Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk to exhibit items looted from Indonesia

The Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam will exhibit items looted from Indonesia in October, the church and the National Archive confirmed to NU.nl. The exhibit includes items from the NEFIS archive - which a parliamentary majority asked the government to return to Indonesia earlier this month.

The NEFIS archive is the most controversial Indonesian archive in the Netherlands. A large part of it was looted during the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949).

How the Netherlands deals with looted art and property has been a topic of discussion for years. In January 2021, the Cabinet promised to return looted art and study objects to former colonies who asked for them. Indonesia submitted such a request in October. But the promise only covered museum pieces, not looted objects in the state archives.

The Cabinet asked the Council for Culture for advice on how to deal with the looted items in its archives. The advice is expected in October - the same month that The Big Indonesia Exhibit opens in the Nieuwe Kerk.

The National Archives acknowledged to NU.nl that the exhibit “can be painful” for those involved and surviving loved ones. The Archives informed the Nieuwe Kerk of this sensitivity, and it is up to the exhibitor to ensure that items are shown appropriately and responsibly, archive director Afelonne Doek said.

He added that the National Archives agreed with the Nieuwe Kerk that the loan could be revoked if the Council of Culture advises against it.

The Nieuwe Kerk promised to thoroughly investigate the background of all requested archive pieces in advance. If items turn out to be too loaded, they won’t include them in the exhibit, a spokesperson said.

But experts are still critical of the move, according to NU.nl.

“This is not okay,” Rochelle van Maanen of the Decolonization Network, a network of people with Indonesian roots, told the newspaper. “At the moment, there is still a discussion: is it right to exhibit looted property on the backs of rightful owners?”

Postcolonial researcher Yvette Kopijn called the exhibit crazy. “Exhibitions should learn from the previous events surrounding Revolusi. The Nieuwe Kerk should take responsibility.”