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I had the pleasure to intern at Museum Cathartijneconvent, the Dutch National Museum for Christian Heritage, under the supervision of curator Madelon Grant. During my placement, I researched how the museum can use its existing collection to make their displays more inclusive of migrant and international Christians in the Netherlands. I was tasked to create an inventory of all objects in the collection relating to the theme of migration, and research how they can be used in the permanent display. Making this overview, I discovered that this theme can be approached in many ways with the current collection, but also that there are key narratives missing, such as documentation of and objects from current international churches in the Netherlands.

During these five weeks, I learned how to navigate large quantities of information (the collection comprises over 70.000 objects!) and I was able to use my background in Art History and Anthropology to determine criteria for the kind of objects I include in the research, and to make propositions about how to handle sensitive colonial heritage, which is an inevitable subject in this field of research

This project was especially exciting to work on, due to my own keen interest in the topics involved and the fact that my work was very much appreciated by the museum staff. My report (with the overview of migration-related objects in the collection) will be used to inform future research into which aspects the museum must (still) focus on to make the museum more inclusive towards migrant and international Christians. This placement has been a incredibly valuable and rewarding experience, as I was able to help the museum with their future endeavors, while also discovering what goes on behind the scenes at this monumental institution.

 

Class of 2021. HUM Major.