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). 13

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Jaarboeken Stichting Archiefpublicaties | 2012 | | pagina 15