For the Moluccan community in The Netherlands representation and emancipation are important matters. This thesis examines how one of the most renowned Dutch ethnology museums, the Museum of...Show moreFor the Moluccan community in The Netherlands representation and emancipation are important matters. This thesis examines how one of the most renowned Dutch ethnology museums, the Museum of Ethnology, has represented the Moluccas and the Moluccan people in its exhibitions between 1995 and the present-day. It also zooms in on how the museum has engaged with the colonial history of its Moluccas collection. Lastly, this thesis shows to what degree it has involved the Moluccan community in the creation of its Moluccas exhibitions.Show less
The Dubois Collection, currently patrimony of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (the Netherlands), is a contested assemblage of fossils and personal archival material pertaining to the...Show moreThe Dubois Collection, currently patrimony of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (the Netherlands), is a contested assemblage of fossils and personal archival material pertaining to the Dutch palaeontology and paleoanthropologist Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois (1858 – 1940). Most notably, the collection contains a skullcap and femurs belonging to the ancient hominid ancestor Homo Erectus. These finds were dubbed ‘Java Man’ and constitute the earliest physical evidence that the human lineage has been subject to evolution according to Darwinian principles of selection and adaptation. While these have always been a subject of great interest to the scientific community, the historicity of the Collection and particularly the contested status of these fossils have attracted much less academic interest over the last 12 decades. This changed when a formal request by the government of Indonesia for restitution of the Dubois Collection was filed with the Dutch government in October 2022. A state commission is now deliberating on the rightful place of residence for the Dubois Collection. Because there is a possibility that the Java Man fossils may remain with their current stewards at Naturalis in Leiden, it is worthwhile to examine their exhibition history and investigate how the current permanent exhibition seeks to educate the public about the historical context in which these fossils were acquired. This text questions whether the permanent exhibition on Dubois and Java Man in Naturalis Biodiversity Center reflects a commitment to researching and informing the public about the historical context in which the Dubois Collection was acquired. It describes the exhibition history of the Dubois Collection and particularly the Java Man fossils and critically examines the narrative that has been presented in these exhibitions. Particularly, this text argues that the perceived differences between natural history and material culture collections are instrumental in explaining why the current permanent exhibition falls short of educating the public about the historical context in which the Java Man fossils were acquired. It also elaborates on the public statements made by museum staff to further contextualise the possible motivations for making certain design choices in this exhibition.Show less
In this interdisciplinary thesis, I use history and anthropology to research the influence of migration history on the identity construct of Hindostani people in the Netherlands. The work is...Show moreIn this interdisciplinary thesis, I use history and anthropology to research the influence of migration history on the identity construct of Hindostani people in the Netherlands. The work is anthropological because I created data by interviewing 23 participants about their lives and experiences, and historical because I used a framework of scholars who have researched the complex fields of identity, colonialism, migration, and transnational history or have specifically researched Hindostani people and their history. Combining these datasets, I present a case study that goes in depth to find out what the influence of colonial migration is on Hindostani people in a ‘postcolonial’ society such as the Netherlands. The conclusion is a careful but meaningful one, as it offers insights into both the people I interviewed and the society in which they live. This study shows that identity is so complex and personal that migration history has divergent meaning and effect on the lives of individual Hindostanis, so that even pointers such as age and gender cannot indicate the importance of that history to a Hindostani person. The only exception to this was religion, as religious participants ascribed more meaning to their migration history. Their history played a large part in the constructing of their identity and in the raising of their children. Lastly, I argue that both interdisciplinary and microhistory, even though small-scale, are key to historical research, especially of colonial history, by creating data and writing with the people who are the embodiment of that history.Show less
Pieter Albert Bik (1798-1855), a Dutch colonial official, left behind an unpublished manuscript detailing his travels during his career both in Asia, especially in Japan and the Dutch East Indies,...Show morePieter Albert Bik (1798-1855), a Dutch colonial official, left behind an unpublished manuscript detailing his travels during his career both in Asia, especially in Japan and the Dutch East Indies, and in Europe, notably along the Rhine. A close examination of the manuscript suggests that Bik's interpretation of his travel experiences in Europe and overseas were remarkably similar, and that both were influenced by the burgeoning phenomenon of European tourism that was taking root along the Rhine at the time. A close reading of this source, and a brief comparative analysis, show that tourism indeed influenced the discourse of colonial travel much earlier than has so far been acknowledged. An examination of this influence calls to question several conventional presumptions of colonial history, and draws attention to a thus far seldom recognised character: the early colonial leisurely tourist. This analysis, however, requires - apart from primary research - a synthesis of the academic literatures on colonial travel on the one hand, and European tourist culture on the other.Show less
