A new exhibit, opened by the King this week at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, is taking a revealing, and to some shocking look at the ways in which slavery made possible the riches of the Netherlands’ ‘Golden Age.’
The exhibit, titled simply Slavery, uses a wide variety of materials from the Museum’s own collections and from elsewhere to show the role slavery played in building the fortunes of wealthy traders and especially the Dutch East India Company. To tell its story, it focuses on the lives of ten individuals whose lives were touched in different ways by slavery.
Taco Dibbits, the museum’s director, told a press conference that “It’s an exhibition that isn’t about numbers but about people: 10 lives that were part of the system of slavery. We want as many people as possible to see the exhibition, to dwell together on what the past means for today’s society.”
The exhibition is likely to stir lots of discussion as well as controversy; the museum’s head of history Valika Smeulders, anticipates that: “This is history that can be considered divisive, but it is also history that can be told to make connections. Colonial slavery is behind us and modern-day society has no responsibility for it any more. But what we can take responsibility for is what we do with it: understanding it better will give us a better understanding of where our society comes from and how we can shape our future.”
For now, attendance in person is limited to Dutch school groups because of coronavirus restrictions, but significant portions can be viewed online.
Image: Two portraits by Rembrandt depict newlyweds, both of whose families had ties to slavery.
