Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
open access
The debate of restitution and the return of cultural treasures has been a hot topic in international media in recent years. France, Germany, the Netherlands and most recently, Belgium are the...Show moreThe debate of restitution and the return of cultural treasures has been a hot topic in international media in recent years. France, Germany, the Netherlands and most recently, Belgium are the European countries that are trying to address these challenging questions from a different perspective. Undoubtedly, the return of cultural heritage is a complex and emotionally loaded subject for all the parties involved. For instance, in 2020 Congolese activist Mwazulu Diyabanza Siwa Lemba and his ‘comrades’ from the organization Unité Dignité Courage (UDC) took these matters literally in their own hands. They attempted to ‘restitute’ objects from three French museums: a museum in Marseille, Quai Branly, and Louvre in Paris, as well as from Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal, the Netherlands. From Afrika museum, Mwazulu Diyabanza took a wooden statue and live-streamed this attempt on the internet. Later, in 2021, he was charged by a court of Nijmegen. He has more pending court cases in France regarding the same acts of vigilantism. While for ‘outsiders’ this is an act of crime and an attempt of theft, UDC sees it as a noble deed of taking back what was ‘stolen’ from Africa by colonialists. The organization frames it as an act of ‘free speech’. News outlets semi-ironically labeled the Congolese activist ‘the Robin Hood of the restitution’.Show less
Deze bachelor scriptie behandelt het onderwerp koloniale roofkunst uit voormalig Nederlands-Indië in het Museum Volkenkunde te Leiden. Onderzocht wordt hoe de huidige media aandacht voor dit...Show moreDeze bachelor scriptie behandelt het onderwerp koloniale roofkunst uit voormalig Nederlands-Indië in het Museum Volkenkunde te Leiden. Onderzocht wordt hoe de huidige media aandacht voor dit onderwerp invloed heeft op het tentoonstellen en informatie verschaffing van deze objecten. Ook wordt onderzocht hoe dit museum, en de Nederlandse Staat, tegenover restitutie van deze koloniale objecten staat.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
De manier waarop de Ander vorm krijgt in een etnografisch museum, verschilt per museum. Op basis van de politiek in het museum, de tentoonstellingen en de kenmerken en opmerkingen van het publiek,...Show moreDe manier waarop de Ander vorm krijgt in een etnografisch museum, verschilt per museum. Op basis van de politiek in het museum, de tentoonstellingen en de kenmerken en opmerkingen van het publiek, is onderzocht welk beeld van de Ander wordt gepresenteerd door Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden en Musée du Quai Branly in Parijs. De overeenkomsten en verschillen tussen kunst en etnografisch object worden benoemd.Show less
In the museum world, Western perceptions regarding indigenous peoples have often changed in the past and are still changing continually today. This thesis consists of an effort to trace these past...Show moreIn the museum world, Western perceptions regarding indigenous peoples have often changed in the past and are still changing continually today. This thesis consists of an effort to trace these past changes in representations of native peoples from the first museums to modern times, taking the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden as a case study. This case study turns out to be an illustrative example of how these changes occurred in ethnographic museums as results of the changes in the political and academic climate at the time, as well as the changing awareness indigenous peoples had of their own culture. By being aware of these past changes, it is better possible to plan ahead for the future.Show less
