Conceptualising intangible heritage in the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam: the Layla and Majnun story as a case study
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The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands,was founded as a colonial museum in the 19th century inwhich experts (‘outsiders’) presented their view of othercultures. In the 20th century the Netherlands became amulticultural society. As a result, the museum had toredefine its function in society. In an attempt to rethink therelation between the content of its exhibitions and itsaudience, the Tropenmuseum refurbished all the museumgalleries between 1990 and 2008. During the refurbishmentthe museum started to experiment with intangible heritagefor which the story of Layla and Majnun was chosen as acase study. The museum collected four separatecontemporary cultural expressions of the story,accompanied by audiovisual recordings of performances. The experiment was so successful that it functioned as acatalyst for the final refurbished gallery, entitled TravellingTales, which is entirely devoted to intangible heritage. Based on research into the Layla and Majnun collection,I argue that the voices and views of the artists mirror themanifold perspectives that people have to various forms ofintangible and tangible culture. The presentation of thismultitude of views in the exhibition reflects the complexityof identification processes and therefore goes beyondnotions of ‘self’ and ‘other’. In this respect, theTropenmuseum functions as a forum where variousopinions meet and as a space for intercultural encounters.
Abstract
The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands,was founded as a colonial museum in the 19th century inwhich experts (‘outsiders’) presented their view of othercultures. In the 20th century the Netherlands became amulticultural society. As a result, the museum had toredefine its function in society. In an attempt to rethink therelation between the content of its exhibitions and itsaudience, the Tropenmuseum refurbished all the museumgalleries between 1990 and 2008. During the refurbishmentthe museum started to experiment with intangible heritagefor which the story of Layla and Majnun was chosen as acase study. The museum collected four separatecontemporary cultural expressions of the story,accompanied by audiovisual recordings of performances. The experiment was so successful that it functioned as acatalyst for the final refurbished gallery, entitled TravellingTales, which is entirely devoted to intangible heritage. Based on research into the Layla and Majnun collection,I argue that the voices and views of the artists mirror themanifold perspectives that people have to various forms ofintangible and tangible culture. The presentation of thismultitude of views in the exhibition reflects the complexityof identification processes and therefore goes beyondnotions of ‘self’ and ‘other’. In this respect, theTropenmuseum functions as a forum where variousopinions meet and as a space for intercultural encounters.