Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

The Wereld Museum, formerly the Tropen Museum, is a quite big museum filled predominantly with many different cultural artifacts. When I went, there was a martial arts exhibition on the first floor. This exhibit had martial arts history, cultural artifacts and a movie area. Further on, the museum showcases Dutch colonial history, for those who don't close their eyes to it. There are still many colonial artifacts with very questionable ethics regarding ownership. This museum takes a couple of hours to go through, time we'll spent in my opinion. For this I used my museum card.

Amazing museum! Super friendly and welcoming staff. The exhibition is brilliantly interactive — and it’s great that they’re not afraid to show this part of Dutch history. Unfortunately 2 hours wasn’t enough.. will definitely come back. Best part? Reading the one-star reviews from the fragile little racists who just discovered the word “woke” and are clinging to it like it’s their last brain cell. 🤣

As an Indonesian, visiting Wereldmuseum feels both enlightening and unsettling. The exhibitions present Dutch colonialism in a seemingly neutral way, but they inevitably remind us of the centuries of suffering and exploitation endured by the colonies. Besides visiting Rijksmuseum, this is definitely a place worth visiting if you want to understand another side of Dutch history. The displays spark many reflections on how post-colonial responsibilities should be addressed today—by governments and by society. I only wish the museum went beyond performative neutrality and acknowledged more tangibly how much was taken from the colonies, and how efforts like repatriation or real contributions to development could serve as meaningful recognition. It would also be powerful if they conducted more collaborations with people and communities from the “then colonies,” to give voice and perspective to those who lived the consequences. An important museum, but also a reminder of the long journey still ahead in facing history honestly.

A very interesting museum with permanent exhibitions that discuss multiple topics related to the Dutch colonial past. Most, if not all panels are writing in Dutch, English, and include a qr code for sign language translations as well. There are also several and quite interesting videos, which contribute to accessibility and interaction, but can also make the museum feel a bit noisy.

Wonderful experience. A great collection and a serious and thoughtful insight to colonialism and its impact to the lives of people in colonized countries. The Martial Arts exhibition was really great and a lot of fun as well. Thank you so much.

A very interesting look inside the History of the Netherlands. I visited the Colonial/slavery part of the museum which had some pretty interesting information about this past. Many things were well kept and there was even a little game to be played about which spices or materials came from which part of the world. In the beginning there was also a brief part about the history of the Museum itself which was very helpful in understanding the context.

Was a bit disappointed as the top floor was not open for viewing. Then you needed wifi to scan some of the QR codes to hear the stories but they never told me when I paid for my ticket and the guards had no idea what the PW was. Building itself was amazing but I got a better idea of Colonial history through the Maritime museum than here. Here it was mostly centered on Indonisia and collection of artifacts

An interesting visit to a museum that in searches I saw described variously as an 'Enthnographic Museum' and a 'History Museum'.. Both of which are true. The time I visited there was an exhibition of Martial Arts which was really well presented with interactive displays and videos and seemed to comprehensively touch on all (?) or the many forms. It was unexpected but was obliquely connected to Ethnography I guess. The museum felt comfortable and confident in its presentation and in its exhibits.. Something that I felt the principle topic of the museum of Dutch history and particularly Dutch colonialism did not, unsurprisingly, feel comfortable with. Clearly a controversial topic that should not be ignored or airbrushed over. Like many former colonists the Dutch like the British and others have a terrible history of exploitation, abuse and murder - that in the case of Britain was never taught at school (at least not in the 1970's when I was there) with the exception of the Abolition of Slavery Act but as for the details and the history - nada. Things have hopefully changed now and museums like the British Museum in London and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford should take a lesson or ten from the Werelsmuseum here in Amsterdam. It's impossible to turn back time but it is possible to present the terrible injustices inflicted on populations for profit and exploitation so that young people and new generations can hopefully learn and prevent in the future. There are repatriation schemes for looted items and the museum describes and discusses some of those. l commend them for trying to handle the terrible legacy sensitively and with multi lingual narratives. It doesn't make what happened right but it brought home to me what is happening around the World now with the murder and destruction of counties and populations that this behaviour by human beings inflicted on fellow human beings seems to be something that is a part of the human condition - there has always been appalling behavior and unfortunately there will continue to be. Museums such as this, however, show clearly what went wrong and hopefully may prevent some occurrences in the future in a small way.