project phase, as well as broadening the AWAD website, thus turning it into an international forum for discussion and the exchange of knowledge regarding the shared history in the Atlantic world.
The main objective of this meeting was to outline the follow up stage of the project. Barbara Consolini coordinated the preparations for the conference, in collaboration with Dirk Tang of the National Library of the Netherlands and Lodewijk Wagenaar of the Amsterdam Historical Museum.
For the participants from the partner countries, in addition to the conference a two-day cultural programme was organized, including visits to a number of important Dutch heritage institutions and a guided tour highlighting the history of Amsterdam, as well as visits to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, National Archives and National Library in The Hague. Twenty-six guests from partner countries attended the conference: four from Brazil, two from the United States, three from Ghana, four from Guyana, three from Suriname, three from Aruba, six from the Netherlands Antilles and one from Venezuela.
During the first day of the conference, representatives of the partner countries’ cultural sectors presented the results of the local workshops. The second day saw various groups participating in workshops on archives and libraries, material culture as well as research and intangible culture, in doing so formulating their ‘ideal heritage projects’.
The results of these workshops were presented on the third and final day of the conference, together with each group’s proposal for a shared heritage project to be realized in the future. The congress was concluded with the formulation of a set of resolutions. All partners of AWAD agreed to cooperate in order to preserve and develop our shared heritage, realizing concrete projects which give priority to the following areas: identification and
registration, knowledge exchange and know-how transfer, local commitment and awareness
processes, language training and interdisciplinary work.
In addition, all partners agreed that for AWAD to develop as a truly international endeavour and to accomplish these resolutions, there was a need for substantial and long-term funding from multiple sources. Dutch involvement is requisite and the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are to be considered full partners in the AWAD network. All cultural heritage projects developed in the context of AWAD should be firmly grounded in the local communities and, finally, continuity is considered essential in all aspects.

See also:
Emmanuel Hagan (Expert)
John Monteiro (Expert)
Hubert Vis (Expert)
Roberto Palacios (Expert)

List of Participants AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation Oostindie AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation Ghana delegation AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation vVan Stipriaan AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Minutes workshop Archives and Libraries AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Minutes workshop Material Culture AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Minutes workshop Research and Intangible Heritage AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation workshop Archives and Libraries AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation workshop Material Culture AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Presentation workshop Research and Intangible Heritage AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Project Proposal Archives & Libraries AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Project Proposal Material culture workshop AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Project Proposal Research & Intangible heritage AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)
Resolutions AWAD International Conference 2006 (Publication)