AMSTERDAM - Queen Máxima will pay a working visit to the exhibition ‘Our colonial legacy’ in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on Tuesday. The focus is on Dutch colonial history in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom, Indonesia and Suriname. There are ten themes that provide insight into how colonialism has helped shape the world today and how people survived the system.
The Tropenmuseum wants to create awareness and inform visitors about the impact of colonialism on the structures and relationships in our current society, including image formation and language use. This is done on the basis of objects, stories, films, photos and art objects. The exhibition shows how people survived colonialism with creativity, resilience and resistance.
Themes of the exhibition include labor and exploitation, raw materials and products from the colonies, music and resilience, racism, language and the 'feeling at home'. There is a digital monument of names that, based on first names, provides insight into the mutual relationships between enslaved people and their background stories. Several artists have created special works on the occasion of the exhibition.
After arrival, Queen Máxima will be given a short introduction to the exhibition by Marieke van Bommel, general director of the National Museum of World Cultures and the director of content, Wayne Modest. Afterwards, Wendeline Flores, curator of the Caribbean and Colonial History, will guide the queen through six themes of the exhibition. The working visit will be concluded with a meeting with those involved in the exhibition and representatives from, among others, education, the cultural sector and the police.
The exhibition can be seen as a permanent display in the coming years. In addition, the Tropenmuseum organizes debates and performances on the theme of the colonial past and heritage. An educational program and free online teaching materials have been developed for secondary school students. There are also programs for adults and professionals. The objects from the exhibition are part of the collection of the National Museum of World Cultures Foundation, which includes the Africa Museum, the Tropenmuseum and the Museum of Ethnology.