Programme HERE | Heritage Reflections

Positionality has its roots in social and cultural anthropology. It is a concept that shows that who you are determines what you know about the world. In anthropology, writing a position statement is a requirement, recognizing and analyzing your identity and experiences that shape your perspective on the world. In other words the idea of neutrality is contested, here the notion of intersectionality in relation to positionality comes to play. Your positionality influences the way you work and how a story, an event or an exhibition is ultimately created. In this lecture you will learn what positionality means and how it applies to the heritage practice.

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Martin van Engel takes you along in ‘The Culture’ in his presentation. Why is this target group important and how can heritage institutions attract them? Martin zooms in on the importance of diverse personnel and partnerships.

Jo’anne van Ooijen, lawyer and art historian, will explain the snags of ethical issues within fundraising during this session. This is in line with the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums and the ICOM Standards on Fundraising, which also provide guidelines for the wider cultural sector. After the presentation, there is an interactive part where participants discuss ethical issues based on shared experiences or a case study.

This session is organized in partnership with the Museumvereniging and accompanied by Mirthe Frese.

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From volunteer to friend or donor; heritage institutions aim to connect people to their organisation. During this session we take a closer look at the philanthropic relationship of people from multiple cultural backgrounds. You will learn more about how volunteers and philanthropists with a diasporic and bi-cultural background deal with giving time, money and goods to charities, an organization or an institution.

In this seminar we will have an open conversation on the positionality of (established) institutions towards marginalized communities, in particular Caribbean communities of the ABCSSS islands. How do you create a sustainable partnership? How can analyzing the positionality of your institution identify new partnerships? And what problems are community workers facing currently in the heritage sector? Alfrida Martis will share best practices and bottlenecks she encounters in her community work with Caribbean Ancestry Club.

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The Muslim Archive is a historical archive and cultural-educational center for the cultural and religious heritage of Dutch Muslims. The Muslim Archive wants to raise awareness about the cultural and religious wealth of the Netherlands, to which Dutch Muslim communities and individual Muslims have contributed. Alia Azzouzi  and Kashif Amin will talk about the mission, vision and objectives of the Muslim Archive NL, but also about the challenges. There will then be time for questions and an open discussion.

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Did queer people on ships experience a more free sense of identity than on land? This question is central to the oral history project Zee van Ruimte. Bob talks about the reason for the project, shares result and shows how they have been given a place within the museum. He discusses finding a challenging target group and asking about sensitive topics. He also reflects on the position of the project within the museum’s collection policy. Then he likes to start the conversation to exchange experiences.

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Alfrida Martis (she/her) is a Bonairian writer, public speaker and community organizer. She currently works as a project leader/diversity officer at the Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA) in Rotterdam, where she advises with great care and skills on inclusive art education, offers support to marginalized groups and leads inclusivity projects. Outside of academia, she works as an independent consultant, researcher and artistic leader in the arts and culture sector, specializing in social justice and community care for Caribbean communities. She is also a co-founder and community organizer of Caribbean Ancestry Club: a community platform that unites young people from the ABCSSS islands in the Netherlands.

Alia Azzouzi (she/her) works as a policy advisor at the municipality of Rotterdam and is a debate leader and presenter. She previously worked as a project manager at Kosmopolis and until 2019 she owned Espresso Dates, a breakfast and lunch room where the whole of Rotterdam came together. Azzouzi is a member of the steering committee of the Muslim Archives. The Muslim Archive was founded in 2022 and strives for a broader and better picture of the history and present of Dutch Muslims and an enrichment of the collective memory of the Netherlands.

Bob van de Poll (he/him) collects and researches oral histories of queer crew members of Dutch merchant ships in the period 1950-80 on behalf of Het Scheepvaartmuseum. He contributes to safeguarding and making these stories accessible and to connecting similar international initiatives, to promote a multi-voiced maritime historiography.

Jo’anne van Ooijen (she/her) is a lawyer and art historian, trained at the universities of Maastricht and Leiden. After a career in the judiciary, she is now an independent professional working in the cultural sector. Her expertise is on the intersection of law, ethics and heritage, mostly for museums. At the moment she is focused mostly on looted art, colonial heritage, provenance research, collection mobility and deaccessioning. Jo’anne has assignments from the Museums’ Association, the Ministry of Culture, the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, and a variety of cultural organizations. For these, she supports advisory committees, coordinates projects, and writes reports. As an independent freelancer, she also enjoys the freedom to travel.

Kashif Amin (he/him) was born and raised in Amsterdam. Thus, his start in the Arts and Culture sector began as a debate leader at the Tropenmuseum for the exhibition Urban Islam. At this museum he served as a tour guide, museum educator, storyteller and educational developer from 2003 to 2009. He is proud of the fact that he is the first and only man with a migration background to ever work as a museum docent for the G.R.A.S. project. The G.R.A.S. project was a unique collaborative project of four major Amsterdam museums. The Van Gogh-, Rijks-, Amsterdams Historisch- and Stedelijk Museums jointly focused on secondary school students with this project. Meanwhile, he is regularly asked by various organizations to act as a moderator to discuss highly charged social issues between different groups. Kashif also advises organizations when it comes to diversity and inclusion. He recently became curator and diversity, inclusion and equality expert for the Muslim Archive.

Martin van Engel is an expert in the field of diversity and inclusion. As a consultant, he sets up inclusive programs at all kinds of cultural institutions. For example, he worked for the Van Gogh Museum, where he led a broadly composed research team and wrote academic papers. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Museum MORE, a member of the National Unesco Committee, a committee member of Fonds 21 and the Amsterdam Art Council.

Malika Ouacha (she/her) is a part-time PhD candidate at the Business-Society Management department of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (The Netherlands). She combines her PhD research on cross-border diasporic philanthropy and volunteering between Europe and the MENA, with a position as a lecturer and academic coordinator at the School of Social Work of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences.

Siela Ardjosemito-Jethoe is a cultural anthropologist and sociologist next to columnist, word artist and entrepreneur. She is an EDI expert working at the intersection of education, art, culture, education and society over the past 20 years. Currently she holds the position of vice dean at Avans Creative Innovation. She worked on publications like Superdivers! (2013), Onbeschreven erfgoed (2017) and Diversiteit in de Samenleving (2017:2020). Her columns are to be read at CultuurPers! and Sarnamihuis. Her Word Art has been featured on stages like Sacred Songs, O Rotterdam, Woorden Worden Zinnen. CtDu is her training, coaching and advice agency focused on equality, diversity and inclusion. She is co-responsible for the podcast Diversity in Check and Zeg maar gewoon wit. Furthermore, she  is supervisory board member of the Mauritshuis and chairperson at Lloyds Company.

Wim Manuhutu (hij/hem) (Vught, 1959) is a historian and heritage professional. After his studies at Utrecht University, where he specialized in the history of Indonesia, he was one of the directors of the Moluccan Historical Museum from 1987 to 2009. Since 2009, Wim Manuhutu has been active with Manu2u as a consultant, researcher, curator and moderator, particularly on topics such as colonial history, postcolonial society, diversity and inclusion and polyphony. He also publishes on these topics. Since 2019, Wim Manuhutu has been a part-time lecturer at the history department of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.