Studying World Heritage in the Netherlands - Part 2

What can one learn from three days of fieldwork on Texel? As it turns out, quite a bit. Visiting the exhibition “Garde Robe” at Kaap Skil museum, I came across a successful example of a museum sharing its authority with members of the community.

Henrike Florusbosch • May 31, 2016

Culture: Public or Private?

Looking at the present situation in many countries we have the impression that culture, museums and heritage have always been state financed affairs. Yet, historical reality might offer us a different picture.

Pieter ter Keurs • April 01, 2016

Hysterical Heritage? Reflections on the Dutch King’s Golden Carriage

The anthropology of material culture teaches us what things can do to people. But do we understand the cultural effects of a hysterical object like the Dutch monarchy’s Golden Carriage?

Peter Pels • September 28, 2015 • 2 comments

Roots 'en route': redesigning cultural heritages after migration

Europe is said to be endowed with creativity because of its migrant youth, mixing heritages. But cultural diversity can only be a source of innovation if lost roots are dug up. Can new technology and museums provide help?

Janine Prins • April 28, 2014

Carthage: The image of a lost city

An exhibition always poses problems of representation. In the case of the lost city of Carthage: stereotypes and a lack of information. By its upcoming exhibition the National Museum of Antiquities seeks to shed new light on the Tunisian Unesco site.

Pieter ter Keurs • March 12, 2014 • 2 comments

Notes on Utopia: An Exhibition

'Utopia, Visions of a New World' is the current exhibition in De Lankenhal Museum. An Utopia is often defined as an ideal that comes to break with the past to move towards the future. What’s new then about this particular Utopia in exhibit?

Andrea Cerda-Pereira • December 16, 2013

Mummies and coffins in Leiden

Somehow mummies and coffins have always fascinated people. Why? From the moment archaeologists excavated many of them, mummies and coffins started lives that were not originally intended.

Pieter ter Keurs • June 03, 2013 • 2 comments

Moving heritage: a political issue

We are inclined to 'sacralize' heritage, as if the importance of certain objects has always been seen and recognized and has always been beyond discussion. But meanings attributed to certain objects have always been subject to change.

Pieter ter Keurs • April 22, 2013

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