on and (it) directly affects the relationship with the nations whose territories
were once occupied or owned by the Dutch'.24 Wars which the Republic waged
with countries such as Spain, France and England, he wrote, no longer affect
our relations with these countries, but this is entirely different in regard of
the relations with the countries which were once part of the Dutch colonial
dominions. If we look at the still fragile relations between Indonesia and the
Netherlands, Van Deursen appears to be entirely correct. In 2002 for instance,
the Indonesian government rejected the official celebrations of the 4th centennial
of the VOC's foundation. Indeed, from a Dutch perspective a distinction is made
between the period of the Dutch East India Company on the one hand and the
period of colonialism and the colonial state in the 19th and 20th centuries on the
other. But from an Indonesian viewpoint it was and still is considered as one long
period of colonialism, the memory of which was still too painful for a celebration
of the VOC's founding.25 Although relations between the Netherlands and
Indonesia have improved considerably after the former Dutch minister of Foreign
Affairs Ben Bot said in 2005 that instead of the date of 27 December 1949, as
recognised by the Dutch, 'the independence of the Republic of Indonesia had
already started de facto on 17 August 1945, and that sixty years after the fact,
we should be generous in accepting this in the political and moral sense'26, the
colonial past keeps rearing its head in the relations between both countries. On
account of their atrocities, the conduct of the Dutch military in 'policing actions'
in Indonesia has led to civil actions against the State of the Netherlands more
than sixty years later'27 while in 2011 the President of Indonesia cancelled a state
visit to the Netherlands at the very last moment because the South Moluccas
government in exile, the RMS, had taken summary legal proceedings against him.
However, the colonial connections have not only left painful scars. The colonial
trade, the diplomatic service, military missions, adventurers, commercial and
scientific journeys, seconded civil servants, evangelists and missionaries, artists
and photographers, all have helped to ensure that generations of Dutch citizens,
Indo-Europeans and Indonesians have travelled between the home country and
the colony, putting their mark on many social and cultural areas, including
the arts, culinary culture and interpersonal relationships.28 It is estimated that
approximately 5% of the Dutch population have a personal tie with Indonesia
because they or their relatives were either born there or lived in the country or
still have family living there. The former colonial ties continue to exist in the
shape of memories, stories, objects, symbols, letters, photographs, customs and
so on.29 The modern processes of assigning meanings to both these material
and intangible traces from the past are given the chief role within the discourse
on legacy and heritage. Time and again the legacy shows its many faces. This
CHARLES JEURGENS AND TON KAPPELHOF COLONIAL ARCHIVES
27 Many articles about the execution of Indonesian inhabitants in the village of Rawagede by Dutch soldiers
in 1947 (Rawagede massacre) were published in Dutch and Indonesian newspapers in 2011 and 2012.
In September 2011 a Dutch court ordered its government to apologise for the killings and to give each of
the 10 plaintiffs $27,000.
28 Waaldijk and Legêne, 'Vernieuwing van de beeldende kunsten'.
29 An excellent example of legacy from a Dutch perspective are the diaries of the great-uncle of the Dutch
artist Diederik van Vleuten, which the latter transposed to a successful stage production in 2011-2012.
His great-uncle had made his career as a planter in the Dutch East Indies in the first half of the 20th
century, but like so many of the Dutch, in the end he became a prisoner of the Japanese. Many people
in the Netherlands who had spent part of their life in the Dutch East Indies were deeply touched by this
performance. The many hundreds of reactions which he received after his stage version have been col
lected in a bundle by Van Vleuten with the intention to donate it to an archival body. See: http://nos.nl/
artikel/347865-indie-zo-was-het.html (viewed 2012-03-10).
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