Dear reader,
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter! Here you can read about the recent news and developments of the International Heritage Cooperation programme of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
Do you
have any questions or suggestions? Please let us know.
Happy readings!
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| | | At
the end of November, 24 young heritage professionals from around the world joined
the online training Sharing Stories on Contested Histories. Four community
museums from Brazil, Indonesia, the Netherlands and South Africa provided the
new perspective of this edition. The participants discussed some of the major
themes that dominate the debate in the museum world, using the viewpoint of
these small museums. Coloniality and decolonization, poverty and social
justice, trauma and migration were discussed and explored as ‘history from
below’, in contrast to the previous trainings (2018 – 2021) in which these
dilemmas were studied through the approach of large museums like the Rijksmuseum
or the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam.
One
of the participants – Dr. Sophie Vohra - has published a reflection about the training on the website of the University of York. We also published our reflection on this edition on our website, which you can
read by clicking on the button below. Sharing Stories on Contested Histories is
organized by the RCE in collaboration with the Reinwardt Academy Amsterdam. | |
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| | | Participants of Museum Intensive at work © Yolanda Ezendam |
| | The
Museum Intensive (MI), a 5-day museum training programme, was held in October at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri
Lanka and John Keells X co-working and accelerator space. The MI programme was
the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the MMCA Sri Lanka, the
Reinwardt Academy, and the RCE. The programme was supported by the Dutch
embassy in Sri Lanka. The MI was attended by participants from Sri
Lanka who work in institutions or organisations that own collections of art or
who deliver public programmes as part of their exhibition activities. The training brought together museum professionals from the private
and public sector, which was a rare, and far-reaching achievement for building
public/private partnerships between two sectors that usually never come
together in Sri Lanka.
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| | | Presentation during the visit of the Dutch Trading Post Heritage Network © RCE |
| | | In December, members of the Dutch Trading Post Heritage Network (DTPHN) visited the Netherlands. The
DTPHN is an international network of Asian public and private institutions that
work with heritage related to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). This network
aims to share knowledge and research on VOC-related heritage and to cooperate
on historical research initiatives. The member institutions are based in India,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. The aim of their visit to the Netherlands was to
broaden their network and those of Dutch partners. Furthermore, the focus was
on knowledge exchange about how to deal with VOC-heritage for contemporary
purposes. Read about their visit and the topics discussed in the article on our website. | |
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| | |  | Van Ostrande Radliff en Van Lindenhoutmuseum © Historic Albany Foundation | © Van Lindehoutmuseum |
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| | In October, heritage and
urban development experts and architects from the USA and the Netherlands met for the third and last time to discuss the future of the heritage sites Van Ostrande Radliff House in
Albany (New York, USA) and Kinderdorp Neerbosch in Nijmegen (NL) from an international comparative analysis perspective. These
sites are at risk from urban development, and experts discussed both cases from
different angles to explore development potentials. The last theme of this international
expert meeting related to restoration ethics, doing interventions and the use of
(new) materials.
In February 2022, the Historic
Albany Foundation (HAF), Van ’t Lindenhoutmuseum Neerbosch-Nijmegen, and the RCE jointly initiated this three-part
international online expert exchange. We will give
an update about our
evaluation of Albany exchange Neerbosch | a x n 2022 and
our plans to continue this collaboration soon. Click on the link below to rewatch the
public event that concluded this final expert exchange.
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| | Participants of the symposium in Turkey © Job Roos |
| | How
do Turkish and Dutch heritage experts view architectural, heritage, economic,
social and political aspects of adaptive reuse of sites such as monumental
buildings, rural sites and landscapes? During a symposium in June in Ankara, they
shared their ideas on adaptive reuse. It was concluded that in the field of
heritage transformation several international dilemmas can be identified as
well as specific local dilemmas such as political interference and high
economic pressure.
The
symposium, organized by the Netherlands Institute in Turkey, the faculty of
architecture of the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and the
RCE, formed the start of the latter’s travelling exhibition ‘Reuse, Redevelop
and Design: how the Dutch deal with heritage’ in Ankara. The symposium aimed at
exchanging ideas, experiences and challenges regarding adaptive reuse of
heritage between Turkey and the Netherlands. Heritage experts from both countries and students from METU visited several heritage sites in Ankara
that had been adapted to a new use in recent years. It was very inspiring to
share ideas on how to deal with these challenges and to see the achievements in
both Turkey and the Netherlands on revitalizing heritage.
As a result of the
symposium, plans are being drawn up for exchange of students from both Turkey
and the Netherlands in the field of architecture and heritage and collaboration
between both countries on adaptive reuse of heritage. |
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| | | Participants in Willemstad © Remco Vermeulen |
| | Almost
forty local professionals and students from Curaçao participated in
the World Heritage meets Main Street Masterclass, a follow up of the Urban Heritage Strategies (UHS) course of 2020 and 2021. The masterclass focused on
the World Heritage Site of the historic area of Willemstad Inner City and
Harbour. The public, private, and NGO communities in Curaçao are
strongly committed to ensuring that these heritage areas are as economically,
socially, and culturally vibrant as possible. Many shops are empty in the main
shopping streets, and the citizens are moving away from the inner city. To
explore approaches to historic area revitalization, IHS and RCE teamed up with
the US firm Heritage Strategies International (HSI) and based the masterclass
on the Main Street Approach. This programme was originally created by
the US National Trust for Historic Preservation and provides a framework
for economic development within the context of heritage resources.
Participants
identified challenges and recommendations for commercial areas within this
World Heritage site. At the end of the week, recommendations for the areas
Punda and Otrobanda for short-, middle- and long term developments were
presented. This masterclass brought parties like government, heritage
professionals, shop owners, and local advocacy groups together to work on a
communal solution. | | |
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| | | Former Huguenot farmhouse ‘Non Pareille’ at Dal Josephat, South Africa waiting for an appropriate restoration approach. (photo P. Kumar) |
| | Together
with colleagues from South Africa and Sri Lanka, the RCE conducted the second
online workshop on the topic of Sustainable Conservation. This edition was
again hosted and supported by the Heritage Academy (ErfgoedAcademie) in
Amersfoort. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau voor de
Leefomgeving) participated and lectured on the values of heritage for
sustainable development. The two meetings conducted this year helped us define
the differences between the three countries as well as their common need for a
sustainable conservation approach. Furthermore, we jointly concluded that the
conservation arguments, being of cultural, economic, social or environmental
nature, determine the way heritage preservation is executed. Based on this
year’s preparatory meetings we will proceed next year with a comparative case
analysis. We will then compare the way values influence preservation works per
country. By discussing each other’s practice, we expect to strengthen the local
execution and develop an approach that is relevant for different
contexts.
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| | | | | Within the International Programme for Maritime Heritage, much work has been done in the interests of underwater and maritime archaeology. Several of its projects and activities were part of the International Heritage Cooperation programme. This report describes the programme's goals, its mission, vision and how it worked towards those goals, including the adjustments required by the corona crisis to achieve them. This overview shows how much has been achieved in a relatively short time and what structure has been put in place to ensure the continued sound management of underwater cultural heritage. | | |
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| | Cover of the third publication © RCE |
| | In
our September newsletter, we introduced the series of brochures on Paintings
Conservation. Recently, the third brochure of this series was published:
Varnishing & Inpainting/Retouching. It reflects on the use and characteristics of varnish and techniques for inpainting or retouching. The brochures are created for professional conservators of easel paintings, wishing to keep up with
current knowledge, and to learn how to apply new techniques in their field.
The brochures were compiled in cooperation with the Foundation for Cultural Inventory (SCI), SRAL - The Conservation Institute, and Dutch
embassies in the partner countries. They serve as a reference, bringing together
current practices and new knowledge regarding materials and methods for
practical use. The content provided can be used by professional conservators,
who are aware of the ethical and contextual aspects and complexity of
conservation decision-making. | |
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| | | Detail of the cover © The University of Western Australia |
| | Misadventures
in Nature’s Paradise explores the earliest
history of Australia’s Indian Ocean territories of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
and Christmas Island. The Fortuyn project, which began in 2016 as part of the
Shared Cultural Heritage programme (now International Heritage Cooperation),
searched for clues to locate two 18th century Dutch shipwrecks: Fortuyn (lost in 1724) and Aagtekerke (lost in 1726). It expanded into a general
account of the early island histories and associated mythological Indian Ocean
islands and creatures.
Misadventures tells the story of the
earliest history of these islands – from the events leading to their discovery
to their settlement. This monograph is based on meticulous archival,
cartographic and archaeological research. The authors
tease out some of the real-life ramifications of the Indian Ocean and European
myths upon the destiny of the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas islands and provide
evidence that indicates several 18th century Dutch ships foundered
close to these islands.
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| | | | This is the newsletter of the
International Heritage Cooperation programme of the Cultural Heritage Agency of
the Netherlands. Our programme 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=20221214171228 "Cover nr Varnishing and Inpainting kopie")
.jpg?v=20221214171256 "Cover of Misadventure in Nature's Paradise")
