Symposium: 'The Tropenmuseum for a change!'
Video reports on YouTube
Present between past and future
Over the past few years, the Tropenmuseum has been realising a major renovation of its permanent exhibits. The museum has celebrated the completion of this large-scale renewal with an international symposium called ‘The Tropenmuseum for a change!’. On Thursday, 11 December 2008, speakers from the Netherlands and abroad discussed the role and importance of ethnological museums in the 21st century.
The bulletin 'Tropenmuseum for a change!' focuses on what the role of an ethnographic museum should actually encompass. This publication is available at KIT Publishers.
Three short videos of the symposium were made and have been uploaded to the YouTube Tropenmuseum channel.
Symposium on YouTube (part 1)
This video contains interviews with the director of the museum, Lejo Schenk, and two international professionals, Jyotindra Jain and Susan Vogel, who give their opinion on the renewed exhibitions India and Africa. It also includes several images of these renewed exhibitions.
Symposium on YouTube (part 2)
This video contains the first part of the symposium, with an introduction by its director, Lejo Schenk, and a presentation on the concepts, intentions and ideas underlying the renewed exhibitions by former head of the curatorial department, Professor Dr. Susan Legêne.
Symposium on YouTube (part 3)
This video is an abstract of a long panel discussion, moderated by Professor Kitty Zijlmans, with Prof. Jyotindra Jain from Indira Gandhi University, Dr. Henrietta Lidchi from National Museums of Scotland, and with curator, art critic and writer Okwui Enwezor critically discussing the Tropenmuseum as it is now.
The renovation
The ten permanent exhibitions in the Tropenmuseum were all renovated one-by-one. Due to this phased work schedule, the museum was able to respond to the most current international discussions in the museum world. In its redesigned departments, the Tropenmuseum aims to provide a glimpse of global cultural diversity, while at the same time paying attention to the similarities between people around the world. Visitors are encouraged to think about these differences and similarities and over their own culture and identity.
The Tropenmuseum has developed into a dynamic museum, oriented towards narratives from different cultures around the world, and with considerable attention for immaterial heritage and for objects in the collection of the Tropenmuseum as the central storytellers.
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