• Brazil: Memorandum of Understanding between RCE and IBRAM

    Brazil: Memorandum of Understanding between RCE and IBRAM

    RCE and IBRAM have made agreements about future collaborations on projects concerning Brazilian museums
    20 December 2017

    IBRAM
    Within the context of its Shared Cultural Heritage Programme, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) seeks collaboration with heritage institutions in ten partner countries to exchange knowledge and expertise on the sustainable preservation and use of shared heritage. One of these partner countries is Brazil. The RCE already works together with its Brazilian counterpart, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN: Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional) in relation to the theme of Heritage & Spatial Planning. But in relation to the theme of Collections, one of the RCE’s other priorities, the focus of collaboration is the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM: Instituto Brasileiro de Museus), Brazil's main think-tank and research institute.

    MoU
    On 9 and 10 November, Jinna Smit, Programme Director of Shared Cultural Heritage at the RCE, visited IBRAM to meet and discuss with several departments. These meetings were guided by Fabiana Ferreira, Assessoria Internacional, Gabinete da Presidência at IBRAM, and Bart van Zwieten, Head of the Political, Public Diplomacy and Cultural Department at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brazil. The goal of this visit was to identify possibilities for collaboration and to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). As a result of these meetings, IBRAM and RCE signed a MoU for the period from 2017 until 2020. The first two collaborative projects, involving the redevelopment of historic buildings into museums and the financial sustainability of museums, will start in 2018.

     

    Organization: 
    Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands

  • Suriname: The Treasury Collection, works by Maria Sibylla Merian, exhibited in Suriname

    Suriname: The Treasury Collection, works by Maria Sibylla Merian, exhibited in Suriname

    The Embassy in Paramaribo has co-initiated an exhibition, story map and training to honour botanical artist Maria Sibylla Merian and her work.
    20 December 2017

    Surinam insects
    This year is the 300th anniversary of the death of naturalist, etymologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Maria Sibylla Merian is rated as being one of the greatest-ever botanical artists. She is best known for her illustrations of plants and insects made as a result of her trips to the tropical country of Suriname. She managed to have her observations on Suriname insects published in 1705, in a book with 60 plates in folio called Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. This pioneering work, which was printed in Amsterdam, made her world-famous.

    Exhibition in Lelydorp, Surinam
    An exhibition in the Neotropical Butterfly Park in Lelydorp will feature her colourful paintings and illustrations based on her research into caterpillars, butterflies and other insects in Suriname. The exhibition, made possible by the Artis Library of the University of Amsterdam, aims to generate more respect for and awareness of shared cultural heritage. The exhibition runs from 15 December 2017.

    Storytelling workshop
    In addition to the exhibition, storyteller Paul Middellijn will give a training on telling about the life of Maria Sibylla Merian. This workshop aims to inform (tour) guides from the Neotropical Butterfly Park on the story behind Maria Sibylla Merian and her work. The goal is to create a new dimension in tourism focused on this cultural heritage topic.

    Story maps
    The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) will create a story map focused on Maria Sibylla Merian, with contributions from the Dutch Embassy, making her work and story more accessible for everyone. A story map combines maps, images, narrative text and multimedia content to visualise a story.

    Organization: 
    Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands In Paramaribo

  • Sri Lanka: Sounding heritage

    Sri Lanka: Sounding heritage

    The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands has provided advice on the restoration of two pipe organs in Galle and Colombo.
    25 October 2017

    Rudi van Straten, Sounding Heritage Senior Specialist at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), has been on a mission in Sri Lanka to examine and give advice on two historical pipe organs in Galle and Colombo.

    375th Anniversary of Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka
    This mission is part of the 375th anniversary of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka. As the church would like to revitalise the historically valuable organs in Galle and Colombo, it approached the Embassy of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka, with this mission as a result.

    Awareness of sounding heritage
    Besides pipe organs, church bells and even temple drums can also be part of the sounding heritage of Sri Lanka. Van Straten believes that it is important to integrate this sounding heritage in a broader programme in order to create awareness. Awareness is needed for sustainable preservation.

    Restoration programme
    If the two organs are to successfully have a sustainable future, it is important that both instruments can make a musical contribution not only to church services, but to the social life of the church community as well. Therefore, Rudi van Straten and stakeholders also discussed how to involve as many people as possible in the restoration programme.

    Organization: 
    Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
    Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Colombo, Sri Lanka

  • South Africa: Conservation workshops at the SAMA Conference

    South Africa: Conservation workshops at the SAMA Conference

    Professionals from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and the Reinwardt Academy give workshops to South African museum professionals.
    25 October 2017

    Two conservation workshops were given at the 81st South African Museums Association National Conference (23 – 26 October 2017): one by Marjan Otter (Reinwardt Academy, Institute for Heritage Studies) and one by Alexandra van Kleef and Hanna Pennock (Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).

    Workshops
    The workshop by Marjan Otter – ‘Your audience is your best marketing tool’ – was about museum marketing. What can participants learn from innovative Dutch museums which use social listening in their marketing campaigns? The workshop analysed a few Dutch museums in relation to the South African situation and also discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by cultural marketing in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

    ‘The Art of Preventive Conservation’ workshop by Alexandra van Kleef and Hanna Pennock discussed the basics of preventive conservation, such as risk management, storage facilities and inventory control. A safe future for cultural heritage and preventing and addressing possible damage were the main topics of this session.

    Context: inception mission
    These workshops and the meetings afterwards are part of an inception mission The goal of this mission is to develop long-term collaboration between the Netherlands and South Africa on the topic of the conservation and management of museum collections. This is a follow-up to the report ‘Shared Heritage in Museums in South Africa: Opportunities for Collaboration’ and the visit of a museum delegation from South Africa to the Netherlands in February 2017, organised by the Rijksmuseum, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) and DutchCulture.

    Organization: 
    Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
    Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam School of the Arts
    Rijksmuseum
    DutchCulture

  • Australia: Uiver Collection listed as State Heritage

    Australia: Uiver Collection listed as State Heritage

    The Uiver Collection of the Albury Heritage Trust has been added to the State Heritage List of New South Wales.
    23 October 2017

    On 28 August 2017 it was officially announced that the Albury City Council’s Uiver Collection had been listed on the State Heritage Register.

    Aviation heroes
    The collection tells the famous story of the Uiver, a Douglas DC-2 airliner owned by the Netherlands’ KLM that participated in the London to Melbourne Air Race in 1934. Due to a fierce thunderstorm, the Uiver had to make an emergency landing in the town of Albury, in the state of New South Wales. The people of Albury rescued the Uiver by helping it to land safely. The plane continued its journey to Melbourne the next day, taking second place in the great race and winning the handicap. Back in the Netherlands, the Uiver crew were welcomed as heroes and the story became a classic in the history of aviation.

    The collection
    The Uiver collection is based at the Library Museum in Albury. Among the many items in the collection are numerous letters and photographs; the medal that Albury’s Mayor Alfred Waugh received from Queen Wilhelmina in 1935; a table-cloth from the city of Groningen that was gifted to Mayor Alfred Waugh in 1935 and a Uiver commemorative plaque.

    Significance
    The assessment of significance states: “The story, told through the collection, of the Uiver's emergency landing and assistance by the people of Albury may be historically significant as the catalyst for the significant relationship that developed between Australia and the Netherlands, cemented with ongoing visitation between the two countries and culminating in the establishment of Australia's first migration agreement with a foreign country when signed by Australia and the Netherlands in 1939.”

    Overall, the items in the Uiver Memorial Collection are in good condition. The collection is managed by the Albury Library Museum in accordance with national best-practice national standards by a team of professional collection managers and curators.

    Organization: 
    Albury Library Museum

  • Suriname: ‘MuseumN8’, workshops on re-using cultural heritage

    Suriname: ‘MuseumN8’, workshops on re-using cultural heritage

    In the context of MuseumN8 2017 in Paramaribo, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands organised two workshops on re-using shared cultural heritage.
    13 September 2017

    The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Paramaribo organised two workshops on shared cultural heritage on 27 May this year, working closely together with the ‘Vereniging Vrienden van Stadsherstel Suriname’(Friends of City Restoration in Suriname Association). The workshops specifically focussed on the exhibition ‘Re-use, Re-develop and Design’, and were led by four experts on the re-use of cultural heritage and urban planning and architecture: Sander Gelinck and Frank Strolenberg from the Netherlands, and Gerda Gehlen and Zarja Garmes Rojer from Curaçao. The goal of the activity was to trigger participants to think about how to re-use cultural heritage in Paramaribo. On 29 May, two additional workshops took place; the first being on the re-use of cultural heritage and the second on a car-free city centre, in which the city centre of Willemstad, Curaçao was used as a role model.

    Museum Night
    The workshops on 27 May took place during Museum Night, a special cultural event where all museums open up their doors for visitors in the evening. ‘MuseumN8’ is the Surinamese counterpart of the International Museum Day initiated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). This year’s theme was ‘Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums’. The Museum Night has gained in popularity over the years, contributing to a growing awareness of the importance of culture and cultural heritage for society.

     

    Organization: 
    Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands In Paramaribo
    Stichting Stadsherstel Paramaribo
    Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands

  • A shard of China in The Netherlands

    Saucer with Shou character for longevity, China, 1560-1590, porcelain (Late Ming Collection)
     
    Click to see photo caption

    A shard of China in The Netherlands

    This spring, two exhibitions on Chinese porcelain from two very different angles are on display in The Netherlands.
    30 March 2017

    From 25 March, the Gemeentemuseum lets Chinese porcelain speak for itself by unravelling the mysteries behind the characters inscribed on it. China Character: The Story on Porcelain is an exhibition full of stories that will transport you to different parts of China. Stories of customs, beliefs, love, mythical figures and historical events. 

    The exhibition includes porcelain from more than 15 Dutch museums and private collections. There is also a wide range of contemporary interpretations of china with painted characters, created by artists like David Derksen, Hella Jongerius, Hans van Koolwijk, Jelle Mastenbroek, Cristiana Vignatelli, Marcel Wanders and Henk Wolvers. This exhibition will be on view until 22 October. 

    Royals only
    From 8 April until 9 July, Chinese porcelain from the Ming dynasty, created exclusively for the Chinese emperors, is on display at Museum Prinsenhof Delft. These exceptional pieces have never been exhibited outside Asia. This exhibition, titled Forbidden porcelain – exclusively for the emperor, starts by looking at the similarities between Jingdezhen and Delft - the two 'porcelain cities' - the archaeological remains and the production of imperial chinaware.

    Forbidden porcelain unveils the role that chinaware played within the imperial court. The exhibited objects belonged to the four most powerful emperors of the Ming dynasty. The porcelain often carries political, religious or artistic messages that the emperor wanted to convey.

    Six promising ceramic artists from China and the Netherlands have been asked to contribute to the exhibition Forbidden porcelain – exclusively for the emperor. Their work creates a link to contemporary ceramics and strengthen the ties between the porcelain cities of Delft and Jingdezhen. The Chinese artists created a series of earthenware objects in Delft. The most ones beautiful ones are presented to Queen Máxima. Her Majesty will open the exhibition on 7 April.

    Organization: 
    Museum Het Prinsenhof
  • 2016 books published with support of the Shared Cultural Heritage Matching Fund

    Photo: DutchCulture
     
    Photo: DutchCulture

    Shared Heritage: reading tips for the cold winter months

    Those beautiful books have been published in 2016 with the support of the Shared Cultural Heritage Matching Fund. Great reading tips for the cold winter months.

    ‘Boeroes, Een familiegeschiedenis van witte Surinamers’ ('Boeroes, A family history of white Surinamese') by Karin Sitalsing is a search for the unique history of an unknown Dutch-Surinamese population. 

    ‘Holambra: De moeizame beginjaren van een stukje Nederland in Brazilië’ ('Holambra: The Difficult First Years of a New Holland in Brazil') by Mari Smits tells why Dutch farmers left for Brazil and what they experienced during their challenging pioneering years. 

    ‘Building in Indonesia (1600-1960)’ by Cor Passchier provides an overview of the history of building and the development of infrastructure in Indonesia from 1600 to 1960.

    ‘Heritage in Transition’ by Isabelle Boon, a photobook depicting the lives of people living in the changing historical inner cities of Jakarta and Semarang and telling their stories. 

    ‘A Narrow Bridge, Japan and the Netherlands from 1600’, in the Rijksmuseum’s Country Series discovers the objects in the Rijksmuseum that testify to the unique and turbulent shared history of Japan and the Netherlands, one that has been characterised by admiration and interest, but also misunderstanding and mistrust.

    ‘Cinnamon and Elephants, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands from 1600’ in the Rijksmuseum’s Country Series examines objects from the Rijksmuseum’s collection and uses illustrations from other institutions to tell the story of Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka and the relationship between the VOC and Kandy.

    ‘Recreating Amsterdam’, by Fred Feddes and Sonia Mangiapane tells the story of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, which was founded in 1956 to preserve the built heritage and residential function of Amsterdam’s historical city centre. 
  • Participants and lecturers of the workshop collection management in Pretoria, SA.

    Photo: Isabelle McGinn
     
    Photo: Isabelle McGinn

    RCE: Shared Heritage highlights of 2016

    The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) is looking back on a successful 2016. An overview of inspiring projects undertaken with many partners.

    Museum collections 
    This November, following on a Dutch mission to South Africa in 2015, two fully-booked collection management workshops took place in Stellenbosch and Johannesburg. Experts from the Rijksmuseum and RCE organised these workshops together with SAMA (the Museum Association of South Africa) and SAHRA (the South African Heritage Resources Agency). Given the demand for these workshops, the organising parties are now looking into possibilities for setting up a ‘train-the-trainer’ trajectory in the period 2017-2020.

    Historical inner cities
    Another exciting project this year was the production of the toolkit ‘Digging4Data’, which provides a practical road map for archival research into built heritage in Indonesia. The toolkit is available in Bahasa Indonesia and English. This project was a collaboration between the National Archives of the Netherlands, Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, Pusat Dokumentasi Arsitektur, Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia, RCE and Hands On Heritage. 

    Maritime archaeology 
    RCE, the National Museum of Kyushu, the Tokay University in Tokyo and the University of Okinawa set up a successful collaboration within the field of maritime archaeology. This summer RCE worked with these partners in making a first inventory of the wreck of the ‘Van Bosse’. This Dutch ship was wrecked in 1857 on the coast of the island Tarama. In the coming year the search for the wreck and the story of the ‘Van Bosse’ will continue. 

    The Shared Heritage team at RCE is looking forward to a new year in which they will continue to work on the sustainable preservation of shared heritage with all of their partners.

  • Australia: Dutch contribution to Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2017

    Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2017, the official poster

    Photo: Australian Wooden Boat Festival
     
    Photo: Australian Wooden Boat Festival

    Australia: Dutch contribution to Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2017

    The Shared Cultural Heritage Matching Fund is supporting the Dutch contribution to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival (10-13 February) on Tasmania, Australia.
    16 December 2016

    On 6 December, six Dutch boat construction students and their teacher arrived in Franklin, Tasmania to construct a 16m2 competition sailing boat, which will sail during the festival. The students are keeping a blog on their progress. 

    Two containers, the Frisian and the Orange, are currently on their way to Tasmania. Among other things they are carrying eight complete Dutch wooden ships, a statue of master carpenter Pieter Jacobsz made at the Batavia Yard in Lelystad, portraits for the upcoming ‘Get on Board’ exhibition at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, parts for the 16m2 boat and barrels for traditional fish smoking. 

    In January, the Tasmanian art magazine ‘Lume’ will publish 10,000 free copies of a special issue on the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, including articles on the Dutch contribution to the festival, the Dutch discoverer Abel Tasman and other early Dutch explorers, Dutch maritime heritage, and Dutch design in shipbuilding. Keep an eye on our website for the digital version. 

    Organization: 
    Australian Wooden Boat Festival
    Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery