June 26, 2019

We started our day today at the Tropenmuseeum, which was lovely! It was divided by the three floors of the building with the first floor being exhibits about "things that matter," the second floor being exhibits about cultures of the former colonies of the Netherlands, and the third floor showcasing two temporary exhibits, one about Mecca and one about Cool Japan. When we first arrived we met with a guide from the museum, who gave us a bit of background as well as answered some of our questions before going in. One of the things that she said which was interesting to me was that the museum was originally created as a way of displaying the colonies of the Netherlands, but as they lost those colonies the museum was forced to rebrand as a sort of cultural display, rather than a display of power. From the guide's description, it sounded like as the museum was rebranding they also moved towards a more sensitive depiction of culture, and progressed in demonstrating that through actions like changing the language of their exhibits to give more autonomy to the minority groups described in the displays. One example that she gave of how the language they used changed was their use of the word "slaves" changed to "enslaved people" to make clear that no one is born a slave, and that above all these individuals are people who are being denied their basic human rights. She also emphasized how now the second floor was meant to display cultures next to each other as a means of emphasizing the similarities between cultures, and how visitors should no longer feel that the displays were meant to exhibit the power of the Netherlands over their colonies.

Outside the Tropenmuseeum!

Moving to the museum from the guide’s discussion, I was very excited to see how the museum approached their own history in their exhibits, and whether they would acknowledge that their history of what information they present in the building has historically been culturally insensitive, or even oppressive. What I found, however, disappointed me, as I didn’t feel that these issues were addressed at all. Had we not first met with our guide, I never would have known the history behind the museum, or understood the meaning behind the exhibits. It felt to me like the shift in rebranding from a colonial museum to a cultural one was taken too far, ignoring the way that the colonial history still holds power over the cultural museum that stands today. Admittedly, there were a few places where I did see a nod to the colonial history (for example, a sign which read something along the lines of “Bought, bartered, and stolen” to describe how artifacts being displayed were originally acquired), but these places didn’t feel sufficient to me. One exhibit on the second floor confronted slavery, and I felt that this exhibit did a much better job than the other cultural aspects. I felt that they successfully addressed more of the painful history of slavery, and reframed the issue in a way that gave power back to the oppressed population that the exhibit was representing.

My favorite displays in the museum were from the “Things that Matter” exhibit on the first floor. The big-picture, cross-cultural questions really pushed me to think about what values we all share, and how those values manifest differently in different cultures, industries, or spaces. For example, in the display “I am what I wear,” the content focused on how clothing can express a connection to Africa. This display really hit home for me how clothing is an important form of expression for everyone, but for some cultures in particular clothing has a longer history and deeper meaning than expression of personality. Other displays on this floor of the museum considered the significance of motherhood cross-culturally, the impact of climate change, and the ownership of culture. What I loved most about the displays on this floor was their ability to reframe issues which are arguably so talked about in society today that they are assumed to be well understood by all, and we have taken on certain ways of talking about these issues despite their depth. When I first saw each display’s title, I was struck by how often I had thought about similar issues in the past, but as I went through the display, I was always confronted with a new perspective and left feeling like my understanding had deepened. I felt that these more broad questions were addressed more successfully than the cultural exhibits on the next floor. The Mecca and Cool Japan exhibits on the third floor were nice, but I didn’t have strong opinions on them. I didn’t really know what to make of the fact that the Cool Japan exhibit centered around aspects of Japanese culture that are most popular, rather than being a more informative on the aspects of their culture which are less known, but I’m guessing that it harkens back to the museum’s need to draw in patrons. The Tropenmuseeum was a very different style of museum than I have visited before, so I tried to take in a lot of my surroundings and assess why they made the decisions they did.

View from the main floor of the Tropenmuseeum.

Next we started walking to OBA, the Amsterdam Public Library, and stopped for lunch in between a canal and a windmill. How Dutch! OBA was AMAZING. I haven’t been to a library other than Suzzalo or Odegaard in a long time, and it was refreshing to be back in a public library. And of all the libraries to go to! OBA was 8 floors of literary heaven, and our tour made it clear that it was a staple in society here. Some of my favorite features were the children’s section, the language section (where refugees and other newcomers could congregate to practice their Dutch skills), and the rooftop restaurant and deck. It’s clear even just from this short list how OBA has adapted their function within the society to match people’s needs better than public libraries in America have (so far). At the same time, the transition in American libraries towards being more embedded in society became clear to me after visiting OBA, because although my public library in Northbrook, IL doesn’t have a full-on restaurant inside it, I can see their efforts to create programs that fill gaps in the community’s needs, and to create meeting spaces appealing to various populations. After visiting OBA, my appreciation has grown for my hometown library as a place that I was given growing up where I could meet with friends and be given access to resources that I would not have otherwise had access to.

After OBA, a smaller group took a canal boat tour, which was gorgeous! More than anything, it was peaceful and beautiful, and just a nice way to end the day. Then a group dinner at a pizza place down the street, some homework, and then bed! The day was packed with really awesome information and experiences, which I think pretty much characterizes the whole trip.

This little mail mouse was part of a larger display in the children's section of OBA.