Museum Maluku, also known by the abbreviation MuMa, is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

dedicated to the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

and Moluccan people living in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Museum Maluku was located in the city of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

until October 2012, when it closed its doors due to inadequate financial means. Its Moluccan heritage collection was preserved and managed by the Moluccan Historical Museum Foundation, allowing it to remain accessible in various ways. After temporary accommodation in the Moluccan Church Center in Houten, the collection was relocated to the in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in December 2017. Museum Maluku reopened on June 27, 2019.

History

Moluccans in the Netherlands

Approximately 12,500 Moluccans arrived in the Netherlands on a temporary basis in 1951, following the end of Dutch colonial rule in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Though initially meant to be temporary residents, the Dutch government began regarding the Moluccans as permanent residents of the country in 1956, and began promoting integration within Dutch society. The Moluccans were prevented from returning to Maluku in Indonesia for social and economic reasons until the 1980s.

Museum Maluku

In 1986, the Dutch government announced its intention to open a museum as a gift to the Moluccan community in the Netherlands. In a statement released by both the Dutch government and the Badan Persatuan (Moluccan Unitary Movement), which jointly developed the new institution, the museum was described as a "living monument', providing an image 'of the history of the Moluccan community, which may also serve to stimulate the contemporary development of Moluccan art and culture in the Netherlands." The joint press release announcing the future museum for the Moluccan community was released on April 21, 1986. The Museum Maluku, or Moluks Historisch Museum (Moluccan Historical Museum), as it was first called, was opened to the public in Utrecht in November 1990. It transitioned into a private foundation in 1995. In addition to the permanent collection, the Museum Maluku houses temporary exhibitions and an auditorium which can seat eighty people. The museum also includes an educational research center and a small cafe featuring Moluccan cuisine.

Museum partnerships

The Museum Maluku has partnered with numerous Dutch, Indonesian and American organisations to establish exhibitions and cultural exchanges. Its Dutch collaborators continue to include the Dutch government and the various Moluccan organizations within the country. The museum has also partnered with other Dutch cultural institutions including the

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museumplein, Museum Square in the stadsdeel, borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam South, ...

, the Dutch Museum Association, Centraal Museum in Utrecht, in

, the

Royal Tropical Institute KIT, formerly the Royal Tropical Institute (Dutch: Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen), is an applied knowledge institute located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is an independent centre of expertise, education, intercultural cooperation and hospi ...

(KIT), Bronbeek and the Friends of Papua Heritage Foundation (PACE). The museum's Indonesian partners include the government of Maluku province, the Museum Siwa Lima in Ambon, Erasmus Huis in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, ethnic Moluccan

diplomats A diplomat (from ; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations. The main functions of diplomats a ...

, the Embassy of the Netherlands to Indonesia and the Rinamakana Foundation of Ambon. The Museum Maluku launched a partnership beginning in August 2009 with the '' World of Maluku'' (WOM), a

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

published in

and edited by Samuel Wattimena. Under the collaboration, the Museum Maluku is the

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

and main correspondent of the ''World of Maluku'' magazine in the Netherlands. The museum is also in talks with Erasmus Huis in Jakarta to launch a yearly Moluccan market to serve the Moluccan community residing in Indonesia's capital city. Museum Maluku has also worked with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It is working to partner with Moluccan

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

communities in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, as well as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links

Museum Maluku

Museum Maluku on Facebook

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