Tropenmuseum Past & Present
One World, A Thousand Stories
A museum has many stories to tell, and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam tells stories about non-western cultures. The museum promotes learning about other cultures and encourages interaction through its thousands of objects displayed in temporary and permanent exhibitions. The history of the Tropenmuseum is a story of cultural change in itself. The development of the museum since it was founded at the end of the nineteenth century and the way the presentation of non-western cultures changed over the past century is a fascinating story.
Colonial beginnings
Founded by Frederik Willem van Eeden, father of the famous author Willem Frederik van Eeden and secretary of the Netherlands Society for Industry, the Colonial Museum opened its doors in Haarlem in 1871. The aim was to exhibit ‘raw materials, natural products and crafts from the Dutch overseas territories.’ This intention, widely supported by a mixed group of enthusiastic businessmen and politicians was later developed and refined. Influenced by comparative ethnology, the focus moved to bringing together a complete as possible collection of objects. A collection that ‘bears relevance to the current situation of a people in order to gain knowledge about their housekeeping, ethics and customs,’ not purely an art or ethnic museum then, but a place offering possibilities for knowledge transfer and the chance to stimulate trade and prosperity.
In 1926, when the current building in the east of Amsterdam was inaugurated as the Colonial Institute, the collection already included 30,000 objects as well as a substantial number of photographs. A variegated whole, mainly brought together by private donations and donations from explorers, travellers and scientists.
Daily life
Following Indonesian independence, the museum broadened its horizons to include the whole of the tropics; the Middle East, Africa and Latin America come into the picture. The name changed first to Indisch Instituut (Dutch East and West Indies Institute), then to Tropeninstituut (Tropical Institute). New collections emerged, forming an impression of all facets of daily life. Special expeditions ‘in the field’ aimed at collecting objects, provided complete scenes of agriculture, crafts and trade from countries such as India, Suriname and Libya, with ox carts, homes and full-sized boats.
‘The Third World’
Riding the waves of the political engagement of the 1960s and 1970s the museum too, underwent a transformation, partly due to initiative taken by the Ministry of the Exterior, which wanted to encourage understanding and increase public support for development cooperation. Problems such as poverty and discrimination were addressed by themes such as homelessness, water supplies, the position of women, health, rural development and the rise of new urban cultures.
Needless to say, this change left its mark on the collection to which examples of local technology and recycling have been added. The museum itself was thoroughly renovated at the beginning of the 1970s. One of the aims was to become more customer-oriented. A new wing was to house the museum for children (now the Tropenmuseum Junior).
Cultural development
The 1980s brought another shift in perspective. Increasingly more attention was paid to cultural development; in order to show processes of change, objects were less often shown out of context and more frequently related to other objects.
With the introduction of Travellers days, where enthusiastic travellers and organisations shared their experiences with the public, the museum became the place for cultures to meet in a more literal sense too.
The present and the near future
Integration into the community has been and continues to be an important focus: the aim is an even stronger emphasis on cultural exchange as a drive for ongoing change, starting here and now. Visitors can expect substantial changes to the interior, in which the collection will better express non-material values. The building will follow this trend: a remodelling of the entrance area is planned, in which the openness and transparency serve as a physical reflection of a socially relevant design.
Objects and their stories
From school collection to complete multi-media experience
In the first decade of the Colonial Museum, the Dutch public mainly saw local handicrafts and trade products: the school collection, mainly for scientific and educational purposes, held beautiful (and extremely popular) examples. With the emergence of ethnology and a more serious interest in non-western cultures, the method of exhibition shifted. Instead of emphasising an isolated product, the museum focussed more on connections: a complete story, paying attention to cultural, social and economic aspects.
The Tropenmuseum’s main aim is to provide exhibitions that show new connections through appealing stories, relevant to modern Dutch society. The format is attuned to today’s sense perception, combining objects, video, animation and sound in order to replicate the environment as authentically as possible.
Cultural heritage and objects from all aspects of life
In 1926, the collection of objects already totalled 30,000 items, including 15,000 objects from the former Artis zoo ethnographic museum. Currently, the museum has access to 175,000 objects, 155,000 photos and 10,000 other items (drawings, paintings, documents etc.). These include masterpieces with prime historical and aesthetical value. However, everyday utensils are best represented, from household to home altar, from tools to personal jewellery.
Geographically determined collections
These form the core of the entire collection and are divided into South-East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania and a collection which falls outside the primary scope of the museum with objects from China, Japan, Korea and Europe.
Photography
This collection with 155,000 primarily historical images is very comprehensive and of great value. Particularly well represented are the years 1855 to 1940, the former Dutch East Indies and the Dutch West Indies, with photographs taken by the best professional Dutch photographers of the time.
Thematic collections
Music is featured in the museum, in the context of culture, feasts, celebrations and religions. The collection includes 5,500 instruments, hundreds of theatre accessories, puppet shows, costumes, masks and a complete set of gamelan instruments that are regularly brought to life during gamelan concerts.
The museum houses a major textiles collection of international importance consisting of more than 21,000 items, including fabrics and weaving looms. The collection from Indonesia especially, includes various unique pieces. Popular art and religious objects: these are mostly made in an urban environment by people without professional art training, often with a practical function such as signs or coffins.
Tropenmuseum Junior – Foreign becomes familiar
Cultural education is imperative so that children can enter the complex world of the future with an open attitude. Tropenmuseum Junior has met this need for over thirty years in its own original and creative manner. Enthusiastic and expert staff organise interactive exhibitions about non-western cultures for children aged 6 to 12. The collection of artefacts and clothing collected especially for this exhibition may be touched and used by children – something which is hardly ever permitted in a museum. A visit thus becomes an experience, the children themselves bringing the exhibition to life. Head and heart are nourished and all the senses are appealed to.
Through its own research, Tropenmuseum Junior has up-to-date knowledge of other cultures; this is incorporated in well thought-through interactive educational programmes. On a yearly basis Tropenmuseum Junior and the museum as a whole attract at least 30,000 children.
Partners and projects all over the world
The Tropenmuseum is the most visible aspect of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) to the public. For almost a century, the KIT has been a versatile institute for international and intercultural cooperation, while the museum has been raising Dutch public awareness of how cultures function and interact, by organising exhibitions and other activities.
The institute has about 450 employees and is active in more than 60 countries throughout the world, and provides advice on development projects, scientific research, education and training, and information services. In the Netherlands, the KIT works on raising awareness of sustainable development and fighting poverty. The KIT includes the following departments: Development, Policy & Practice, Biomedical Research, Intercultural Management & Communication, the Tropenmuseum, the Tropentheater, KIT Publishers, and Information & Library Services. It works with governments, scientific institutions, international companies, development and other aid organisations and multilateral organisations such as the UN, EU and the World Bank.
The museum as partner in international and domestic activities
The Tropenmuseum is involved in very diverse international projects, in cooperation with other KIT departments as well as with local organisations. This encompasses expertise in the fields of history, culture and processes of change as well as more organisational aspects such as knowledge transfer, transcending cultural borders and purely museum-related tasks such as describing and keeping record of collections, formulating exhibition policy and organising specific exhibitions.
A historic building with a tale
“In the east of our capital, towering over houses and trees…” wrote an enthusiastic journalist from Eigen Haard (a Dutch housing corporation) on 9 October 1926 at the opening of the Colonial Institute. This pride was justifiable, as what now houses both the KIT and the Tropenmuseum was not only the largest building in Amsterdam but also combined styles and insights in a way rarely found in other places around the country.
The building process was accompanied by heated discussions by politicians as well as the press and many setbacks. It took 11 years and lots of perseverance to complete the building.
The building, designed by J.J. van Nieukerken, is richly decorated by Dutch standards. It contains numerous references, both literal and symbolic, to experts, founders, objectives, science, agriculture, flora and fauna, religions, folktales and myths from the cultures concerned. For more than ten years, a special Symbolism Committee worked on the preparation and supervision of the decorative elements. The result is a continually surprising multi-layered composition, which can be enjoyed as a work of art or read as a book in which all the ideals of the founders can be discovered. The sculptures, friezes, paintings and carvings have been executed with high quality materials and produced by renowned artists from the first half of the twentieth century.
Time and place for reflection
Visiting the museum and taking the time to experience both the exhibition and the building is very rewarding. The spacious timeless area of the Light Hall is interspersed with surprising views and intimate alcoves. From especially forged window handles to enormous paintings, the building continually reflects the vision with which it was created. Time slows down and a new dimension filters through to the present. The building creates an atmosphere beguiling visitors to be receptive and reflective.
Towards new openness
In 2003, the building housing the Royal Tropical Institute was listed as an historic monument due to its extraordinary architecture and historic character. Far-reaching plans for the years to come aim to make this unique place even more accessible. There will be a new entry on the Linnaeusstraat creating a dynamic space of transition between the museum and the city. Conference facilities and facilities for group visits will be expanded considerably in order to accommodate an increasing number of visitors from diverse backgrounds (international guests, tourists, professionals, students, theatre and music lovers), enabling them to find their way in the past and present of cultural interaction in a modern setting.
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