Provenance research
Provenance research is conducted to trace the origins and provenance history of objects obtained in a colonial context as carefully and completely as possible.
Research support
Supporting provenance research is one of the pillars of the Dutch restitution policy. The responsibility for conducting provenance research lies with the owner or the institution managing the object. To advance efforts aimed at provenance research in the Netherlands, the Colonial Collections Consortium was established. This is a partnership of five organisations in the Netherlands with considerable expertise in the field of colonial collections. The consortium supports institutions administering collections in provenance research by sharing knowledge, answering questions and providing stakeholders with a network.
Results of previous research
The pilot project Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (Pproce) from 2022 is an exploratory study of the history, provenance and significance of a representative number of objects and collections acquired in colonial situations, in collaboration with researchers and institutions in countries of origin. The report provides concrete tools and advice for conducting provenance research. The research was a joint initiative of NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Wereldmuseum and the Rijksmuseum.
In 2023, the Netherlands returned 478 objects at the request of Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The recommendations on which the decision is based have been published on the website of the Colonial Collections Committee. The provenance research carried out by the institution managing the object or collection is also included for each recommendation.