Provenance research and collaboration

The Rijksmuseum sees it as its responsibility to conduct research on objects and collections from formerly colonised countries. Collaboration with other museums and universities worldwide is a crucial part of this process. We prioritise working together with fellow researchers from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other former Dutch colonies. This approach brings specific expertise, new sources and insights into the research. The museum also engages in knowledge exchange to stay informed about ongoing global discussions on history and heritage, and participates in multiple collaborative projects.

Consortium Colonial Collections

The museum belongs to the Colonial Collections Consortium (Consortium Koloniale Collecties), a collaboration between Museum Bronbeek, the Wereldmuseum, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, RCE), the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Rijksmuseum. The consortium supports other Dutch museums and institutions in their provenance research, and serves as a point of contact for researchers and institutions worldwide. It also operates a data hub: a digital platform that aggregates, enriches and visualises information about objects originating from colonial contexts.

Methodology

The Rijksmuseum also participated in the Pilot Project Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), a research project that ran from 2019 to 2022. Its goal was to develop a methodology for provenance research on collections with a colonial context. Other participants included NIOD and the Wereldmuseum. The PPROCE focused on specific objects – some of them held in the Rijksmuseum collection – that originated in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and worked closely with researchers from these countries. A report for the Minister of Education, Culture and Science describes the methodology developed by the PPROCE. The reports and recommendations are accessible to the public via the website of the Colonial Collections Committee (Commissie Koloniale Collecties).

Countries of Origin

The Rijksmuseum partners in four projects within the Research into Collections with a Colonial Context programme, which is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). These projects promote knowledge development, knowledge exchange and collaboration between researchers from the countries where the museum objects and collections with a colonial context originated. They also support cooperation between these researchers and museums in the Netherlands.

Research programme

From 2021 to 2025, the Rijksmuseum partnered in Pressing Matter, an international research programme led by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, focusing on ownership, value and the issues surrounding colonial heritage in museums. Uncovering the provenance of objects is a key component of this programme.

Advisory Committee

Dutch policy is based on the report and recommendations of the Council for Culture’s Advisory Committee on the National Policy Framework for Colonial Collections (Adviescommissie Nationaal Beleidskader Koloniale Collecties). In 2020, this committee issued recommendations to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science on the handling of colonial collections – the Rijksmuseum was also represented on this committee.

Provenance research and collaborations