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! |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | |
|---|
| | | Diver applies material on object of the Klein Hollandia © MSDS Marine Martin Davies |
| | | A team of Dutch and English maritime
archaeologists forensically marked objects of the Klein
Hollandia (1653-1672) shipwreck in early
September. Marking these artefacts gives them even greater protection as
they will now be traceable. This project by the RCE, Historic England, MSDS Marine, and partners is sending a
direct message to potential thieves that underwater artefacts such as cannons
on UK's Protected Wreck Sites are ‘too hot to handle', marking a step forward
in protecting important historical wrecks. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | | In our last newsletter, we informed you about the cooperation between Sri Lanka and the
Netherlands. As requested by the Sri Lankan government, the National Museum in Colombo, the Rijksmuseum and our programme work on a long term plan for knowledge exchange on museum management. Reason for this is the return of objects to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which ended up in the Netherlands unjustly after our colonial period. Topics to
be addressed in the plan for the National Museum could include knowledge exchange about materials and
maintenance of the returned objects in the specific tropical temperatures and
humid storage conditions. Or the use of social media to spread knowledge and
information about these objects. The knowledge exchange will take place partly
online and partly as a training and workshops on location in Sri Lanka. |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | |
|---|
| |  | Tiles in the City Palace of Udaipur © RCE |
|
| Research into the provenance of the delftware tiles in the City Palace of Udaipur has shown that the tiles are not
Dutch-made. The research was carried out after our colleague Yolanda Ezendam
visited the museum in September last year at the invitation of Prince
Lakshyarai Singh (successor in the Mewar dynasty), to discuss a possible
collaboration on the basis of knowledge exchange and to identify possible
shared challenges. The City Palace Museum is housed within the iconic, 16th
century palace complex at Udaipur, the former abode of the rulers of Mewar.
A trade mission of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), led by Johan Ketelaar visited the palace in 1711. Therefore, it was assumed that the tiles were Dutch as well. However, the research came up with a surprising result. The tile experts who conducted the research - Johan Kamermans, Jan Pluis and Hans van Lemmen - concluded that the tiles were most probably produced in Liverpool, England after 1750. More results of this research can be found in the report. If you are interested, please contact Yolanda Ezendam (the report is available in English and Dutch).
|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| |
|---|
| | | At the beginning of
October, a training has
started in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in the series Indonesian-Dutch Museum Management Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange Programme. The starting point
of this training was debating the question: What does ICOM's new museum definition mean for me and my museum?
Together with the
participants, we explored possibilities of the participation of communities, discussing
questions such as: How to vitalize the relationship with visitors and
communities in our museum? Furthermore, participants followed the workshop on Strategic
Empowerment of communities and co-creation, and attended a lecture on museum
entrepreneurship and communities. This training is made possible by the Dutch embassy
in Jakarta and is a collaboration between the RCE, Reinwardt Academy, Heritage
Hands-on with Kemendikbud’s Directorate Cultural Management and Human Resources
and the Cultural Directorate of DKI (Provincial Government of Jakarta). |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | In 2014, a similar UNESCO Foundation was given on St. Eustatius © UNESCO/RCE/H. Van Tilburg |
| | In 1677, two naval battles between
the Dutch and the French took place near the island of Nieuw-Walcheren.
Multiple ships on both sides went down, causing hundreds of deaths.
Nieuw-Walcheren once was what we now call Tobago, an island just north of Trinidad
and the mainland of Venezuela. Remains of the Dutch occupation of
Nieuw-Walcheren can still be found at Rockley Bay, both on land – in the shape
of a fortress - as well as underwater – in the shape of shipwrecks.
Between 19 November and 8 December 2023, a UNESCO
Foundation course will be organised on Tobago, financed by the RCE. For three
weeks, 16 students with different professional backgrounds and living in the
countries and islands in and around the Caribbean Sea will further their
theoretical and practical education in underwater cultural heritage management.
The training will be coordinated by Prof. Martijn Manders and Dr. Chris
Underwood. Underwater archaeologists Cimberly Symister from Curacao and Jasinth
Simpson from Jamaica will serve as trainer-trainees.
The Netherlands invests in these capacity building
courses, because it believes that the underwater cultural heritage can only be
well protected if countries work together in this. In the light of the upcoming
ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the protection of the Underwater
Cultural Heritage (2001) it aims to also bring expertise in this area to help
to protect the extended underwater heritage - including some shared heritage
with other countries - and the presence of the six islands in the area –
Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius - that are part of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | |
|---|
| | | When it comes to
presenting contentious pasts, international heritage institutions are becoming
increasingly aware of the need to become more polyvocal, engaging, diverse,
(self)reflective and participatory. Inclusive, representative modes of sharing
cultural heritage add relevance to our institutions and contribute to tackling
broader societal issues. However, the desire to empathetically share contested
histories can lead to a diverse range of challenges for heritage institutions.
The Sharing Stories on Contested Histories training aims to engage with these
shared challenges by bringing together upcoming museum and heritage
professionals and academics from different countries to reflect on how we
engage with international cultural heritage topics that may be considered
‘contested’.
The training consists of two parts: Part one is a
parttime online preparatory programme which has started this September. Part
two is a fulltime on-site working programme from 12 – 17 November 2023 which
takes place in Cape Town, South Africa. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
| | | Individual property
owners sometimes lack the knowledge to professionally restore the historical
dwellings they cherish. Besides, a proper restoration can be a costly affair.
Especially in the Global South heritage restoration thus usually is beyond
reach. To tackle this challenge, Indian restoration architects joined forces to
develop an online tool. The Online Restoration Toolbox is a first aid kit for
local communities in the Global South to start a restoration process.
The
toolbox, still to be completed, was introduced during a two day international
conference in New Delhi. The online part of this conference was attended by a
variety of international and renowned speakers. The conference was supported by
EUNIC, the united European cultural centers in India, amongst whom the Dutch
embassy in New Delhi. Also the RCE and the Dutch National Restoration Platform
(NRP) contributed to the knowledge exchange by presenting the Dutch experiences
in adaptive reuse and in integrated conservation. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
|
| | | | West-Indisch Huis, Amsterdam © RCE |
| | Self-reflection is a
crucial task for a governmental organisation such as the RCE. During her
six-month internship, Masja Bentzen Wischmann reflected on the National
Monument List (in Dutch, de Rijksmonumentenlijst) by contributing to the
ongoing research project “Multiperspectivity and the National Monument List”.
How can we make the list more inclusive and multivocal, so that more people can
recognise themselves in it? To help find answers to this question, Masja looked
beyond the borders of The Netherlands to find alternative ways of dealing with
national monuments and the stories they tell. Her results are published in a weblog on the website of the RCE. Click the button below to read about her findings.
Join us for 2 webinars on multiperspectivity in
relation to built heritage
Would you like to know more about existing initiatives and projects that deal
with build heritage in inclusive and participatory ways? Do you have
experience or knowledge to share? Then join us on 20 and
27 November from 14:00 to 16:00 (CET) for two interactive online events
(organised by the RCE and the ErfgoedAcademie) that will bring together speakers
from different countries to exchange knowledge and lessons learnt from
practical examples. For more information and to register please visit english.cultureelerfgoed.nl. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | Participants during an excursion in Rotterdam © David Schelkshorn |
| | | This summer, the 8th edition of the annual course for professionals on Urban Heritage Strategies (UHS), executed within the Dutch International Cultural Policy framework, concluded successfully. This programme, a collaboration between the Cultural Heritage Agency of the
Netherlands, the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) and the Department
of Architectural Engineering (TU-Delft) aims to integrate heritage conservation into urban management for
more sustainable and liveable cities. This year's UHS programme focused on
climate adaptation, urban densification, social housing, and adaptive reuse.
Professionals from diverse sectors worldwide, including Indonesia, South Korea,
Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Türkiye, Spain, Poland, South Africa, and Ukraine,
joined us. An international
networking event hosted by the Cultural Heritage
Agency complemented the programme and facilitated interaction and knowledge
exchange between course participants and Dutch as well as international
professionals through workshop sessions on the selected focus topics. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | Quartaccio workshop © M. Conteduca |
| | At its
construction in 1984, the social housing precinct of Quartaccio in Rome (Italy)
was favoured by residents and academics alike for its spacious planning, human
scale and ambitious architecture. It was considered a successful attempt to re-introduce
tradition in postmodern planning. Above all, it was a great relief to Rome’s
tight housing market that was in big need of affordable dwellings. For these
reasons its architect, Pietro Barucci (1922-2023) was awarded on several
occasions. Today however the precinct, located in Rome’s XIV’s district,
northwest of the city centre, is in dire state. Dwellings are dilapidated,
public space is badly maintained, the overwhelming car traffic is a big nuisance,
retail and services are relocated. As a consequence the residents that can
afford to move out. Quartaccio thus is spiralling down. How to turn the tide
and how to improve living conditions?
In an attempt to find a way out the municipal Planning Board of Rome requested Sapienza University to conduct a student Laboratory on the precinct. The Lab was executed in collaboration with the two visiting professors from TU Delft. They in turn asked for support from the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of Erasmus University and the RCE (a longstanding, fruitful tripartite cooperation). Jointly the parties implemented a workshop last June, trying to find out how Quartaccio’s historic features can accommodate the current needs of its residents. The outcomes of the workshop were presented to the local authority and will be used for a rehabilitation plan. The three united Dutch parties are preparing a follow-up exchange with the Italian parties in 2024, to take place in the Netherlands. Although the conditions in the two countries are very different, they face the same challenges of a mass housing legacy of a modernist era.
|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | | The former Plaza Theatre
in Perth (Australia) is a splendid Art Deco structure dating from the 1930’ies. It used to screen the latest and most
fashionable movies and thus was the place to be for the city’s emerging jet
set. However, during the last decades, the once popular theatre lost its
glamour and now is standing idle. New and better equipped cinema’s appeared in
the outskirts of the city, while the former city centre gradually turned into a
central business district, where residents moved out.
The workshop titled Reuse, Redevelop and Design,
as conducted from 12-16 September, explored the development potentials of the
monumental structure. Its future perspectives will depend on the precinct’s
ability to accommodate new residents of especially a younger generation. The theatre
in its turn can be strategically positioned to support this revitalization of
the city’s core. This workshop was a follow-up from the 8th UHS course as described elsewhere in this newsletter. For this occasion, the
RCE joined with Braaksma & Roos Architects to lead the workshop on the
invitation of local parties, being Heritage Skills Association Western
Australia (HSAwa) in collaboration with Element Consultancies. During their
stay the Dutch experts were invited by the City of Perth to conduct a public
lecture on adaptive reuse, which was very well attended. |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | |
|---|
| | | | In the latest edition of RCE’s
magazine Tijdschrift, we published an article about the shipwreck Klein
Hollandia, once a mighty man-of-war. But when it was suddenly attacked by the
English in 1672, it sank to the bottom of the Channel. Almost 350 years passed
before the wreck was discovered. Asides from many cannons, maritime
archaeologists from RCE, Historic England en Nautical Archaeology Society also
found blocks and plates of marble. What were these doing in a warship? | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
| | | | We also published an article about our
project in Depok, Indonesia the magazine (Tijdschrift) of the RCE. In the historic centre of the Indonesian
city of Depok, it is surprising to discover from whom its inhabitants are
descended. At the same time, historical buildings are disappearing slowly and
large-scale urbanisation is advancing. Because of this, strategies have been
developed to revitalise old Depok taking into account its three centuries of
history. | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
|
| | | | | The
latest issue of the publication My Liveable City contains two articles on
International Heritage Cooperation projects: Sawaluntho (Indonesia) and Willemstad (Curacao). | |
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| | | 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.
|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|---|
| |
|
|---|
|
|
2.jpg?v=20231009154122 "West Indisch Huis (Amsterdam)")
