**Update 25 november 2021: Het symposium ‘The Future of the Dutch Colonial Past’ is uitverkocht! We hanteren een wachtlijst, in het geval er nog tickets geannuleerd worden. Hiervoor kunt u mailen naar r.stol@amsterdammuseum.nl. **
**Update 18 november 2021: Het symposium zal, zoals gepland, op locatie doorgaan. Beide dagen van het symposium vinden vanaf nu plaats bij de Hermitage. Er zijn kleine aanpassingen in het programma gemaakt. Zie het programma onderaan deze pagina voor de huidige versie. Het evenement wordt NIET via een livestream uitgezonden. Wel wordt het symposium opgenomen, en op een later moment online geplaatst. Voor vragen met betrekking tot dit symposium kunt u mailen naar: r.stol@amsterdammuseum.nl.**
**'The Future of the Dutch Colonial Past' vindt plaats op 26 en 27 november, 2021 in de Hermitage. Het symposium wordt georganiseerd door het Amsterdam Museum en haar partners ASCA, NIOD, Rijksmuseum, The Black Archives, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Vrije Universiteit en Stadsarchief Amsterdam.**
Recentelijk hebben we in Nederland vele voorbeelden kunnen zien van culturele instellingen die met een hedendaags perspectief kijken naar het Nederlands koloniaal verledenen hoe dit doorwerkt tot in het heden. Musea wijden tentoonstellingen aan gerelateerde thema's zoals *Slavernij* (Rijksmuseum), *Aan de Surinaamse grachten* (Museum van Loon) en *De Gouden Koet*s (Amsterdam Museum).
In 2020 werd in opdracht van de overheid het adviesrapport Koloniale collecties en erkenning van onrecht gepubliceerd, waarin de adviescommissie stelde dat de overheid bereidheid moet tonen om gestolen, koloniaal erfgoed te restitueren. Onderzoeksprojecten zoals het Pilotproject *Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era* (PPROCE) en *Pressing Matters: Ownership, Value and the Question of Colonial Heritage in Museums* richten zich op de methodologie en uitvoering van herkomstonderzoek, om concrete stappen richting teruggave en herstel mogelijk te maken. Van archieven tot artistieke praktijken en in de publieke ruimte, wordt op verschillende gebieden het koloniale verleden van Nederland benaderd. Niet enkel erfgoed objecten, maar de kennis, symbolen en de taal waarmee we vandaag de dag werken worden onderworpen aan een herevaluatie.
In dit symposium beogen we de diepgewortelde voortzetting van het koloniale verleden van Nederland in onze hedendaagse culturele en academische praktijken te onderzoeken. Hoe kunnen we de benadering van culturele instellingen, makers en academische praktijken samenbrengen, zodat we toe kunnen werken naar tastbare resultaten? We beogen deze vraag te beantwoorden door een interdisciplinair gesprek te faciliteren over het Nederlands koloniaal verleden, de manieren waarop deze geschiedenis wordt benaderd en hoe het vormgeeft aan hedendaagse praktijken.
**Sessies (voertaal Engels):**
- Dutch Colonial Heritage in a Global Context (opening)
- Repair and Redress (NMVW & NIOD)
- Iconoclasm: Toppling Statues, Changing Street Names, Challenging Dominant
Narratives (The Black Archives)
- Curating Contested Heritage (Rijksmuseum)
- Decoloniality in Academic Research, Activism and Artistic Practice (ASCA)
- Artistic Practices and Reflections (Amsterdam Museum)
- Rereading the Archive (New Narratives & Stadsarchief)
**Organisatiecomité**: Isabelle Britto, Mitchell Esajas, Ellen Grabowsky, Eloe Kingma, Susan Legêne, Imara Limon, Wayne Modest, Esther Peeren, Mirjam Schaap, Margriet Schavemaker, Inez Blanca van der Scheer, Esmee Schoutens, Valika Smeulders, Rowan Stol, Frank van Vree.
*Deze bijeenkomst is een Testen voor Toegang-event. U dient te beschikken over een coronatoegangsbewijs. Een coronatoegangsbewijs bestaat uit een volledige coronavaccinatie, herstelbewijs of testbewijs. Op www.testenvoortoegang.org vindt u alle informatie. Het coronatoegangsbewijs dient u in de CoronaCheck-app te kunnen tonen. In verband met uw en onze veiligheid kunnen wij u om legitimatie vragen; vergeet deze niet mee te nemen. Als u geen (geldig) coronatoegangsbewijs aan de deur kunt tonen, krijgt u geen toegang tot dit evenement, en wordt het aankoopbedrag van het ticket niet gerestitueerd.
This event is a 'Testen voor Toegang'-event. You are required to present a valid COVID Certificate. This consists of either proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test or a proof of recovery. You can find all info regarding this topic on www.testenvoortoegang.org. You will need to have the CoronaCheck-app to show your proof or negative test. We may need to ask to see your identification, so please don't forget to bring this as well. *
Friday November 26th, 2021 - 09:00 - 18:00
Hosted by: Margriet Schavemaker & Imara Limon
Hermitage Amsterdam
09:00 - 09:30 WALK IN + REGISTRATION
09:30 - 11:00 SESSION 1 - Dutch colonial heritage in a global context
Moderators: Margriet Schavemaker & Imara Limon
09:30 - 09:40 Opening statement - By Margriet Schavemaker & Imara Limon
09:40 - 09:50 Introductory interview - With Karwan Fatah-Black
09:50 - 10:30 Opening panel - with Tirza Balk, Aspha Bijnaar, Susan Legêne, Frank van Vree & Urwin Vyent
10:30 - 11:00 Keynote - By Ciraj Rassool
SHORT BREAK
11:15 - 12:45 SESSION 2 - Repair and Redress
Moderator: Wayne Modest
This first panel will discuss notions of Repair (= engaging with the colonial past in ways that actively acknowledge the deep impact on contemporary societies and individuals in terms of past and present violence and Redress (= agreeing on acts that in a concrete sense contribute to changing current relationships to this past)
The context for this discussion is threefold: (1) the policy report ‘Colonial collections and recognition of injustice’; (2) the PPROCE project on methodologies of provenance research for colonial collections; (3) the Pressing Matter project on ownership value and the question of colonial heritage in museums.
11:15 - 11:45 Repair - Presentation 'Fragments of Repair' - By Kader Attia
11:45 - 12:05 Redress - Presentation PPROCE - By Klaas Stutje & Frank van Vree
12:05 – 12:45 Panel discussion: With Kader Attia, Ciraj Rassool, Klaas Stutje, Frank van Vree & Carine Zaayman
12:45 - 13:45 LUNCH
SESSION 3 - Curating Contested Heritage
Moderator: Valika Smeulders
European national museums and their collections, built in the 19th century, are rooted in ideas of nationalism and colonialism of that era. The Rijksmuseum’s Slavery-exhibition, which was on during the summer of 2021, demonstrates the Netherlands’ current day reckoning with its colonial past. The museum is re-examining its collection, bringing in new expertise from different disciplines, among which most notably oral history, and bringing in newly acquired and loaned historical and contemporary objects to be able to address the past in a more balanced way. The four-year process of preparing the exhibition was executed in a participative and transparent way, building a broad support base for the exhibition and new involvement with the museum into the future. How is this transformation received by the public? What steps are taken by museums across the Netherlands regarding the decolonization of exhibiting, programming and working inclusively? What characterized the Rijksmuseum’s curatorial approach that resulted into this exhibition, and how does this relate to the practice of museums in other countries dealing with the colonial past?
13:45 – 13:55 Introduction - By Valika Smeulders
13:55 – 14:20 Presentation - By David Bade & Tirzo Martha
14:20 – 14:35 Talk - By Anthony Bogues
14:35 – 14:50 Talk - By Aspha Bijnaar
14:45 – 15:15 Paneltalk + audience questions - With David Bade, Tirzo Martha, Anthony Bogues & Aspha Bijnaar
15:15 - 15:30 SHORT BREAK
15:30 - 17:00 SESSION 4 - Artistic Practices and Reflections
Moderators: Inez van der Scheer & Margriet Schavemaker
In our engagement with the colonial past, institutions are in a process of transformation. We are reflecting on our own role in sociohistorical narratives that are currently contested or being unpacked and this reflection entails new practices of curation, intention as well as form. What (hi)stories do we tell and how do we present them? What audiences do we hope to engage in this debate and what message do we hope to impart on them? How do we collaborate to stimulate multivocality in broaching the colonial past, present and decolonial futures?
For the Golden Coach exhibition, we have commissioned the visions of several contemporary artists on this loaded history. Especially in the context of colonial history where a single Eurocentric narrative has thus far prevailed in archives and collections, contemporary makers play a vital role in redressing this imbalance. As a result, different ways of thinking about the relationship between past and present and history and art emerge in the exhibition. Artists mediate between the audience and the institution, bringing their personal insights and experiences forward. As individuals or collectives, they have cultivated unique artistic practices for navigating colonial histories, objects and collections. In this panel, we will offer the contemporary makers of the Golden Coach exhibition a platform to share their experiences, motivations and creative practices of social critique.
15:30 - 15:40 Opening statement - By Inez van der Scheer & Margriet Schavemaker
15:40 - 16:00 Lecture - By Clémentine Deliss
16:00 – 16:10 Column - By Raul Balai
16:10 - 16:55 Roundtable - With Raquel van Haver, Iswanto Hartono & Raul Balai
16:55 - 17:00 Closing remarks
17:00 - 17:30 CLOSING REMARKS DAY 1
By Margriet Schavemaker & Imara Limon
Saturday November 27th, 2021 - 09:00 - 18:00
Hosted by: Wayne Modest
Hermitage Amsterdam
9:00 - 9:30 WALK IN + REGISTRATION
9:30 - 11:00 SESSION 5 - Activism, Academic Research and Decoloniality
Moderator: Esther Peeren
How are theories of decoloniality (by, for example, Walter Mignolo, Sylvia Wynter, Rolando Vazquez) used in and across academic research, activism and artistic practice to address the afterlives of colonialism in the present and to challenge the disavowal of these afterlives? How can theories of decoloniality help to foreground and recognize the forms of knowledge and genres of being and living that have been marginalized and devalued by the system of modernity-coloniality? Besides addressing these questions, the speakers, who all work on the intersection of academic research, activism and art, will reflect on how the borders between these fields can be crossed (out) so that they can creatively feed into each other, and so that art and activism can find a place within academia as research practices.
9:30 - 9:40 Introduction: What is Decoloniality? - By Rolando Vazquez
9:40 - 9:50 Position statement - By Julian Isenia
9:50 - 10:00 Position statement - By Mikki Stelder
10:00 - 10:10 Position statement- By Barbara Titus
10:10 – 10:20 Position statement – By meLê yamomo
10:20 – 10:40 Panel discussion – With Rolando Vázquez, Julian Isenia, Mikki Stelder, Barbara Titus & meLê yamomo
10:40 – 10:50 Q&A with audience
10:50 – 11:00 Closing thoughts panelists
11:00 - 11:15 SHORT BREAK
11:15 - 12:45 SESSION 6 - Iconoclasm: toppling statues, changing street names, challenging dominant narratives
Moderator: Mitchell Esajas
Across Europe grassroots movements have organized, petitioned, lobbied and protested to change street names, remove statues and other symbols of Europe's colonial past which continue to remain present in the public place. Over the past decade, a new wave of anti-racism emerged in the Netherlands centered around the “zwarte piet” stereotype. It became the catalyst for a broader public debate about contested heritage including street names and statues.
In this panel we will reflect on the meaning of such relics of the past in present public space and the dynamic in the movements which organize to remove them. How does this work contribute to the creation of space to question, decolonize, and expand upon dominant historical narratives in museums and in the public space?
11:15 – 11:20 Short introduction - by Mitchell Esajas
11:20 – 12:00 Short 10 minute presentations - with Nancy Jouwe, Simukai Chigidu & Sherida Kuffour
12:00 – 12:45 Roundtable – with Nancy Jouwe, Simukai Chigudu & Sherida Kuffour
13:45 - 15:15 SESSION 7 - Rereading the Archive
Moderator: Imara Limon
The afterlife of Dutch colonial history permeates our cultural institutions, including archives such as the Amsterdam City Archives (Stadsarchief). The colonial past manifests itself in archival documents such as letters of manumission, notarial deeds and registers of slavery, prompting archivists to critically reflect on the conservation and handling of this fraught heritage today. But the question of the colonial and the anti-colonial in archival practices goes beyond the objects that we know to contain colonial and slavery histories.
What can contemporary developments around accessibility and digitization, the exclusion and inclusion of marginalized histories and creative or subversive research methodologies mean for the archives as institutions and archival research as a discipline? What new narratives can we unearth from the archives or may emerge from our alternative archival research practices? For this session, experts from across the field will present a variety of research projects and reflect on their engagement with colonial heritage in and outside the archival discipline in a panel discussion.
13:45 - 13:55 Introduction - By Imara Limon
13:55 - 14:35 Short presentations - By Mark Ponte, Chandra Frank, Michael Karabinos
14:35 - 14:40 Intermezzo - By Richard Kofi
14:40 - 15:15 Panel discussion - With Mark Ponte, Chandra Frank, Michael Karabinos
15:15 - 15:45 Closing Remarks
Moderator: Imara Limon & Margriet Schavemaker
15:45 - 18:30 Visit the 'Golden Coach' exhibtion at Amsterdam Museum
Visitors are invited to join a tour through the exhibition by Annemarie de Wildt