The internationally renowned ethnological museum, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam is being threatened with closure. The Netherlands' government no longer wants to subsidise the museum and the associated Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) after 2012.
Speaking to public broadcaster NOS, Deputy Foreign Minister Ben Knapen said that the Tropenmuseum was dear to his heart, but that he could no longer defend that development money was being spent on a museum in Amsterdam, rather than abroad in developing countries. (read on below)
Looking inward is the trend
The Netherlands' international perspective is shrinking. Before the cuts at the Royal Tropical Institute the government told a number of other 'Dutch institutions' that they will lose part or all of their funding.
The Netherlands will spend less on development cooperation. The number of development organisations is being cut drastically. In the wake of this a number of development projects will have to be terminated.
Nine embassies are closing.
The Defence budget will be reduced by 635 million euros, which limits the Dutch ability to participate in international missions.
Arts and culture are facing deep cuts, depriving several interally oriented museums, theatre groups and orchestras of funding.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide's international broadcasts and websites in ten languages will be severely affected by a 70 percent reduction of its subsidy.
The news about the funding cut, which broke on Wednesday, hit the century-old institute hard. The institute's director Lejo Schenk says that cutting the subsidy is undermining 'the marketing of the Netherlands, Inc.'. He adds that 'people who are posted abroad come to the Tropical Institute to prepare for their stay in another country'. According to Schenk the KIT's work is a major part of Dutch development aid.
Overtone singing
To the general public the KIT is mainly known through the Tropenmuseum. Founded in 1910 as Holland's Colonial Institute, the KIT's museum is reaching out to the public through permanent exhibitions on African, Indian and Caribbean culture, alternating with temporary exhibitions like the current one for children about Chinese Qi, flows of energy in the body.
Also part of the KIT are an enormous international library and a theatre enabling a broad section of the public to sample cultural activities, from Mongolian overtone singing to Argentinian tango nuevo.
International projects
Currently a joint project with Mauritius is underway, aimed at renovating the collections on the islands. In Suriname the Tropical Institute is involved in the children's museum Villa Zapakara. How these projects will fare in the near future remains unclear. They are partly financed by the Development Aid ministry, while the remainder is being covered by the countries involved.
KIT director Lejo Schenk is sure that next year will see business as usual, while alternative funding is being tapped for the international projects. Another move is to investigate whether closer ties are possible between KIT and other museums focusing on non-Western cultures, such as the Africa Museum and the Ethnographic Museum in Leiden.
The Tropical Institute's current budget is at 50 million euros, 20 million are government subsidy, while the remainded comes from entrance fees, commercial partnerships, foreign government and international organisations.
(rk)
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