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Over the past year, various institutions have carried out research with support from the Colonial Collections Provenance Research Scheme run by the Colonial Collections Consortium. The Mission Museum Steyl provides a notable example of such research: there, the provenance of a Chinese honorary tapestry – which became part of the collection under circumstances that are not entirely clear – has been investigated.

Following a successful first round of the Colonial Collections Provenance Research Scheme, the second round of research projects has now also been launched. The Zaans Museum is carrying out a unique study of over a hundred items of clothing made from chintz: a cotton calico textile from India, usually hand-painted with floral motifs.

One year after the first round of the Colonial Collections Provenance Research Scheme, the second round of research projects is now in full swing. The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics is carrying out provenance research into various Indonesian objects in its collection; the museum currently holds over 1,800 such objects.

One year after the first application round for the Colonial Collections Provenance Research Scheme closed, the first ten research projects have largely been concluded. Museum Prinsenhof Delft conducted research into twelve objects from the Nusantara sub-collection, which originally came from Indonesia and, via the collections of various institutions, eventually came into the museum’s care.

Four museums receive a grant from the Colonial Collections Consortium for provenance research, contributed through the Provenance Research Scheme. With this grant, they will investigate the provenance histories of a (sub)collection or a specific object for which there are indications that it was acquired in a colonial context.

In this blog series, the Colonial Collections Consortium presents a historical object or collection from a colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Our latest blog focuses on a toad and a photograph from Suriname.

The Colonial Collections Datahub is a digital platform that brings together, enriches and provides insights into information on collections from colonial contexts. To help users navigate the platform, the Consortium will launch a series of video tutorials. With these, the user can learn more about the platform.

One year after the closing of the first round of the Regeling Herkomstonderzoek Colonial Collections, the research projects of the ten institutions that were awarded funding are in full swing. This funding scheme allows Dutch institutions managing collections to research the provenance of objects collected from colonial contexts, as a core task of careful and transparent collection management.

In this blog series, the Colonial Collections Consortium presents a historical object or collection from a colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Our latest blog focuses on a relief plaque from the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria.

In this blog series, the Colonial Collections Consortium presents a historical object or collection from a colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Our latest blog focuses on the Dubois collection, until recently part of the collection of Naturalis.

NWO has awarded funding to eight research projects in the second round of the Call for Research into collections with a colonial context. The awarded projects aim to promote knowledge development, knowledge exchange and cooperation between researchers from countries of origin and museums in the Netherlands.

Between 23-25 September 2025, approximately eighty participants gathered in the Netherlands for the European Working Conference on Collections from Colonial Contexts, organized by the Colonial Collections Consortium. We are pleased to share a short summary, and an in-depth report of the conference.

The Provenance Research Scheme by the Colonial Collections Consortium contributes to eleven museums that will investigate the provenance history of their (sub)collection or a specific object for which there are indications that it was acquired in a colonial context. In this second round of applications, €256.683 has been awarded.

The Provenance Research Scheme by the Colonial Collections Consortium contributes to ten museums that will invastigate the provenance history of their (sub) collection or a specific object for which there are indications that it was acquired in a colonial context. The Provenance Research Scheme makes a total of €500.000 available for such research.

The call for the knowledge exchange  programme for young museum professionals ‘Sharing Stories on Contested Histories’ is now open for applications. The programme includes online sessions across five weeks and a one-week onsite programme in the Netherlands from 29 October to 5 November 2025. The deadline to apply is 26 May 2025.

This fellowship is intended for researchers from formerly colonised countries with an interest in (lost) collections or objects from those regions that are currently held in the Netherlands. We look forward to welcoming Panggah Ardiyansyah, Ganga Dissanayaka, and Leandro Matthews Cascon this September.

The exhibition Unfinished Pasts: return, keep, or …?, opening on 9 May at Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, offers an in-depth exploration of the current debate surrounding collections gathered during the colonial period and the question of restitution. Visitors are invited to learn about the provenance of cultural objects and to reflect on ownership, value, and the ethical implications of a colonial history.

A coalition of Amsterdam based Archives, Museums and Historical institutes has taken the initiative for a five-year fellowship programme for curators, archivists and historians. The fellowships are open to professionals working on the history of slavery in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Indonesian archipelago, linked to the Dutch involvement in  slave trade and slave labour.

At the request of Nigeria, the Netherlands is returning 113 Benin Bronzes from the Dutch State Collection. This decision was taken by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins.

In response to a request by the United States and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas, and on the advice of the Colonial Collections Committee, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins will be returning seven objects from the Dutch National Art Collection.  

This fellowship is intended for researchers from source countries – including heritage practitioners, historians, archaeologists, social scientists, artists, journalists, and/or cultural activists – with an interest in (lost) collections or objects from those countries or regions that are kept in the Netherlands. 

The city of Rotterdam has become the first in the Netherlands to return art objects from the colonial era to Indonesia. The restitution involves two singa statues from Lombok and 66 objects from South Bali, which were held by the Wereldmuseum.

Does your museum manage collections and objects from colonial contexts and would you like to do provenance research on these? The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has made budget available for provenance research on colonial collections. A total of EUR 500,000 is available that will be awarded to provenance research projects.

Until March 2025, Dyonna Bennet (Zichtbaar Erfgoed) will be working on an inventory of collections from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten that are currently present in Dutch (museum) collections. The aim is to gain more insight into the presence of Caribbean heritage in Dutch museums.

In response to a request from Indonesia, the Netherlands is returning 288 objects from the Dutch State Collection to Indonesia. These objects were wrongfully taken to the Netherlands during the colonial period and are of cultural interest to Indonesia.

Wereldmuseum, partner of the Colonial Collections Consortium, is looking for a Project Officer who will help implement the Provenance Research Grants. Do you have experience working on restitution, repatriation and provenance reseach cases and are you familar with the Dutch policy? Then we invite you to apply.

NWO has awarded funding to 11 research within the call ‘Research into collections with a colonial context’. Dutch museum collections may contain looted objects with a colonial context. This programme aims to redress injustice and strengthen trust and cooperation with the countries of origin.

In September, the first two fellows of the NIAS-NIOD-KITLV Moving Objects, Mobilising Culture in the Context of (De)colonisation start their research projects. The fellowship enables researchers and heritage professionals from former colonized countries to conduct five months of research into collections that arrived in the Netherlands in the context of colonialism.

The Call for Applications for the exchange programme Sharing Stories on Contested Histories is now open. The 2024 edition will explore how striving for equity may look like in our work, by stimulating and facilitating an exchange of knowledge, tools and experiences regarding our professional practices.

At the beginning of April, a Netherlands delegation visited Suriname, during which agreements were made about cooperation in the field of colonial collections. For this visit, the Colonial Collections Consortium mapped out which objects are present in Dutch public collections through the colonial history of the Netherlands and Suriname.

Provenance research is an important part of collection management. On Wednesday 10 April, more than 100 institutions from the international field pay extra attention to this during International Provenance Research Day with publications and activities such as guided tours and presentations.

Nuffic announces the launch of the Cultural Heritage scholarship programme. This initiative, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is designed to empower young professionals from Indonesia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and South Africa to enhance their knowledge of cultural heritage management.

Moving objects, Mobilising Culture in the Context of (De)colonization is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and intended for researchers from formerly colonised countries – including heritage practitioners, historians, archaeologists, social scientists, artists, journalists, and/or cultural activists – with an interest in (lost) collections or objects from those countries or regions that are kept in the Netherlands.

A team of the Rijksmuseum and the consortium developed a way to synchronise dat between applications from the museum and the consortium.

At the end of November, a saber of famous Indonesian resistance hero Diponegoro resurfaced in Het Loo Palace. The blade of the saber was most likely part of the personal weapon of the prince with a legendary reputation, who fought the Dutch colonial rule.

The expertise of researchers from countries of origin is crucial for the study of objects and collections from a colonial context present in Dutch museums. Partly as a result of these issues, a new call for proposals has now been developed within programme line 2 of the NWA (‘National Science Agenda’): ‘Research on collections with a colonial context’.

The Colonial Collections Consortium has been awarded a subsidy of 3.1 million euros. With this working budget, the Consortium will actively focus on collection accessibility, knowledge sharing and collaboration. This happens within the Consortium and in collaboration with museums, collection-managing institutions, the advisory committee, countries of origin, and other countries where similar collections are present.

Following the submission by Sri Lanka of its claim for the restitution of the six objects, the decision to return them was made by the Dutch Secretary of State for Culture and Media. In the context of this restitution, the Consortium is working on a long-term multi-year knowledge exchange program in collaboration with the National Museum in Colombo.