Wikimedia Nederland/The Netherlands and the world

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Anachronous map of former Dutch colonies and trade posts. From the article Dutch Empire (English Wikipedia).

Dutch institutions have collections relating to many non-European countries. These collections are particularly rich for countries with which the Netherlands have had historical ties through trade, colonialism and other interactions.

Some of these collections are well-known and easily accessible - others not so much. The Netherlands and the World by Wikimedia Nederland wants to change this. It does so by stimulating free access to items in Dutch collections that are of interest to other parts of the world.

The project also want to promote that these materials are used. For example in adding to and improving the content of Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikisource. Through the Netherlands and the World Exchange Platform people looking for information held in Dutch collections can directly contact cultural institutions and request digitization. Wikimedia Nederland supports partnerships and activities with cultural heritage institutions (GLAMs) and the Wikimedia community, both in the Netherlands and worldwide.

Images that have been uploaded as part of this project can be viewed here on Commons.

Photos of Syria on Wikimedia Commons[edit]

For years, Syria has been the scene of a bloody civil war resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, and the destruction of entire cities. The recent image donation by the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (the National Museum of World Cultures) in the Netherlands shows another Syria. Many of these photos were taken in the 1980s and show scenes of daily life and images and cities not yet devastated by war. Other images show objects from the collection of the museum. Together, they form a valuable resource on Syria for the various Wikimedia projects. The upload consists of 352 photos in total and can be accessed here. It coincides with a photo exhibition in the NMvW on Aleppo. The upload was part of the project The Netherlands and the World, which aims to make accessible Dutch collections on non-European heritage.

Netherlands and the World Exchange Platform is now online[edit]

Wikimedia Nederland launches the Netherlands and the World Exchange Platform (English). The platform aims to stimulate global re-use of Dutch collections on non-European cultural heritage. In particular, it aims to stimulate collections on countries with which the Netherlands have had historical ties. These countries include Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Ghana, Suriname, South Africa, and others.

The platform also aims to foster contacts between Dutch cultural heritage institutions and Wikimedia contributors across the globe. However, participation is not limited to Wikimedia contributors. Anyone can participate, making it relevant for education and research as well.

Key properties:

  • Dutch heritage institutions can post offers on (parts of) their collections that are relevant to non-European countries
  • Wikimedia contributors gain insight in the contents of Dutch collections and can make requests for digitalisation.
  • Knowledge exchange and cooperation are key concepts.

The platform is easy to use. After registration, users can post offer/requests notices, depending on whether they are looking for material, or want to offer material for re-use. Statistics on re-use are also available.

The Netherlands and the World Exchange Platform is part of the program The Netherlands and the World. This program is supported by Wikimedia Nederland and aims to make available knowledge and content on non-European countries.

Development of the platform was financially supported by DEN.

Events[edit]

  • 26 November, 2017: 3rd Phase of Chinsurah photo-walk
  • 14 May, 2017: 2nd Phase of Chinsurah photo-walk
  • 9 April, 2017: Chinsurah is a city in the state of West Bengal, India, which lies by the Hooghly River, 35 kilometres north of Kolkata, and was once a Dutch colony from seventeenth to early nineteenth century. The Dutch heritage of Chinsurah will be photographed, geo-tagged and documented by Wikimedians from West Bengal under the umbrella project of The Netherlands and the world by Wikimedia Netherlands.

Countries and regions[edit]

  • Australia
  • Brazil
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Russia
  • Suriname
  • Sri Lanka
  • United States
  • South Africa

But the Netherlands also has a shared history with many other countries and regions, including

  • Canada
  • China
  • the former Dutch Antilles
  • Ghana
  • Malaysia / Malacca
  • New Zealand
  • A wide variety of trade posts, including the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic slave trade

Participants[edit]

Wikimedians[edit]

An international project group of Wikimedia volunteers is invited to participate in the Netherlands and the World project.

Are you interested in participating more or less actively? Feel free to sign your username below (~~~~); you can also include your own specific interests.

Wikimedia chapters, thematic organisations, user groups[edit]

Wikimedia affiliates will be listed here.

Cultural institutions (GLAMs)[edit]

In the Netherlands[edit]

Worldwide[edit]

Worldwide GLAMs will be listed here.

Previous content donations (selection)[edit]

Before the start of the Netherlands and the world project, quite a bit of media were already donated and uploaded by Dutch GLAM institutions. Examples include:

GLAM Upload date Media donated Countries / regions
African Studies Center, Leiden University
School in Candjambary, Guinea-Bissau, in the open air - Children - 1974
School in Candjambary, Guinea-Bissau, in the open air - Children - 1974
2016-05 756 images by Roel Coutinho, a Dutch MD working in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal between 1973 and 1974. The images show aspects of daily life such as food preparation, festivities and school and hospital buildings, among other things. Guinea-Bissau

Senegal

Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

Leiden University Library

Junghuhn, Franz Wilhelm (1809-1864) - Crater Lake of the Gunung Slamet - circa 1855
Junghuhn, Franz Wilhelm (1809-1864) - Crater Lake of the Gunung Slamet - circa 1855
2016-04 3114 images - photos, lithos, drawings, watercolours showing people, landscapes, plantations, plants and butterflies from countries such as Suriname, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore. (This donation was an extension of the 2015 gift of 2418 colonial images, also of British India.) Suriname

China

Indonesia

Malaysia

Japan

Singapore

National Museum of World Cultures
Lime container of gourd with wooden spatula for sirih consumption
Lime container of gourd with wooden spatula for sirih consumption
2016-04 720 images - photos of objects from the museum's collection, and of photos taken during Dutch scientific and military expeditions in Suriname and the Dutch East Indies. Suriname

Dutch East Indies

Contact[edit]

  • Please contact Wikimedia Nederland at info(_AT_)wikimedia.nl for questions or further information, or leave a message on the talk page.

External links[edit]