Decision on removal of colonialist statue in Hoorn put off until after summer of 2022

Hoorn will postpone the decision on the fate of the statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen until after the summer of 2022, the municipality announced on Friday.

The municipality said they first want to discuss the so-called “city talks” on racism and exclusion before making a decision about the statue. The image of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) governor has been the subject of fierce discussion for some time, which led to fierce demonstrations last summer.

As a result, the municipality decided to hold talks with inhabitants about racism, the colonial past and the Netherlands’ slavery history. The results of these first discussions will be presented by the municipality on October 7, followed by another round of city talks.

Only once these discussions have been concluded with an ‘inclusive policy’ will the decision on the removal of the statue be made, according to the mayor and alderman.

J.P. Coen was governor-general of the VOC between 1618 to 1623 and again from 1627 till his death in 1629. During his time in power, he ordered thousands of inhabitants from the Banda Islands executed after they delivered nutmeg to the English against agreements with the VOC. Only around one thousand of the 15 thousand inhabitants on the island survived the attack.