Museum VolkenkundeAnnual Report 2006

Japan, Ukitas family

Ecuador, Aymes family

United States, Revise family

Mali, Natomo family

Museum Volkenkunde/National Museum of Ethnology

Visiting address: Steenstraat 1

P.O. Box 2122300 AE LeidenThe Netherlands

Telephone: +31(0)71 5168800Tele-fax: +31(0)71 5128437

e-mail: info@volkenkunde.nlwebsite: www.volkenkunde.nl

Museum hours:Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Closed: Mondays, 1 January, 3 October and 25 December

Photography coverPeter MenzelIn Hungry Planet, Peter Menzel and FaithD’Aluisio present a photographic study offamilies from around the world, revealingwhat people eat during the course of oneweek. Each family’s profile includes a detaileddescription of their weekly food purchases;photographs of the family at home, atmarket, and in their community; and a portrait of the entire family surrounded bya week worth of groceries. To assemblethis remarkable comparison, Menzel enD’Aluisio travelled to twenty-four countriesand visited thirty families from Bhutan andBosnia to Mexico and Mongolia.

Members Management Team Dr. S.B. Engelsman, general directorMrs. drs. A.M. van de Sande, deputy director

Also head of CommunicationsE.H.W. Burgers, head of Operations Prof. dr. M. Forrer, Head of Research Mrs. W.C. Huivenaar, head of Facilitating Management G.C. Scott, MSc., head of Collection Management

Members of the Supervisory BoardMrs. A. Doesburg, secretary general of the Provincial Parliament

of Flevoland(reappointed for the period 17 August 2006 to 17 August 2010)

Drs. J.F. van Duyne, crown-appointed member of the Social andEconomic Council (SER)(reappointed for the period 17 August 2006 to 17 August 2010)

Mrs. M. Kilic-Karaaslan, consultant Twijnstra Gudde Management Consultants, area of expertise: integration and diversity issues in the public segment(from 12 April 2006 to 12 April 2010, eligible for reappointment)

Mr. A.W. Kist, member of the Executive Board Netherlands Authorityfor the Financial Markets(from 11 December 2003 to 11 December 2007, eligible for reappointment)

J.A.W.J. Leerdam, MFA, member of the House of Representatives of the States General Labour Party(from 1 January 2003 to 1 January 2007, not eligible for reappointment)

M.W. Meijer, Director Museum of Modern Art Arnhem and Arnhem City Museum(from 15 September 2005 to 15 September 2009, eligible for reappointment)

Mrs. drs. M. van Rossen, Mayor of Alkmaar, chairwoman(reappointed for the period 14 December 2006 to 14 December 2010)

Prof. mr. J.L. de Wijkerslooth, professor of Criminal Law and Criminalprocedure, University of Leiden(reappointed for the period 14 December 2006 to 14 December 2010)

Contents

7 Preface

9 Collection Profiles

36 Annual Overview

53 The Leiden Ethnological Fund

Report per objective

54 1 The public function

58 2 The educational function

59 3 The collection function

63 4 The knowledge function

65 5 General objective

66 Staff

68 Financial report

Annual Report

2006Museum Volkenkunde

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Preface

When one still travelled by canal boat from Leiden to Amsterdam and there were notyet any plans for a railway; then, in the year 1832, the first foreign guests were alreadycoming to Rapenburg in Leiden to the house of Philip Franz von Siebold to view theJapanese collections he had collected during his stay at Deshima in Nagasaki Bay. King Willem I bought the collections from Siebold, had these displayed in Leiden andthus determined that the later Rijks Ethnografisch Museum, the Rijksmuseum voorVolkenkunde, the current Museum of Ethnology would always remain a Leiden institution.

In 175 years’ time, the collections have grown tremendously and have only beenadded to. Improving the quality of the collection by taking a critical look at whethereverything ever collected is actually worth keeping and removing those items from the collection found not to be worth keeping has never happened. Such action canonly be taken once there has been a thorough examination of the total collections,and any operation to do away with items must be paired with the utmost caution.

The collection study as referred to here was completed in 2006 to the extent that collection profiles for all component collections are now ready for final adoption. It was a tremendous undertaking that the curators worked on for years. That is the reason the thematic portion of this 2006 annual report is dominated by these collectionprofiles. Thus the 2006 annual report has the character of a brief retrospective of 175 years of the museum’s history of collecting. I hope that you will enjoy reading this annual report.

Otherwise, the annual report follows the structure that has by now become standard: a chronicle of memorable moments, a reporting per objective of facts and figures foreach objective, the annual accounts and accountant’s statement. On behalf of theentire museum, I hope this will give you an adequate understanding of the ins andouts of our institution.

Steven EngelsmanDirector

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It is not so simple for a museum to know what it actually owns, but it becomes truly

difficult when it must determine what the value of those possessions is. That has

never happened in the 170 years since Siebold exhibited his Japanese collection

in Leiden. It was not until 2001, by way of testing a single collection (the Japanese

one), that it was determined what that now represented in a scientific respect and

in comparison with other domestic and foreign museums. Now, after five years of

taking inventory, ‘collection profiles’ are available for all the collections of the

Museum of Ethnology. In this annual report, we can provide a very cursory charac-

terisation of each profile. Some general aspects of size, desired research and

comparative value should be given consideration.

Collection profiles

SizeThe first characteristic of a collection is its numeric size. The largest collection (Indonesia) includes 56,887 objects, thesmallest (Korea) 940. That is not insignificant, but some degreeof reservation is warranted: not only were very dissimilar objectscounted, some simple listings also consist of dozens of parts,while others were counted piece by piece. For example, all thefragments of some archaeological discoveries were countedseparately, whereas in some cases, individual spears weregrouped together and recorded as one object.

ResearchFrom the perspective of research, placing the objects in asocial, cultural and historical context comes first – their functions,uses, rituals and changes therein. For this type of research, thedocumentation of an object is actually just as important as theobject itself: origin, dating, what was used for what, did it havea symbolic function, how was it made? To allow for comparisons,the collection must also have a minimum level of completeness,and consist of different, preferably sequential, periods.There are also other research interests at play. When one measures up the collections of different ethnographic museumsagainst each other, one is in fact comparing national histories. It is not coincidental that the Museum of Ethnology’s Indonesiancollection, together with that of the collection of the MuseumNasional in Jakarta, is the most important one in the world. The flaws and one-sided features of these collections also speakvolumes about the mentality and circumstances of the collectors.Global developments are also reflected in the similaritiesbetween collections and parts of those collections. Nearlyacross the board, the largest acquisitions date back to the end

of the 19th century, when Western imperialism was at its heightand it seemed nothing could prevent the demise of non-Westerncultures.Many objects are costly and of great aesthetic value.Sometimes what remains has little ethnographic significancebecause of lacking documentation or there is little to no con-nection with other parts of the collection. Such isolated objectsare actually often the pride of the museum but do not appearin the collection profiles or are only mentioned in passing. The museum’s treasure chamber, with top-class pieces, is a storyall its own.

ComparisonAs a national museum, the Museum of Ethnology is generallymore richly endowed than other museums, so it is not necessaryto continually reiterate that the Museum of Ethnology’s collectionis one of the best and largest in the Netherlands. There arehowever some exceptions to the rule in respect of some sections. There are also connections with other collections of importance to research.The evaluation of the collections is supported by peer review –the opinions of outside experts have been taken quite seriously.

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Circumpolar regions

Size and originThe collection totals approximately 3500 objects, 1700 of themfrom Greenland, 800 from Siberia, 500 from Lapland, 150 fromthe Inuit in Canada, 200 from the Inuit in Alaska, and 150 fromEuropean cultures in Scandinavia.

The most importantThe Greenland collections of the Museum of Ethnology and of the Hague Museon are of comparable quality. They are socomplementary to each other that together they have international distinction thanks to the great continuity in thecollecting. Archaeology to modern art has been collected, from the 19th century to the present. These collections exposechanges in material culture for analysis. This is impossible withthe larger Danish and French collections. The other collections are of less or no significance internationally.The Siberian collection and Sami collection from Lapland havebeen expanded to include modern objects to make researchinto change possible. Not all museums with impressive collections are interested in this way in contemporary developments.

HistoryIn 1933-34, ornithologist and later Nobel Prize winner NikoTinbergen was part of a Dutch meteorological expedition inGreenland. Tinbergen not only had an eye for snow buntingsand auks; he also collected objects and tools used byGreenlanders for the Museon. This collection is now the indispensable link between old collections acquired via purchase, gift and exchange from the Museum of Ethnology,and the new collection from post-1965.Intrigued by the Tinbergen collection, Gert Nooter, a Museoncurator, proceeded to Greenland in 1965. Nooter returnedoften and went through life from then on as Gerti Nooter –Gerti is a name from Greenland. In 1967/68, he stayed therewith his wife and children for a year doing fieldwork. In 1970,he became a curator at the Museum of Ethnology. Each time he visited, he collected implements, hunting gear, vehicles,clothing and art. His successor at the Museum of Ethnology, Cunera Buijs, continued both the fieldwork and the collecting after 1990, following the objective Nooter had framed: to ‘measure’changes in material culture at set times – he called them ‘historical benchmarks’.

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Size and originAll from the American continent north of the 24th parallel(Northern Mexico), except for the Arctic coastal region, this collection comprises 2534 objects. There are nine distinct cultural areas: the Subarctic region, the Pacific Northwest,California, the Southwest, the Great Basin (in Nevada andUtah), the Inland Plateau (Columbia and Fraser river valley), the Great Plains, the Northeast and Southeast.

The most importantThe collections from four of the cultural areas – the Southwest,Plains, Northeast and Pacific Northwest – are the largest. These are representative basic collections, both in terms ofbreadth (different aspects of one culture) and in historic depth(1800-2000). Internationally, they are comparable to the largestand oldest collections elsewhere in Europe. The Ten Kate collec-tion from the Southwest and from the Plains is unique.

HistoryLike many other collections, a good part of the North Americancollection came together coincidentally. If a good opportunitycame along, something was purchased; gifts were always welcome, and when possible, exchanges with other museumswere employed to give the collection some degree of continuity.However, the collection does owe its special aspects to oneindividual, the collector Herman ten Kate.Ten Kate wanted to be a ‘scientific traveller’ and between 1877and 1880 he educated himself at universities in the Netherlands,France and Germany in all kinds of subjects that aided him inthat pursuit: languages, ethnography and medical sciences. He became a doctor and anthropologist. In the period from1882 to 1888, he was the first to conduct ethnographic andarchaeological research among Native American Indians in the Southwest. To obtain skull measurements, still part ofanthropological research at the time, he had to sometimesresort to guile and trickery. Nonetheless, he managed to establish the trust of the people who had been driven into a corner by the army and colonists. He owed that primarily to his role as doctor, reminiscent of the way in which the Germandoctor and collector Siebold won over the Japanese in the1820s. The Seneca Tribe accepted Ten Kate into their ranks as a member of the Clan of the Wolf and named him Odágot(Bright Light). American anthropologists and collectors were not to arrive in the area until later; Ten Kate’s collection is theearliest that is well-documented.Ten Kate gave direction to further research and collecting. He was the first to collect Pueblo pottery, for example. Othersfollowed suit, up to and including the current curator for NorthAmerica, Pieter Hovens. The collection of pueblo pottery is nowone of the stronger elements the Museum of Ethnology owns.

Indigenous North America

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Central and South America

Size and originThis comprises 23,935 objects from over twenty countries that can best be divided into cultural regions. There are sevenrepresented in the collection: Mesoamerica (a large part ofMexico), the Área Intermedia (Central America, Colombia,Venezuela), Circum-Caribbean and Antilles, Amazonia, AndesRegion, Gran Chaco (Argentina/Paraguay) and Patagonia.

The most importantThe collections of items used in the Mesoamerican ball game,Mexican and Guatemalan textiles and the entire Suriname and Brazil collections are exceptional at the global level. TheMuseum of Ethnology also has a number of absolutely top-classpieces in the pre-Columbian collections. Otherwise, they arebasic collections compared to those of Brussels, Berlin, Madridand the countries of origin.At the national level, parts of the collections of theWereldmuseum and particularly the Tropenmuseum are closecompetition for the Museum of Ethnology. The Tropenmuseum’scollections of Mexican masks, Bolivian textiles and Tikuna aresuperior to that of the Museum of Ethnology.

HistoryIt was not until the end of the 19th century that the Museum of Ethnology began to collect ethnological artefacts from Centraland South America on a modest scale. Circa 1900, the collectionconsisted of 2500 objects, over 1500 of which originated fromthe tropical lowlands (Suriname, the Guyanas and Brazil) andover 200 from the Antilles. The collection has now grown tenfold.There was a clear preference for archaeological objects when itcame to the Andes. There are special pieces among them, butthey came together coincidentally, are usually undocumentedand originated from grave looting. As such, they are difficult to place in their cultural, historical and archaeological context,and are actually purely of aesthetic value. There are someexceptions of interest. Coincidences can sometimes beserendipitous. The famous ‘Leiden Plate’, with one of the oldestdatings from the Maya period, was found in 1864 by a Dutchengineer while digging a canal in Guatemala.The Museum of Ethnology was well-positioned to acquireobjects from the Dutch colonies in the New World. The collection from those areas was expansive but also reflects theone-sidedness of colonial thinking at the time. People sought‘curiosities’ from the country. Only some aspects of life therewere brought to attention. The age of this collection is alsopainfully overshadowed by the Danish collection of ethnologicalartefacts and paintings by Albert Eckhout, collected and produced on commission for Count Johan Maurits when he wasgovernor of the Dutch colony in Brazil (1630-1654). The count

needed to win the favour of the Danish king and gave him his collection of Eckhouts in 1654. Other portions ended up in Brandenburg and Paris for similar reasons.Ted Leyenaar, curator from 1965 to 2000, made the ballgamehis specialty. It has been said that his studies awakened a newpassion for the ancient Mesoamerican ball game in Mexico. Inany case, his ethnographic collection of the game, with in-depthdocumentation, is world-class. The same goes for the Mexicanand Guatemalan textile collections that Bodil Christensen,Irmgard Johnson Weitlaner and J.J. Dozy collected from 1930to 1960.Leyenaar established the importance of fieldwork for this partof the Museum of Ethnology’s collection. The current curator,Laura Van Broekhoven, is continuing that partly by combiningthe collection of objects at Mixtec markets with the documentation of what has been called ‘the social life ofthings’, in this case markets and market wares. The life storiesof the people who sell wares in the market is also part of that.

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Africa

Size and originAn estimated 25,000 objects, 37% from Central and EquatorialAfrica, 35% from West Africa, 13% from Southern Africa, 8% from North Africa and 7% from East Africa.

The most importantIt is not the size that distinguishes this collection, although it isthe largest in the Netherlands. The Central Africa collection inthe Belgian Tervuren for example totals about 350,000 objects.All of these were collected after 1897, however, whereas thecollection at the Museum of Ethnology dates from the 19thcentury, which is rare. Dating back even earlier are the Afro-Portuguese ivory saltboxes (16th century), the Owo sculpture(17th century) and the Benin collection (16th-19th century). The rarest are the Museum of Ethnology’s archaeological collections from this part of the world: Central Mali (3rd centuryB.C. to the 18th century), North Sudan (10th-15th century),North Cameroon (17th-18th century), and some Palaeolithic and Neolithic objects.

HistoryAs is the case with many other parts of the collections of the Museum of Ethnology, the special aspects of the Africancollection can be traced back to two different historical developments: the colonial and trading contacts of the distantpast, and recent anthropological fieldwork.Trading contacts have existed since the late 16th century. There were Dutch forts on the coasts of West and South Africa.Fort El Mina, on the Gold Coast, was captured from thePortuguese in 1637 and sold to the English in 1872. We owesome royal gifts that are part of the collection to that presence.The Benin collection was purchased largely from British spoils of war, but some objects date back much earlier, to trade withthe ancient Benin kingdom.Before King Leopold of Belgium appropriated the Congo as his own personal property, the establishment of the New AfricanTrading Company in the late 19th century was an exclusivesource of Congolese ethnographic objects, among other things.You hear little about Dutch explorers in Africa, but they didexist: such as the well-heeled adventurer J.M. Schuver who died in the Sudan in 1883 and left behind a small collection and travelogues. G.A. Krause, a German linguist, was evenmore important. As he traversed West Africa in the 1880s and 1890s, he conducted important linguistic research, collected ethnographic objects and did not want to allow German authorities to use him for their colonial aspirations. That obstinacy came at a great price: he died destitute and misunderstood. The Museum of Ethnology owns his collection.Nearly a hundred years after Krause’s first explorations, the

Museum of Ethnology became involved in archaeological andethnographic research in Mali with curator Rogier Bedaux, andfinally with the large restoration project of the city of Djenné, a UNESCO world monument. Bedaux and others collected forthe museum, but the most valuable items are the Malineseobjects on loan, the contacts and virtual collection that theMuseum of Ethnology gained from the research and project.These are gains that reflect the new and hoped-for relationshipsbetween the Museum of Ethnology and the regions from whichits collections originate. Bedaux’s successor, Annette Schmidt, is following in his footsteps.

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Southwest and Central Asia

Size and originWe have 6,229 objects from a region extending from theBalkans and Sinai to Mongolia and Pakistan. A distinction canbe made within that area between two worlds: one Arabic andanother Turkish-Iranian. In both, however, Islam is the dominantreligion.

The most importantThe collection of objects from daily life in Jeddah and Meccacirca 1885, collected by Snouck Hurgronje, is exceptional for museum collections from that time. Together with SnouckHurgronje’s inheritance in the Leiden University Library, the collection provides invaluable information about life in late19th-century West Arabia.The Turkish-Iranian objects – the lion’s share of the collection –are also of particular value to the extent that they are drawn

from 19th-century daily life. When it comes to Islamic art, thecollection is overshadowed by those of the Victoria and AlbertMuseum, the Louvre or the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. In the Netherlands, the Wereldmuseum, Tropenmuseum andothers have important collections of Islamic art and culture.

HistoryThe Netherlands’ most renowned orientalist, Christiaan SnouckHurgronje, travelled in 1884 to Arabia, converted to Islam,adopted the name Abd al-Ghaffa, married a Muslim woman,and waited in Mecca for the pilgrimage season with plans toresearch it. Before he could, however, he was deported by theOsman governor. He left his wife behind, but took a collectionof ethnographic objects from the city where non-Muslims hadrarely if ever walked the street before. As a professor in Leiden,he also collected thousands of Eastern scripts, prints and photographs.Besides from Snouck Hurgronje, the Museum of Ethnology regularly received gifts from Dutch diplomats. These were usually from Jeddah, where a Dutch delegation was chargedwith guiding pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies to Mecca.Other objects came from Istanbul, Smirna and Teheran. Startingin 1874, the Persian Trading Company J.C.P. Hotz and Son wasactive in Persia. The son, A.P.H. Hotz, donated some ethno-graphic items to the Museum of Ethnology and in 1883, theTrading Company was represented at the International Colonialand Import Trade Exhibition in Amsterdam. After it was over,the museum managed by means of donations and purchases toget its hands on large quantities of the objects displayed fromvarious regions. The Persian submission by the TradingCompany yielded a few hundred objects.Also in this portion of the Museum of Ethnology’s collection as well additions since the 1960s have been mainly connectedto fieldwork. Curator R.J. Munneke studied the traditionalTashkurgan bazaar in Northern Afghanistan, leading to multipleexhibitions. Sometimes exhibitions themselves prompted collecting, such as the ‘Veils Unveiled’ exhibition in 1996; and on a smaller scale the exhibition about political clothing in Afghanistan, for which the current curator, Willem Vogelsang,collected items in 2002.Vogelsang’s research focuses on the Iranian Plateau. That is aquestion of interest but also is in line with the centre of gravityof the collection, the Turkish-Iranian world, as well as the workof the Textile Research Centre active in the Museum ofEthnology that has acquired a unique collection of clothingfrom the Iranian Plateau.

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China

Size and originOver 12,500 objects from China and Taiwan. Nearly 800 objectsoriginate from what is currently Vietnam, grouped within theMuseum of Ethnology together with the city-state of Singaporein the Chinese cultural region.

The most importantChinese art and antiquities have been highly valued in the West since time immemorial, and accordingly it is more the art museums who can boast about having the largest Chinese collections. If one is speaking only of strictly ethnographicobjects, however, the Museum of Ethnology measures up quite well with similar museums in Western Europe.The ethnographic items connected with mourning, the deities,and musical instruments and puppets used in religious practices

are of special, international significance. In some other areassuch as ceramics, various other museums in the Netherlands areat a comparable level – the Rijksmuseum more so – it owns acollection of porcelain that provides a complete picture of thehistorical development in that area of China.

HistoryHere we find one of the Netherlands’ oldest collections ofethnographic items. Jean Théodore Royer, secretary and latervice-registrar of the Court of the Provinces of Holland, Zeelandand West-Friesland, was one of the 18th century scholars whohoped to serve Enlightenment in learned associations and bycreating collections of writings and objects. From his home inThe Hague, Royer convinced associates in the Cantonese facto-ry of the Dutch East India Company to buy objects for him thatseem to provide a complete picture of, among other things, theworld of the Chinese literati. A portion of the collection passed via the Royal Cabinet of Rarities, founded in 1816 and discontinued in 1883, into the hands of the Museum ofEthnology, while another part of the collection – mainly theworks of art and costly items – passed to the Rijksmuseum.The Museum of Ethnology must have sincerely agreed with thatdistribution. Director L. Serrurier wrote in 1885 to sinologistJ.J.M. de Groot, who was about to depart for China, ‘In general,costly objects are to be avoided and I do attach a great deal ofvalue to objects of a quotidian nature, even prepared ones.Perhaps you needn’t be told that.’De Groots’ collection became very influential. ‘Everything related to theatre, particularly masks, puppets, etc. is of theutmost importance,’ Serrurier wrote, ‘as well as everything dealing with religion and superstition.’ The Dutch-East Indiangovernment made it possible for De Groot to study for a fewyears in China. In exchange, he was expected to see to it thatthere was direct emigration of labourers from China to Bankaand Sumatra’s eastern coast. He did not receive money fromthe Museum of Ethnology to buy objects. Serrurier attempted in general to entice world travellers to donate objects by offering themthe prospect of receiving the museum medal, created in 1878.In the early 1890s, he could also use the new Order of Orange-Nassau for that purpose.The circumstances in China basically prevented collecting duringthe greater part of the 20th century. In recent years, trade andtourism have caused ancient Chinese art and implements totake on the status of costly rarities. This has consequences for collecting. In our possession we certainly have at least ten sub-collections, from children’s toys to 18th-19th centuryalbums, that lend themselves excellently to research thanks totheir size and completeness.

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Southern and MainlandSoutheast Asia

Size and originThis includes 11,741 objects, 30% Tibeto-Arian (north of the Indian subcontinent and of the Singhalese on Sri Lanka),26% Thai, 25% Tibeto-Birman, 5% Dravidic (south of theIndian subcontinent, 5% Newari (Nepal), 5% tribal cultures(spread throughout the region) and 1% Mon-Khmer(Thailand, Cambodia).

The most importantEarly acquisitions (19th century) are again what distinguishesthe Museum of Ethnology from other Dutch museums, otherwise the Tropenmuseum is certainly comparable interms of diversity and quality.Internationally speaking, the collection is not remarkable,but there are some significant exceptions: Buddhist andHindu ritual and particularly Tibetan religious art, Indian religious prints and paintings and the Santal collection (a tribal culture).

HistoryOne of the most successful exhibitions of the Museum ofEthnology was ‘To Tibet with Tintin’ in 1997-98. We owethat to Tintin, but also to the reverence among the largerpublic for the Dalai Lama and his Buddhism. The Museum of Ethnology could display unknown rarities, collected in the days when Eastern religion first sparked massive interestin the West. The collector was the autodidact Johan vanManen (1877-1943), who worked from 1908 in the Indianheadquarters of the Theosophical Society. In 1916, thanks to his reputation among the research community, he becamea member of the British Royal Asiatic Society in Calcutta andclimbed the ranks of that organisation to secretary-general.The very well-read Van Manen, whose publications attest initially to at least as great an interest in clairvoyance, ritualmagic, freemasonry and vampirism, developed into anexpert on Tibetan rites and writings. He was involved in the first English translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead,worked on a Tibetan dictionary and displayed objects fromhis private collection during the Society’s anniversaries. This collection was purchased in 1948 from his successors,after part of it had been already made available on loan in 1936.Van Manen was never actually in Tibet. Nonetheless, he was a pre-eminent expert. His carefully compiled collectionreceived international notoriety with the publication in 1951of the manual by curator P.H. Pott. As the director from1955 to 1981, Pott gave the entire collection from Southernand Mainland Southeast Asian a strongly religious character.Other accents in the collection had already been defined in

the 19th century, for example with the gift from the King of Siam (Thailand), who paid a state visit to the Netherlandsin 1883. After the 1960s, curators took collecting into theirown hands. The ethnological museums of the Netherlandsset off for a large expedition to Thailand together in 1972and ‘73 and returned with some 900 objects from day-to-daylife in tow. Other collection journeys yielded, among otherthings, a complete set of ritual objects for the ancient IndianFire Sacrifice. The ritual was performed for the last time in1985 in Kerala.

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Insular Southeast Asia

Size and originThis includes 56,887 objects, largely from three hundred culturalregions within Indonesia. Approximately 1400 objects comefrom the Philippines.

The most importantThe Dutch Indonesian collections are the most important onesin the world. The Leiden collection is the largest and oldest andit is relatively well-documented. The Tropenmuseum collectionis a close second – that museum’s Batak collection is of a higheraesthetic level. Only the Museum Nasional in Jakarta has a truly comparablecollection. The Hindu-Buddhist and ceramic collections of theMuseum Nasional are of greater value. In terms of ethnographicitems, the Museum of Ethnology has a better collection.

HistoryCertainly from a qualitative standpoint, the collection stemsmainly from the final decade of the 19th century to 1910 andwas collected at the time partly by conquest (in Atjeh, Bali,Lombok, etc.), military expeditions and research expeditions.Like other collections held by the Museum of Ethnology, theIndonesian collection has benefited from world fairs and othermuseums closing down. In 1864, the Museum of Ethnologyreceived the collection from the Delft academic programme to become a public servant in Indonesia. The collection of theRoyal Cabinet of Rarities, with the oldest objects, came toLeiden in 1883. In 1959, 7000 objects came from the RoyalMilitary Academy in Breda. A portion of the objects collected in the Dutch East Indies at the time remained in the formerBatavia, the property of the former Batavian Society.After 1910, a long period of consolidation started at theMuseum of Ethnology. Curators had their hands full takingstock of tens of thousands of objects. After World War II, theage of fieldwork began, but it did not really get underway forthe Insular Southeast Asia department. In the initial decades of its independence, Indonesia did not allow fieldwork. The Batavian Society became the Museum Nasional Indonesia,and its relationship with the closely related Museum ofEthnology was long a strained one. That is, until a few yearsago, when cooperation was tackled broadly on the occasion of the celebration of sixty years of Indonesian independence.The collections of both museums often came from the sameexpeditions, discoveries and collectors. Such as the travels ofdoctor and ethnologist A.W. Nieuwenhuis of the 1890s, forexample. He was the first to traverse Central Borneo from onecoast to the other and lived for an extended period among thefeared Dayak people of the interior. Expeditions like the onesto Central Sumatra in 1877 by the recently established Dutch

Geological Society (N.A.G., later Royal) had a broader design.The objectives of that trip can be called exemplary: to map the area, to study soil ‘productivity’, and to study linguistics,ethnography and natural history. In September 2006, a small exhibition about the military campaigns against Badung and Tabanan, Balinese principalities,opened at the Museum of Ethnology, over a century earlier. The ruling families and their faithful followers committed masssuicide when their palaces were conquered. The Museum of Ethnology acquired a portion of the spoils of war. As withmany other conquests. One of the treasures, that of Lombok,has since been partly returned. The mutual research of theMuseum Nasional and the Museum of Ethnology continues.

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Oceania

Size and originSixty per cent of these 33,302 objects come from West NewGuinea (Papua), 12% from East New Guinea, 19% from otherparts of Melanesia, 4% from Polynesia, 3% from Australia and2% from Micronesia. Each region is subdivided in turn into a large number of component areas.

The most importantAs is the case with Insular Southeast Asia, the power of this collection is primarily its size and diversity and – for the majority –the early collection date (late 19th century, early 20th century).About ten specific collections are representative of a cultureand have international appeal. Truly exceptional at world-class level are the Asmat and Mimika (Kamoro) collections ofceremonial wood carvings, and the collection of material culturefrom the Central Highlands – all three from West New Guinea. In some cases, unusual research documentation adds to that.The Museum of Ethnology owns a large number of top-classpieces from other locales in Oceania. The ceremonial men’shouse from the Abelam that is part of the permanent exhibitionknows no parallel.In the Netherlands, only the Wereldmuseum has some collectionsfrom Oceania that can stand up to comparison with theMuseum of Ethnology’s.

HistoryFormer Dutch New Guinea, now Papua, was not explored seriously until the start of the 20th century. Ethnology wasalready so advanced at this point that when the ‘First MilitaryExploration of Dutch New Guinea’ was conducted between1907 and 1915, the reputation of the Museum of Ethnology inthis area was immediately established for the rest of the centuryand beyond. Over five thousand objects were collected then.Other expeditions followed, until Northwest New Guinea wasmapped out in 1925 as well. After that, the museum itself

started going on expeditions: curator C.C.F.M. le Roux led anexpedition to the Central Highlands in 1939. Finally, in 1959, an expedition by the Royal Dutch Geographic Society reachedthe Sterren (Star) mountains, accompanied by a camera crewthat documented this ‘first contact’ for TV news viewers.New Guinea was then all that remained of Dutch East Indies,and as long as it lasted, the Museum of Ethnology made gooduse of that. Curator S. Kooijman conducted fieldwork in thefifties and established contacts with researchers, administrativeofficials and missionaries, and so he obtained extremely important material from various sources. Dutch anthropologistscould apply their latest theories there or developed them there.For example, A.A. Gerbrands discovered the individuality ofAsmat woodcarvers in 1960-61. He assembled a collection ofwoodcarvings, the creators of which are known so the individualstyles could be traced – one of the very few collections fromOceania that offers this possibility.Gerbrands also made a film about one of the woodcarvers,Matjemos. Shortly thereafter, the area was annexed byIndonesia and contact became impossible until some decadeslater. In 1993, curator Dirk Smidt was able to add to the Asmatcollection to illustrate the latest changes in woodcarving.In later years, the Asmat and others watched themselves in the films made long ago. The relationship changed. Those whowere first merely the subject of anthropological research havetaken command. Anthropologists who originally regarded theold artistic expressions as doomed saw that the artists used the new circumstances to their advantage. In the late twentiethcentury, their art flourished thanks to sales to tourists and artaficionados. For example, now there is the Kamoro ArtsFestival. Woodcarvings purchased there at the 2002 auctionwere sold at auction at the 2003 Komoro Exhibition at theMuseum of Ethnology in front of visitors and in the presence of the artists. In less than a hundred years, New Guinea experienced a history that took a few centuries in other places.

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Korea

Size and originThis includes 940 objects primarily from the Choson Kingdom(1392-1910).

The most importantDe Korean collection is the oldest in the world, and the second-largest in Western Europe, after that of the Museum fürVölkerkunde in Hamburg.

HistoryKorea strictly limited contact with other countries for five centuries, from 1392 to 1876. In Japan, foreigners were alsokept out, but Korean ships sometimes strayed off course andstranded on the Japanese coast. They were housed in a separateguest house. In Nagasaki, officials from the Dutch trading postthere greeted Korean castaways in such a guest house and purchased utensils from them. That occurred in the early 19thcentury.

Later, after Korea opened up and, like Japan, hired Westernexperts, F. Kraus collected a few hundred high-quality objects.He was an advisor to the Korean mint and as such had goodaccess to the Confucianist upper crust of Korean society.Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was annexed by Japan. In thatperiod, barely any additions were made to the collection. It wasnot until after the 1960s that acquisition occurred at any scaleof significance, mostly 19th and 20th century utensils and ritualistic objects from the shamanist folk culture. Like variousother collections of the Museum of Ethnology, the diversity of this one is what sets it apart. Other Korean collections areoften focused to the exclusion of other things on ceramics. The Museum of Ethnology is now focusing on the art andapplied arts from the Choson era and on ritualistic objects from the 19th and 20th centuries.

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Japan

Size and originThis includes 37,520 objects, approximately 80% of which fromthe Edo period (1600-1868). Also represented besides Japaneseculture are the cultures of the Ainu (on Hokkaido) and the earlyRyukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa).

The most importantThe Museum of Ethnology’s collection of Japanese utensils fromthe early 19th century is unparalleled in the world. Not evenJapan itself has such a collection. Otherwise, the Japanese collections in London, Paris and Berlin for example are of greaterimportance and diversity, but without the depth that theMuseum of Ethnology offers for that period.The Princessehof ceramics museum in Leeuwarden owns a collection of porcelain that is broader and larger than theMuseum of Ethnology’s. The Hague Municipal Museum also has an interesting collection of ceramics; the Rijksmuseum owns collections focused on the arts and also has particularlybeautiful ceramics used in the tea ceremony.

HistoryThe history of the Museum of Ethnology started with PhilippFranz von Siebold. Following his return from Japan, where he had been on a fact-finding mission about the country andpeople for the Dutch government, he bought a stately mansionin Leiden where starting in 1832 the public could come view hiscollection of Japanese objects. Since 2005, the Siebold Househas been located there.Siebold’s collection does not stand alone. The Dutch tradingpost on the island of Deshima in Nagasaki Bay was Japan’s only contact with the West from 1639 to 1854. It is along thatroute that Japanese stories and artefacts were already known in Europe in the 17th and 18th century, but is was not until after1800 that the Dutch began to seriously collect items in Deshima.Besides Siebold, collectors included Jan Cock Blomhoff andJohannes Frederik van Overmeer Fisscher, studious men wholike Siebold were ridden with the 19th-century dreams of thefame and glory of scientific discoveries.Blomhoff, a soldier who sought his fortune in the East Indies,was hired in 1817 as the chief of the Deshima trading post. He befriended some Japanese doctors who taught him a greatdeal about the country. He had a Japanese-Dutch dictionarycompleted that his predecessor had started and gave Englishlessons to a large number of Japanese. In 1823, Siebold arrivedand Blomhoff left with 41 crates of Japanese art and otherobjects that upon arriving home he sold for 30,000 guilders to King Willem I. He retired to a country estate near Amersfoortand planted a Japanese garden.What makes Blomhoff’s 1600 objects so special is that they were

carefully documented. The same goes for the approximately1200 collected by Fisscher, who was an accountant in Deshimabetween 1820 and 1829. In 1832, the king paid 41,600 guildersfor them, and in 1838 he settled with Siebold at 58,500guilders. The ‘merchant king’ (as he was nicknamed) was verywell aware of the importance of ethnographic collections.When Japan opened its doors to the West after 1854 and was aprominent presence at the world fairs, appreciation of Japaneseart rose to great heights. The sizable collections of American,British, French and German museums surpassed the Museum of Ethnology’s in size. That is not to say that the Museum ofEthnology was poor off – not in that period either – but the collections of objects from daily life from the early 19th centuryare the ones that can no longer be surpassed. What hasremained from that period in Japan itself is coincidental andundocumented. To study life in that ancient Japan, even theJapanese have to travel to Leiden.

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The Historical PhotographicCollection

Size and originThere are 15,000 photographs of the total 350,000 photos fromaround the world that have been selected on the grounds of age(pre-1920), authenticity (prints approved by the photographer)and/or representation of historical concepts.

The most importantComparisons to other museums are difficult to make becausenearly every museum encounters the problem of the sheerquantity of photos in such a collection. In the Netherlands, allethnological collections excel in respect of photos of the oldcolonies. The Museum of Ethnology also owns a broad collectionfrom other cultural areas. With a collection that provides a nearly complete picture of photography in the final heydays of the exploration of the non-Western world, the collection ofthe Museum of Ethnology stands up to most other collectionsabroad.

HistoryThe terms used for archiving photos is telling about how themuseum thought about photographs over the course of time. It started with the words ‘photogrammen’, later ‘photografieën’[which sound rather lofty in Dutch], and once photographybecame relatively simple and inexpensive after 1920, they weredubbed simply ‘foto’s’. The development did not stand stillafter that; the circle seems complete since the eighties, withvery respectful [foreign] terms like ‘vintage prints’ being usedfor original prints. From about 1860 onward, photographs were being taken to adegree worth noting in non-Western countries. It was a complextechnology prone to all kinds of mishaps in tropical conditions.These days, we are quick to think in terms of series, whereasthen each successful photograph stood on its own, costly and

rare. Ethnographic photographs raised eyebrows at world andtrade fares and could be purchased only from some certain specialists. The Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg for examplewas the place to go for photos from Oceania. J.D.E. Schmeltzhad worked there before he became the director of theMuseum of Ethnology in 1896. Later, he ordered the first photographs of Aborigines from his former employer.His predecessor had already started collecting by purchasingfrom professional photographers and researchers and obtaininggifts from institutes and individuals. Sometimes the photographscomprised part of ethnographic research and collections, suchas those of A.W. Nieuwenhuis on his trip through CentralBorneo in the 1890s. Or they stood completely on their own,such as the photos of indigenous Suriname people on displaylive at the Amsterdam trade fair of 1883.From 1910 on, after Schmeltz, the museum paid less attentionto photos. Nonetheless, the size of the collection increasedeven more rapidly. From the beginning, photos were visual documentation of ethnographic objects for the museum – theyreplaced earlier paintings and drawings. When the technologybecame more simple and effective, every researcher could usephotos to illustrate the use of objects. And that’s what happened.Photos no longer arrived one by one, but by the thousands.Such as those of Nooter from Greenland, or Gerbrand’s fromNew Guinea in the sixties.It was not until almost 2000 that proper inventory and conservation began. This was first of all about historical possession. That could be seen in the large photo exhibition of 2002, ‘Anceaux’s glasses – ethnological photography from1860’. Everything is ultimately historical. Work is already underway on a selection from the 1920s and 1930s. In thefuture, Nooter’s and Gerbrands’ photographs will also beviewed with ever-increasing fascination.

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Epilogue: selection and de-selection

by Matthi ForrerHead of research

Collecting and improving the quality of the collections is alwaysa matter of making choices. It is also an option to make a conscious choice not to expand a certain part of a collection, or to even rid ourselves of portions of collections. That doesnot have to be painful as long as you know what you are doingand why. Collection profiles are an indispensable guide to helpwith this.The most far-reaching aspect in the choice to rid ourselves of parts of the collection is the designation of the Blomhoff,Fisscher and Siebold collections from early 19th-century Japanas the core collection for that cultural area and the conclusionthat follows: in terms of gaining a better understanding ofJapanese culture, material with mediocre or poor documentationfrom the period after 1868, when tremendous changesoccurred in Japan that had a decisive impact on traditional buyers and makers, should be designated as having little or novalue, and thus should be done away with. In other words, fromnow on the Museum of Ethnology is focusing on adding to theJapan collection to the extent that doing so yields a betterunderstanding of the Japan of the late Edo period, from circa 1750 to 1850, and that also pertains to Dutch-Japaneserelationships and influence as a special area of collection.In the same way, the early circumpolar collections fromGreenland and the existing tradition of repeated collection

are reason to continually add comparable material to this collection. As Ten Kate’s collection of early pueblo pottery hasserved as a basis for recent collecting of contemporary potters’work. For Central and South America, there is a great need forwell-documented collections of daily utensils that are sold thereon the market.The possibility of expanding the important early Suriname collection must also be considered. The clothing and textile collection from Mexico is already one of the most important in the world, and that collection will always have to remain so.We have a collection from the Philippines unlike any that existsthere – but the question is whether we should still collect there.Does it make sense to expand our collection of early Indonesianitems with more contemporary material? There appears to be a clear line running through the China collection of objects thatillustrate the culture of the literati – this should be kept in mind.The collections of woodcarvings from Oceania (particularly NewGuinea) are really so fantastic that we must always remain alertto new developments. The question is however whether thefew pieces of Hawaiian woodcarvings in the collection, no matterhow extraordinary they may be, also should be added to.There are many possible choices, especially based on theinsight gained into what we have. Those choices are becomingonly more important. The choices made now will determine thefuture of the museum, which owes its existence after all to itsrich collections.

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2006 Annual Overview

The festivities surrounding the celebration of 400 years of friendly relations with Australia opened with a gala dinner in the Ridder Hall, the old ceremonialmeeting hall of the Dutch parliament. The museum is represented there; theMuseum of Ethnology’s contribution to the festivities, the exhibition ‘Australia,the land, the people’ opened last autumn already.

January

Author and actor Dolf de Vries gives a presentation at the Museum of Ethnologyentitled ‘Australia in a backpack’.

The French ambassador awards director Steven Engelsman the distinction of ‘Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ for his dedication to the goodcultural relations between France and the Netherlands and his efforts for thenational and international museum world. Engelsman was quoted in the dailyNRC Handelsblad: French appreciation stems primarily from the expertise we gained when completely re-inventorying and preserving our collection in the nineties. We made mistakes from which our French counterparts learned.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Museum in Korea decides to take over the runningAustralia exhibition.

There is a special programme every school holiday and this spring was no differ-ent with an entire week of activities concluding with a Bali weekend that includedthe performance of the fairy tale Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah.

In the final month of the gallery exhibition ‘Children’s rights – photographs byMonique Velzeboer’, Velzeboer photographed visitors to the museum one Sundayafternoon.

This year, too, the Iranian, Afghan and Kurd communities in Leiden celebrated thetraditional new year’s holiday of Noruz at the Museum of Ethnology. Music, fromtraditional to Persian pop, poetry readings and dances. An exuberant festivalattended by over a thousand people. (Leids Nieuwsblad)

Festive opening in Japan of the reconstruction of Deshima, the historical Dutchtrading post at Nagasaki Bay. Buildings, houses and the gate of entry were recon-structed based on paintings by Kawahara Keiga and a detailed 19th century scalemodel. Deshima was Japan’s only window on the Western world for two centuries,

February

March

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the project director was quoted in the daily Volkskrant as saying. It cost 69 millioneuros. Curator Matthi Forrer served as an advisor during the construction. ‘It wasvery difficult for the Japanese to accept that it was such a crazy hodgepodge,’ hesays in the Reformatorisch Dagblad. The set-up came via Batavia, from ships, from Japan itself or was created by Chinese people in Nagasaki. That does not always fit together.

Gallery exhibition ‘Kashgar, the oasis is modernising – Stereo photos by HockKhoe’. Photographer Hock Khoe (Singapore, 1950) has been following the development of the Western Chinese city of Kasghgar for more than twentyyears. It was once a hub in the Great Silk Road, and has recently become a veritable boomtown with motorways and skyscrapers.

The ‘Collecting Cultural Heritage in Indonesia’ conference, organised by curatorPieter ter Keurs with the assistance of the IIAS and the Nieuwe Kerk, was held inthe Nieuwe Kerk church. ‘What to do with stolen cultural property’ was the ques-tion addressed there, according to the report by Wim Bossema in De Volkskrant.He concluded: Let’s ‘return’ a Rembrandt or an Armando to Indonesia as a sign ofour shared past instead of sending over another few crates full of golden daggers.

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PvdA, VVD and SP – the political parties forming the majority in the Lower House of Parliament – would like to makemuseums subsidised by the national government free to the public. Secretary of State Medy van der Laan is against it. Her proposal to have museums compete against each other for subsidy was voted down by the Lower House.

Free lunch concert by the Netherlands Student Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Bas Wiegers.

Gallery exhibition ‘In the trail of the diamond – photographs by Kadir van Lohuizen. Visual report of the diamond trade that has received many awards. From the mines via middlemen and diamond cutters to the large diamond housesand buyers.

April

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Global Experience 2006 is dedicated to Morocco again this year, but now specifically about Moroccan weddings. A Sunday full of lectures, tours, a bridal show, food and drink and finally music from the oldest Moroccan band in the Netherlands, Ismailia.

A three-person delegation from the Museum Society, including director Engelsman, speaks with Lower House represen-tatives of PvdA, VVD and SP about their proposal to make museums free of admission. The delegation makes a counter-proposal: one day a week free, and allow the one and a half million primary school children attend museums for six eurosper child.

May

Gallery exhibition ‘Ans Westra – Photographs of NewZeeland 1959-2004’. Originally from Leiden, the photogra-pher Ans Westra took pictures for 45 years of a societyundergoing tremendous changes, with special attention tothe Maori people. There were only tourist photos of Maoris.Very posed. Then I started taking them. (Ans Westra in thedaily AD)

Master of tea ceremonies Kobori discontinues the plan to create a Japanese garden until further notice.

The Siebold Collection Working Conference is held at the Museum of Ethnology.

The month is exceptionally hot. Two heat waves and temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius result in the lowestattendance of the year for all museums in Leiden.

July

The Lower House decides: starting as soon as 2008, a cultural passport will be distributed with the Income Tax claimform and national insurance premium that will allow the entire family free entrance to all national museums.

June

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Gallery exhibition ‘Military action on Bali, 100 years ago’. September 1906, the DutchEast Indies army went on the offence against some principalities on Bali. After losing thebattle, kings and their family members committed suicide (puputan). Some of the costlyspoils of war ended up in the Museum of Ethnology. Daggers, maps and adornments,once obtained by pure force, are displayed in muted daylight, a hushed remainder fromthe royal treasure chest. (Nederlands Dagblad).

The Ethiopian New year is celebrated in the Museum of Ethnology with an informationmarket, coffee ceremonies and walk-in workshops on Ethiopian dance.

Gallery exhibition ‘The Maori collection of the Museum of Ethnology’. The small collec-tion was collected in the 19th century and is now being displayed for the first time in itsentirety. Jewellery, weapons and examples of weaving and woodcarving.

New Zeeland weekend in presence of 70-year-old Ans Westra whose photos have beenon display since July. Information from New Zeeland travel organisations, performancesby the Maori group Ngati Ranana, three films and two workshops. Admission free.

September

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The presentation in Hamburg of a visitation report in whichseven museums of Hamburg are evaluated. It was set up bydirector Engelsman in cooperation with four other experts.

Opening of the large temporary exhibition ‘Food – traditions,taboos and delicacies’. About food cultures across theglobe – objects, film and sound clips. It could make youhungry (Gooi en Eemlander). A multi-sided, inventive andentertaining exhibition (NRC Handelsblad). Top chef Hansvan Wolde runs through the museum like a kid in a candystore. He is throwing out compliments ‘Look, how lovely.And this, how wonderful! Wow! Brilliant!’ (Residence)

Gallery exhibition ‘Clothing and jewellery from Saudi Arabia’ in cooperation with the Textile Research Centre. The Museum of Ethnology owns some rare 19th-centuryclothing combinations from Western Saudi Arabia.

Opening of the Australia exhibition in the GyeonggiProvincial Museum in Korea.

October

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A storm blows over scaffolding on the side of the museum that had been placedthere for roof work. Three monumental trees in the museum garden are so dam-aged they must be chopped down.

The Tuvan throat singers from the group Tyva Kyzy (Daughters of Tuva) give a lec-ture and concert at the Museum of Ethnology as part of their European tour.

Gallery exhibition ‘Through the eyes of the artist’. As part of an initiative of thefilm production company De Filmboulevard, four Dutch artists are invited to visitfour projects by charitable organisations: Wouter Stips visits a Memisa children’shospital, Patty Harpenau and SOS children’s village, Rik van Iersel a project byKuychi for Peruvian children, and Carli Hermes two projects of the Aids Fundsaimed at asylum seekers. Their impressions are incorporated into film reports,photographs and works of art.

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Gallery exhibition ‘African Spears in the Spotlights’ Uniquespears from Lower Congo, collected before 1900 by the museum. At the same time, C. Zwartenkot Art Bookspublished ‘The Cutting Edge – West Central African 19thcentury throwing knives in the National Museum ofEthnology Leiden’ by P. Westerdijk and curator A.M.Schmidt.

The ethnological thesaurus is finished, the drudgery is done,we have created a tremendous tool that allows us to speakthe same language and search the ethnological collection ofthe Netherlands. That is what Steven Engelsman had to sayat a minisymposium of the Association of Ethnological Museums of the Netherlands (SVCN). After fifteen years of work by the SVCN, the individual collections are now featured on a shared website where the terms used in thefield (15,000 of which exist) have been made uniform. Theyhave been classified in four ways: according to categories(function, meaning or context of an object), according togeographical and cultural origin, and according to objectkey word.

For years now, the Leiden museum [of ethnology] hasstopped being stuffy, but is spacious and modern; and alsovery original exhibitions have been organised there for quitesome time. (NRC Handelsblad)

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This general objective was refined over the years by LEF tofocus on two priorities: supporting the research function ofthe Museum of Ethnology by setting up endowed chairs andsupporting international museum partnerships, in particularbetween Europe and Asia. The latter helped bring about the establishment of the museum network ASEMUS in 2001.

Endowed chairsThe Board of the University of Leiden has given LEF theauthority to institute three endowed chairs, specifically:• the endowed chair “Material culture, particularly of

Africa”. In 1998, Africa curator Dr Rogier Bedaux wasnamed to this endowed chair.

• the Siebold endowed chair “Material culture studies ofpremodern Japan, particularly the Japanese printing arts:Dr Matthi Forrer was named to this chair in 2002.

• In the third chair – Extra-European Performing ArtsStudies, Dr Joep Bor was appointed to the Faculty of the Arts as of 1 November 2006.

International cooperationThe LEF has helped with the establishment of the EuropeanAsian museum network ASEMUS both with financial supportfrom its own assets and with organisational support from themuseum and the International Institute of Asian Studies IIAS.The network is now a big success. The chairmanship wastransferred in December 2005 from Leiden to Manilla.Also, in 2004 in cooperation with the Australian NationalUniversity in Canberra, the first of a series of internationalmaster classes was organised on the theme “Museums andHeritage Agencies in Multicultural Sciences”.

The Leiden Ethnological Fund

“Laboratory function”A new activity of the LEF is to promote the active exchange of ideas, increasingly referred to as the “laboratory function”.The head of research of the museum, Prof.. Matthi Forrer hasmade proposals on the matter to the LEF board. The LEF hasdecided to financially support that programme of “LeidenCurators Meetings”. The meetings are intended to enable the curators of the Museum of Ethnology to intensively discuss current topics of a museum/research nature with fellowcurators from home and abroad, and to translate the discussioninto action programmes. In December 2006, the first curatorsmeeting took place, devoted to Afghan EthnologicalCollections, and organised by Dr Willem Vogelsang.

The BoardAt the end of 2006, the board had the following composition:Prof. Jarich Oosten, chairman;Ms Esther Salomons, Master at Laws, secretary;Ms Masha Kuijper, Master at Laws, treasurer;Prof. Wim Stokhof, member.

Office and contact infoThe LEF office is located at the offices of civil law notary.A.E.G. Mulders, Master of Laws, Turfmarkt 4, 2312 CD Leiden.The secretary of LEF, Esther Salomons, Master of Laws, can be reached via e-mail: Notaris@Mulders.KNB.nl and telephone 071-5130645

The Leiden Ethnological Fund – called LEF for short – was founded in 1990.

At the time of its creation, the LEF was given the following objective:

“In close cooperation with the National Museum of Ethnology, to promote ethnological

research, museum policy and exhibitions and also everything directly or peripherally

connected thereto or possibility beneficial, all in the broadest sense.”

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R E P O R T P E R O B J E C T I V E

The report per objective strives to make the activities and work processes involved as transparent as possible.Both the results (output) and the work processes (throughput) plus the use of manpower and means of production(input) are presented in the form of figures or summary overviews. This methodology and method of dividing upthe activities correspond to the planning, monitoring and responsibility methodology used internally for guidingthe museum’s processes. In the museum’s organisational structure a particular sector is responsible for achieving a particular objective.Many productions contributing to the realisation of the objectives, however, involve inter-sectoral work.

Input of manpower and material means2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007

Total operational budget 10,620,000 10,467,000 11,976,000 10,829,000Manpower (FTUs) 72.5 75.5 73.3 73.3

O B J E C T I V E 1

The public function

To create exhibitions, events and programmes first of all to show our great public how fascinating the global cultural diversity of the past and present really is. That public must start to regard the museum as their own place,and not want to skip any exhibitions. To also attract visitors from outside the region with national campaigns viaMuseum Group Leiden. We strive for 100,000 visitors a year.

1.1 Input of manpower and material means by the communications sector2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007

Operational budget 1,182,000 1,216,000 1,852,000 1,254,000% of total budget 11 12 15 12Manpower (FTUs) 12.7 13.1 13 11.6% of total staffing 16 14 14 11

1.2 Exhibitions and programmes designed for the publicIn 2006, the museum presented one large and nine small exhibitions plus an intensive programme targeted on the public. In collaboration with outside partners as well, the galleries offered a contemporary, varied programme of small alternatingexhibitions.

Number of temporary exhibitions and gallery exhibitionsNumber of current exhibitions at the end of 2005 and start of 2006 6

Added: Number of new exhibitions in 2006 + 10 Subtracted: Number of exhibitions ended in 2006 – 9

Number of current exhibitions at the end of 2006 7

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EXHIBITIONS 2006Starting date Title Closing date28 May 2005 Terre des Hommes, 40 years of having a heart for children, 6 March 2006

an eye for results30 June 2005 Welcome to North Korea, photos by Teun Voeten 5 March 200625 August 2005 National Geographic, Faces of the World 2 April 20066 October 2005 Australia, the Land, the People 28 August 200617 November 2005 Children’s Rights, photos by Monique Velzeboer 2 April 200617 December 2005 Memories of the Dutch East Indies 3 September 200617 March 2006 Kashgar, the oasis is modernising, 9 October 2006

stereo photos by Hock Khoe8 April 2006 On the trail of the diamond, photos by Kadir van Lohuizen. 2 July 200622 April 2006 The art of aging 2 July 200613 July 2006 Photographs of New Zealand, 1959-2004, Continued in 2007

photos by Ans Westra14 September 2006 Military campaign on Bali, 100 years ago Continued in 200716 September 2006 The Maori collection of Ethnology Continued in 200715 October 2006 FOOD – traditions, taboos and delicacies Continued in 200726 October 2006 Clothing and jewellery from Saudi Arabia Continued in 20074 November 2006 Through the eyes of the artist Continued in 20076 December 2006 African spears in the spotlights Continued in 2007

1.3 Visitors In 2006, the museum received 88,759 visitors. There was a steady increase in attendance throughout the year as comparedto 2005.

Number of visitors 2004 2005 2006 TARGET FIGURE 2007

Total 87,603 86,029 88,759 100,000

Visitors per month in 2005 and 2006 (incl. visitors’activities)

jan

2006 to dec 2005: 86.029 to dec 2006: 88.7592005

7818

8676 8903

7515

feb

8743 8698

mar

8123

9926

apr

6429

7252

may

7771

4069

jun

4872

3379

jul

5816

8689

aug

52334770

sep

91559500

oct

8760 7993

nov

6696 6904

dec

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Visitor satisfaction2004 2005 2006

Percentage of visitors awarding 8 (out of 10) or higher 64.4 % 63.1 % 58.7 %Percentage of visitors awarding 7 (out of 10) or higher 86.2 % 84.1 % 82.7 %

First visit and repeat visit2004 2005 2006

Percentage of visitors who come at least once a year 22.1 % 25.8 % 20%Percentage of first-time visitors 58.7 % 48.9 % 56.3%

1.4 Audience on the InternetThe museum website www.volkenkunde.nl (operational since 1999) has developed into an important and flexible means ofcommunication and publicity. In cooperation with C-it and Opera, the Museum of Ethnology has developed a new websitestructure. The website now has a much more open structure, rendering the website more user-friendly and easier to keep up-to-date. The new website was launched on-line in March 2006.

Number of terms in the joint ethnographical thesaurus2004 2005 2006

Category classification 286 291 291Geographical origin 3,941 4,266 6,563Cultural origin 4,218 4,218 * 3,895Object key word 4,659 5,514 5,514Rejected terms – 21 1,250

The museums of ethnography in the Netherlands have joined forces in the Stichting Volkenkundige Collectie Nederland(Netherlands Ethnographic Collection Foundation). One of the foundation’s tasks is to create and maintain the Dutch ethnographic thesaurus. Meanwhile the website www.svcn.nl is up and running. The primary objective of this website is to offer access to the common digital catalogue of the Ethnological Collection Netherlands as managed by the eightSVCN museums.

* The number of terms in Cultural Origin decreased sharply as a result of the complete reconfiguring of the geographicaland cultural origin of Oceania. In the original release (1999), the Cultural Origin facet of the thesaurus contained more geographical terms than didGeographic Origin (1998).The Oceania validation workgroup has approved an entirely new set-up for the geographic and cultural origin. This new set-up was incorporated last summer into the parent thesaurus.All of the approximately 1200 terms from the original releases were moved.Geographic Origin contained 181 terms in the 1st release. Now there are 825.Cultural Origin contained 1,024 terms in the 1st release. Now there are 524.There were 224 terms rejected, mostly because the same geographical term appeared in both the GO and the CO.

In 2006, the existing thesaurus also underwent maintenance. Proposals for revisions made since 2003 were effected. This work is not visible in the totals given above.In the 3rd and 4th quarter, a significant number of predominantly geographical proposed terms from the Museum of Ethnology and Museon were incorporated into the thesaurus.

Use of the website2004 2005 2006

Number of visitors 70,935 169,803 446,150Number of page views 3.311,300 4,192,564 5,731,941Page views per visitor 46.68 24.69 12.85

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1.5 Digital publicationsNo on-line publications are being produced because the editor left. It may be possible in 2007 that curators will compiletheir own on-line publications themselves using the user-friendly program EDP.

Number of current digital publication projects at the end of 2005/start of 2006 20

Added: Number of new digital publication projects in 2006 + 1Subtracted: Number of digital publication projects terminated early in 2006 – 8Subtracted: Number of digital publication projects on-line in 2006 0

Number of current digital publication projects at the end of 2006/start of 2007 13

CURRENT DIGITAL PUBLICATION PROJECTS 2006Start author subject2000 Hovens Pueblo Pottery 20082000 Ter Keurs / Rajagopalan A.W. Nieuwenhuis in Borneo 20082002 Van Broekhoven / Warning The Penard-collection of Surinamese toys 20072003 Bedaux / Petit Powder glass beads in Ghana 20082003 Buijs The Nooter collection 20072003 Chutiwongs South- and Southeast Asia 20072003 Chutiwongs Ritual lights in India and the Himalaya 20072003 Van Dongen The power of Writing 20072003 Van Dongen The Yao collection 20072003 Forrer Our Deshima 20072003 Vogelsang Nauruz 20082003 Vogelsang Asia hall (South-western and Central Asia) 20072006 Buijs Utilitarian art of Greenland 2008

1.6 Question and Answer functionIn the 2001-04 cultural planning period, the Leidse Poort Project was set up in cooperation with the museums RMO and Naturalis. Leidse Poort, now changed to MuseumKennis (Museum Knowledge), offers the possibility to ask questions via e-mail and to receive answers via the website. For the current cultural planning period, the intention is to have 80% of the museum’s question function handled via this website.

Question and Answer Museum of Ethnology via MuseumKennisEND OF 2005 END OF 2006

Questions in process of being answered 2338 616Answered 50 60Rejected 374 92Not answered 1835 437Questions in process of being answered 79 27

The permanent exhibition on the web, object information2004 2005 2006

Dutch-language 100% 100% 100%English-language 100% 100% 100%

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2.1 Use of Education materialsEDUCATION 2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007Operational budget 44,000 54,000 75,000 61,000

2.2 Museum and SchoolAs part of this programme, the Museum of Ethnology receives 100 school groups of about 2500 children every year. The num-ber of Museum and School visitors has shown a sharp increase as compared to 2005. The reason is that the number of munici-palities participating in the Museum and School program has expanded.

2004 2005 2006Groups via Museum & School 124 86 120Number of children in groups 3449 2362 2817Number of instructors in groups Not measured Not measured 408

2004 2005 2006Number of groups from school 207 214 265Number of visitors in groups 8645 8164 9612

2.3 Special target group ethnic minority, percentage of the total visitors2004 2005 2006

Percentage of total number of visitors 22.3% 22.6 % 22.3%

The figure is based on measurements using the Musis system applied to visitors aged 18 or over. A person is classified ‘foreign’ when he himself or one of his parents was born outside the Netherlands.

2.4 Museum InclusiveThe museum actively develops programmes in close cooperation with organisations that represent cultural minorities in theNetherlands. The museum strives for long-term cooperation with these groups so that at least four events minimum happenin the museum each year.

In 2006, these were Noruz, the Iranian New Year, in cooperation with various organisations, the Ethiopian New Year incooperation with the Feidin Association. The Morocco Festival, the Mexican festival of the dead and the GenerationProject in cooperation with the Indonesian community.

O B J E C T I V E 2

The educational function

To have more visitors who are ethnic minorities by giving them the opportunity to organise their own events in the museum. Those events must take a prominent place in the rhythm of annually recurring festivities and special events. To increase the number of school visits. To not just expand the museum and school programme into the region, but also to invite teachers to develop programmes together with us that connect with their lesson plans.

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O B J E C T I V E 3

The collection function

To professionally manage the collections of the Dutch State and to make them accessible in a reliable manner. To make more unseen collections seen in gallery exhibitions and to combine those with digital publications. To invite interested parties in the Netherlands and countries of origin to use our collection.

3.1 Use of manpower and material resources by the collection management sector2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007

Operational budget 848,000 927,000 1,001,000 977,000The SieboldHuis (Siebold House) 234,000 175,000 – –% of total budget: 10 11 8 9Manpower (FTUs) 15.1 15.3 15.3 15.3% of total staffing 21 20 21 21

3.2 Management agreementThe Stichting Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde manages collections that are the property of or are loaned to the Dutch State.With this in mind, in 1994 a management agreement was signed between the museum and the Secretary of State for Education, Culture and Science, valid for thirty years. The agreement draws a distinction among the following three collections:• the collection of objects• the collection of books and manuscripts• the video and audio collection

Definitions:• a ‘record’ is an administrative unit in the registration system; each record has its own unique registration number. This can

refer to a single object but also to a series of objects that belong together;• ‘specification’ means an answer found to a problem of a missing object, the registration of archaeological objects and the

localisation of objects that up till now did not have a valid location in the registration system;• ‘administrative splitting and merging’ occurs either when a series of objects belonging together are henceforth recorded

as individual pieces or a number of pieces grouped

Collection balance 2006Size of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2005/start of 2006 200,698

Added: acquisitions 2005 + 604Added: missing items found + 112Added: specification of remaining collection + 17Added: administrative splitting of records + 396Subtracted: administrative merging of records – 198Subtracted: transferred & returned items on loan – 23Subtracted: specification of remaining collection – 2

Size of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2006/start of 2007 201,604

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Collection balance 2006, video and audio collection Size of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2005/start of 2006 296

Added: acquisitions 2006 –Added: specification of existing collection + 5Added: administrative splitting of records –Subtracted: administrative merging of records –Subtracted: specification of existing collection –

Size of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2006/start of 2007 301

Collection balance 2006, the collection of books and manuscriptsSize of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2005/start of 2006 298

Added: acquisitions 2006 –Added: specification of existing collection –Added: administrative splitting of records –Subtracted: administrative merging of records –Subtracted: specification of existing collection –

Size of collection in numbers of ‘records’ at the end of 2006/start of 2007 298

Ownership status of collection2004 2005 2006

Property of the Dutch State 189,255 189,658 190,585On long-term loan to the Dutch State 3,054 3,041 3,023Ownership status unknown 8,109 7, 999 7,996

Total 200,418 200,698 201,604

3.3 Quality of collection managementIn 2006 the quality control system was extended to ISO 9001-2000 standard level.

3.4 Objects missing and parts of the collection that have been rejectedFrom 1996, the annual report has recorded the progress of the investigation into objects that once were part of the Museum of Ethnology’s collection but had not been transferred to the management of the RMV foundation, objects thatinexplicably have gone missing or have been removed from the collection over the years. The investigation in 2006 also led to a reduction of the numbers.

2004 2005 END OF 2006Missing 10,175 10,101 9,988Rejected 13,292 13,440 13,465

3.5 Extent of documentation of the collection2004 2005 END OF 2006

Size of collection in numbers of records 200,418 200,698 201,604Documented according to OC&W standards 95% 95% 96%Documented according to OVM standards 88% 91% 92%Documented according to Museum of Ethnology standards 8% 8% 8%Available via www.volkenkunde.nl 100% 100% 100%

OC&W (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science): identification and ownership data, OVM: fields according to the standardof SVCN, Ethnology: Museum of Ethnology standards for optimum scientific exposure

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3.6 Maintenance levels of the collectionSince 1997, groups of similar objects have been surveyed and, when necessary, actively restored.

NUMBER SINCE 1997 2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007Surveyed objects 40,087 40,780 42,877 44,000Restored objects 8,042 8,788 9,923 10,900

3.7 Use and mobility of the collection, in figures (a snapshot)Requests for loans submitted by Dutch museums and similar bodies are in principle always honoured. Each year 200 objects are loaned out free of charge.

END OF 2004 END OF 2005 END OF 2006In the depot 196,993 196,438 195,947Permanently on exhibition 2,927 2,849 2,854In our own temporary exhibitions 265 233 1,525On long-term loan to third parties 153 113 805On short-term loan to third parties 80 1,065 473

Total number of objects managed 200,418 200,698 201,604

Loans trafficNumber of objects on loan outstanding at the end of 2005/start of 2006 1,178

Added: number of loaned objects in the Netherlands + 358Added: number of loaned objects abroad + 269Subtracted: number of objects out on loan and now returned – 527

Number of objects on loan outstanding at the end of 2006/start of 2007 1,278

Number of audio and visual acquisitions s in collection2004 2005 2006

Photos, slides and postcards 14,728 1,785 18,329Films, video tapes and DVDs 368 424 579Audio material 1,116 534 1,342Travelogues and other documentation 10 20 0

Total 16,222 2,763 * 20,250

* in 2006, 17,490 slides were received.

Number of library acquisitions2004 2005 2006

Through exchange 108 146 75Through donations 611 479 719Through purchase 568 679 691

Total 1,287 1,304 1,485

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Number of acquisitions in collection loaned to relevant cultural regionsCULTURAL REGION 2004 2005 2006Africa 40 40 106China 22 2 2Circumpolar regions 43 2 46Europe – – –Insular South-East Asia 1 22 2Japan and Korea 10 – 4Central and South America – 29 135Noord America 107 – 138Oceania 68 20 147South Asia and South-East Asia 26 1 9South West and Central Asia 12 22 15

Total 329 138 604

The SieboldHuis (Siebold House)The SieboldHuis was officially opened on 1 March 2005. The permanent exhibition contains 750 objects, 550 of which are from the Museum of Ethnology’s collection.In 2006, Peggy Brandon stepped down as director. Agniet van de Sande, vice director of the Museum of Ethnology tookover the honours as the interim director of the Siebold House. In July, the Museum of Ethnology organised the “SieboldWorking Conference”, a multi-day conference of Japan specialists from the Netherlands and abroad, where the generaltenets of the future of the Siebold House were plotted out. In the spring, visitors could still admire the striking objects by Richard Hutten in the temporary exhibition space of theSiebold House. The summer exhibition in the Siebold House, ‘Nonoyama Kozan’, displayed a selection of prints that hadbeen briefly on display previously at the Museum of Ethnology. During the Open Monument Day in September, nearly 4000 visitors came to the Japanese Cultural Centre at Rapenburg. The autumn exhibition, constructed around Japanese prints, clearly drew a very different public. This exhibition, Moonlight, had the honour of being the first time that the complete series of 100 prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi has been presented in Europe. Public attention was particularly strong and the Siebold House finished the year with 15600 visitors. As of 1 January 2007, the Siebold House has a new director, Hans Kuijpers.

3.8 Quality of the collection Acquisition and rejection are the tools used to raise the overall quality of the collection. Acquisition and rejection occur on the basis of a collection profile that lists the strengths and weaknesses of the (sub)-collection.

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Quality of the scientific and general publications2004 2005 2006

Category 1: international professional journals, books, doctoral dissertations, referred quality items 15 5 6Category 2: national professional journals, proceedings symposia, catalogues 22 11 18Category 3: digital publications 1 8 1Category 4: other publications in newspapers, book reviews, interviews, translations, lemmas, articles of local interest and suchlike 2 1 6

Total publications 40 25 31

A complete list of projects can be found on the museum’s website: www.volkenkunde.nl.

O B J E C T I V E 4

The knowledge function

Objective of research function: we want to make collections accessible as much as possible in collaboration withcolleagues from the countries of origin or with minorities and related groups in our country. This allows us to givedifferent perspectives on collections their due. We want to offer the expertise needed to adequately assess ethical questions about ethnological collections. We continue to initiate international cooperation projects and to carry them out at a high-calibre level.

4.1 Use of manpower and material resources by the research sector2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007

Operational budget 1,185,000 1,272,000 1,056,000 870,000% of total budget 11 12 9 8Manpower (FTUs) 12.2 11.2 10.2 10.2% of total staffing 17 15 14 14

4.2 Research projectsThe research sector has a great many research projects. Their focus varies, as does their manner of publication. A distinctionis drawn between four categories as regards scientific quality. As well as being published in journals, the research results aresometimes incorporated into exhibitions here or elsewhere.

Important projects by research sector 2006starting researcher title of project closing date2004 Buijs Siberia collections 20092004 Buijs The challenges of social change in East Greenland 20082000 Chutiwongs Sculptures of Sri Lanka 20082001 Chutiwongs Buddhist temples in Chêngde, China (part 2) 20072001 Forrer Surimono in the collection of the Rijksprentenkabinet 20072002 Hovens Dutch collections of North America 20092004 Schmidt Conservation of cultural heritage in Mali II 20071999 Schmidt The pre- and proto-historic ‘tongue’ of the Niger alluvial plain 2007

(Mali) (dissertation)2003 Ter Keurs Shared Cultural Heritage 20072001 Van Broekhoven Mixtec City States 2008

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ASEMUS ASEMUS and Virtual Collection of Masterpieces

In 2000, the Museum of Ethnology Museum was involved in the birth of ASEMUS, the European-Asian museum network, a collaboration of museums with Asian collections from the 38 countries of the ASEM process (specifically the EU, ASEANplus Japan, Korea and China). The Museum of Ethnology is involved in a series of projects: the “Peranakan ResearchProject”, under the direction of the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore that will result in a new Peranakan Museum in Singapore; the research and publication project “Hidden base of Borobudur”, together with the Tropenmuseum and the Museum Nasional Jakarta; the project “Unearthing Philippines Past in European Museums”, for which a large number of items are on loan from our collections to the Ayala Museum and the National Museum in Manilla.

The most ambitious project of ASEMUS is the “Virtual Collection of Masterpieces”, where museums from all ASEM countrieseach compile a selection of 25 top-class pieces in a virtual collection. The first version of the collection was completed in2006 and christened in early January 2007 at the Musee du quai Branly in Paris. The web address of the virtual collection is:http://masterpieces.asemus.museum. The Museum of Ethnology, in association with the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum inKorea, is the ghost writer and project leader. Former ICOM secretary general and former director of the NetherlandsMuseum Association, Manus Brinkman, handles final editing of the virtual collection from his home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

4.3 Education and supervisionStudents and post-graduates conduct research into the museum’s collections or take part in the museum’s research projects.This expands the museum’s research capacity in exchange for the educational capacity that the museum provides.

Supervision of external post-graduates and students2004 2005 2006

Post-graduate research projects supervised 9 12 3Post-graduate research projects advised 10 – 3Number of post-graduate research projects completed 4 4 1Trainee research projects supervised 9 12 21

Specific information can be found on the museum’s website: www.volkenkunde.nl

Conferences organised or attended2004 2005 2006

Conferences organised by staff of the Museum of Ethnology 7 2 4Presentations at these conferences 2 3 4Presentations at conferences elsewhere 5 8 7

starting researcher title of project closing date2004 Van Broekhoven Markets: Mirrors of a Mixtec world 20082002 Vogelsang, G.M. & Dress & identity in Iran 2008

Vogelsang W.2004 Vogelsang, G.M. & Veils 2007

W. Vogelsang2002 Vos/Buijs/Ter Keurs Tourism study project 2008

A complete list of projects can be found on the museum’s website: www.volkenkunde.nl

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5 . G E N E R A L O B J E C T I V E

Commercial management and Facilities management

The departments of commercial management and facilities management support the substantive objectives.Commercial management is focused on making the museum’s financial organisation transparent so that the organisational objectives and results can be accounted for in a clear, well-structured manner.Efficient and high-quality management of the facilities brings and keeps the quality of the services to be provided up to level.

The staff functions (financial affairs, human resources and the secretariat) fall under the head of commercial management.Personnel affairs, security, building management, cleaning, catering and rental activities fall under the head of facilitatingmanagement.

5.1 Use of manpower and material means by the commercial operation and facilitating sectors2004 2005 2006 FORECAST 2007

Operational budget 2,742,000 2,549,000 3,548,000 3,143,000rent 3,539,000 3,457,000 3,519,000 3,634,000Depreciation 846,000 992,000 925,000 890,000% of total budget 67 67 67 71Manpower (FTUs) 32 36 34.8 36.1% of total staffing 44 48 47 49

5.2 Internal first aid and disaster planDATE

Update disaster plan NovemberFirst aid practice June/July

5.3 Security The Museum of Ethnology uses the self-evaluation programme MUSAVE to evaluate the quality of its security system. Using this automated evaluation, it can be determined whether certain minimum standards and requirements have been met and where discrepancies in respect of the standard have been observed. MUSAVE was developed by the NetherlandsMuseum Association in cooperation with the Ministries of Domestic Affairs, Justice and Education, Culture and Sciences.Musave: for the 2005-2008 period, the RMV guarantees a minimum MUSAVE score of 6.5 for the ’s-Gravenzande site and 7.3 for the Leiden site.

5.4 Action points for building maintenanceThe buildings are rented out by the Rijksgebouwendienst (Government Buildings Agency), making the Agency responsiblefor maintenance. Maintenance is planned and prioritised in consultation with the head of facilitating management.

Total number of action points on agenda end of 2005/start of 2006 10

Added: number of new action points in 2006 + 4Subtracted: number of action points dealt with in 2006 – 7

Total number of action points on agenda end of 20065/start of 2007 (not including projects) 7

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6 . S TA F F

6.1 Composition of staff according to age

Composition of staff according to age levelEND OF 2004 END OF 2005 END OF 2006

<20 0 0 020-29 14 8 1030-39 30 25 2040-49 35 32 2550-59 23 26 36>60 10 11 10

Total 112 102 101

Composition of staff according to function levelEND OF 2004 END OF 2005 END OF 2006

Scale 1 to 5 36 38 38Scale 6 to 10 51 43 45Scale 11 to 15 21 21 18

Total 112 102 101

Scale 1 is the lowest, scale 15 the highest

Maintenance and replacement of internal installations Restructuring the museum garden backyard area, the so-called “load and unload court”When it became apparent in 2006 that construction of the Japanese garden was on hold, it was determined that the back-yard area would be reconfigured and the construction of the lowered garden area would be done. In 2006, incidental extrasubsidy was granted for this purpose; the museum itself will provide the other funding required. Construction is expected to get underway in the 2nd quarter of 2007, with final completion slated for September/October 2007.The security plan in ’s-Gravenzande is in the second stage: including replacement of the fire alarm systemIn 2006, two large projects were executed and completed in ’s-Gravenzande: replacement of the fire alarm system (fromRGD funds) and the safety plan (incidental extra subsidy). By taking these provisions, the ’s-Gravenzande site has taken a huge step forward in the area of safety and now more than meets the safety requirements. A link was also establishedbetween the central emergency response desk in Leiden and ’s-Gravenzande, making observation and remote control ofsafety provisions possible from Leiden.Replacement of dormer windows, windows and window frames in the museum building and maintenance of façadeIn 2006, urgent work on the museum roof got underway, in advance of a wide-scale restoration plan comprising replacementof the dormers, windows and window frames, work on the exterior stone wall, painting and adaptation of the fire preventionprovisions in the museum building. After an inventory and testing period of a few years, the (combined) activities are plannedto start in 2007.Major maintenance/renovation of former quarantine buildingIn 2006, the structural and technical renovation of the former quarantine building started. This concerns restoration of themonumental building (interior and exterior); as of 2006 adaptation of the building to meet a long-held wish of the Museumof Ethnology (multipurpose space on the ground floor, guest lodging on the first floor) was not yet underway. Transfer of technical system to RMV ownershipAll the preparation work for the transfer of technical systems to the Museum of Ethnology (with retroactive effect from 1 January 2005) was completed in 2006. Still pending is the actual transfer by means of signing the Deed of Transfer(planned for 2007).

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Composition of staff according to genderEIND 2004 EIND 2005 EIND 2006

Male 44 42 42Female 68 60 59

Total 112 102 101

Composition of staff according to type of contractEND OF 2004 END OF 2005 END OF 2006

Part-time 66 60 62Full-time 46 42 39

Total 112 102 101

Permanent 77 78 75Temporary 35 24 26

Total 112 102 101

Total FTU’s 69 70 68

6.2 Staff turnover

Staff turnover according to contractNumber of contracts at the end of 2005/start of 2006 102

Added: number of new contracts in 2006 + 15Subtracted: number of contracts terminated in 2006 – 16

Number of contracts at the end of 2006/start of 2007 101

Staff turnover according to trainee contractsNumber of trainee contracts at the end of 2005/start of 2006 3

Added: number of new trainee contracts in 2006 + 14Subtracted: number of trainee contracts terminated in 2006 – 9

Number of trainee contracts at the end of 2006/start of 2007 8

Staff turnover according to volunteer contractsNumber of volunteer contracts at the end of 2005/start of 2006 8

Added: number of new volunteer contracts in 2006 + 8Subtracted: number of volunteer contracts terminated in 2006 – 3

Number of volunteer contracts at the end of 2006/start of 2007 13

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6.3 Ethnic minority staff members under the terms of the diversity policyM/F END OF 2004 END OF 2005 END OF 2006

HBO/WO m 4.46 % 4.9 % 4 %f 7.14 % 7.8 % 7 %

HAVO/VWO/MBO m 4.46 % 2.9 % 3 %f 0.89 % 1.0 % 1 %

LBO/MAVO m 3.57 % 3.9 % 4 %f 6.25 % 5.9 % 4 %

HBO = Higher Professional Education; WO = University Education HAVO = Senior General Secondary Education; VWO = Pre-University Education; MBO = Senior Secondary Vocational Education; LBO = Lower Secondary Vocational Education*) The data is shown as a percentage of the total number of staff.

6.4 Absenteeism due to sicknessTHE WHOLE THE WHOLE THE WHOLE

OF 2004 OF 2005 OF 2006Absenteeism percentage 2.7% 4,1 3.5Absenteeism percentage exclusive maternity leave – 3.7 –Total number of staff reporting sick 110 124 117Reporting frequency 1% 1.16% *Average duration of absence 7 days 5.8 days 7.6 days

* We switched to a different service for Occupational Health and Safety effective 1 June 2006. Because of the use of two different registration systems, it is not possible to calculate an exact number for reporting frequency.

6.5 Action points on working conditions (Arbo) Total number of action points on agenda at the end of 2005/start of 2006 8

Added: number of new action points in 2006 + 0Subtracted: number of action points dealt with in 2006 – 3

Total number of action points on agenda end 2006/start of 2007 5

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R E P O R T F R O M T H E B O A R D

The 2006 annual accounts of the National Museum ofEthnology Foundation were drafted by the museum’s business director, Mr E.H.W. Burgers. The annual accountsare structured according to the method prescribed by theMinistry of Education, Culture and Sciences, as set out inthe handbook for accounting for museums receiving culturalsubsidies, April 2005 version.

GENERAL

Result from operationsThe operating profit earned in 2006 was € 282,000 lower,i.e. 38% lower than the estimated profit of € 453,000. Lastyear, the operating profit was 57% higher than estimated.The difference can be attributed mainly to reservations forthe replacement of display case glass and allocation to theprepension fund. Like last year, the deviation is also due toincidental profits and losses occurring at the start of theyear that were not foreseeable.

In 2006, a total of nearly € 1.2 million higher proceeds wasreceived: extra subsidy for maintenance and investments,more sponsoring income and a substantial disbursement ofdamages by AON insurance company in connection with thereduction in value of one of our items due to transport dam-age; that damage has since been repaired. Offsetting thatare higher expenses to the amount of € 1.4 million: a one-off allocation for display case repair and higher incidentalmaterial and staff costs as a result of projects conductedwith sponsor contributions. Depreciation and energy costswere substantially higher than estimated. These are ongoingexpenses that will also impact the estimate for the years to come.

Financial positionThe general reserve decreased by over € 8.000. With a liquidity of 2.1 and solvency of 0.34, the museum’s financialposition can be called reasonable. The balance sheet total increased by almost € 250,000.

S P E C I F I C AT I O N F O R D I R E C T S P O N S O R I N G

LUMC Leiden – exhibition entitled ‘The art of aging’VOC – exhibition entitled ‘Australia, the land, the people’.Mondriaan Stichting – exhibition entitled ‘Australia, the land, the people’Mondriaan Stichting – exhibition entitled ‘Food – traditions, taboos and delicacies’VSBfonds – exhibition entitled ‘Australia, the land, the people’Stichting Het Gebaar – Generation ProjectDe Nieuwe Kerk – exhibition entitled ‘Indonesia, discovery of the past’Musée du Quai Branly – Virtual Collection of MasterpiecesGyeonggi Provincial Museum – Virtual Collection of MasterpiecesJapan Foundation – Siebold Collection ConferenceMinistry of Foreign Affairs – ‘New Zeeland weekend’Ondernemersfonds Leiden – exhibition entitled ‘Food - traditions, taboos and delicacies’Museum Groep Leiden – Museum & SchoolJCC – Siebold Collection ConferenceSOS children’s villages – exhibition entitled ‘Through the eyes of the artist’.AIDS Fund – exhibition entitled ‘Through the eyes of the artist’.Memisa – exhibition entitled ‘Through the eyes of the artist’.

F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T

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A S S E T S

Material fixed assets

Total Fixed Assets

InventoriesReceivablesLiquid assets

Total Current Assets

T O TA L A S S E T S

L I A B I L I T I E S

General reserveAllocation funds

Total own assets

Pre-pension provision

Total Provisions

Investment subsidy

Total Long-term debts

Debts to suppliersTaxesDebts for pensionsOther debts and accruals and deferred income

Total short-term debts

T O TA L L I A B I L I T I E S

solvency

liquidity

31-12-2006

349,979976,375

1,667,607

410,89472,785

160,702 782,824

31-12-2006

6,175,241

6,175,241

2,993,960

9,169,202

2,085,122 1,028,034

3,113,156

1,093,900

1,093,900

3,534,941

3,534,941

1,427,206

9,169,202

0.34

2.10

31-12-2005

282,826 727,049

1,091,600

2,092,723 1,186,172

386,127 65,994

177,262 471,846

31-12-2005

6,814,442

6,814,442

2,101,475

8,915,917

3,278,895

776,717

776,717

3,759,076

3,759,076

1,101,229

8,915,917

0.37

1.91

B A L A N C E A S AT 3 1 D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 A F T E R A L L O C AT I O N O F N E T O P E R AT I N G R E S U LT S

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E X P L A N AT O RY N O T E S F O R T H E B A L A N C E A S AT 3 1 D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6

F I X E D A S S E T S

Material fixed assetsFurniture and fixtures

Purchase value Cumulative depreciation

Book value

Allocation reserves

The course of the financial year is as follows:

Status on 1 JanuaryContributionCorrecton of contribution value of installationsExpenditures

Status on 31 December

General reserves

Status on 1 JanuaryRelease of allocation reservesAllocation of net results from operation

Status on 31 December

2005

14,753,708 7,939,266

6,814,442

174,609 1,186,172

–– 174,609

1,186,172

1,336,195 174,609 581,919

2,092,723

2006

14,401,244 8,226,003

6,175,241

1,186,172 330,149

– 229,566– 258,721

1,028,034

2,092,723 40,271

– 47,871

2,085,123

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I N C O M E

Direct revenueIndirect revenue

Total revenue

Subsidy lease sectionSubsidy operating contribution sectionOther subsidies/contributions

Total contributions

T O TA L I N C O M E

E X P E N S E S

Salary expensesWrite-offsRentPurchasesOther expenses

T O TA L E X P E N S E S

B A L A N C E F R O M N O R M A L O P E R AT I O N S

balance of interest income/expenses

O P E R AT I N G R E S U LT

A L L O C AT I O N O F N E T R E S U LT F R O M O P E R AT I O N S

Allocation fund TV investment 2004/2005Allocation fund for safetyAllocation fund for TV investments 2006Allocation fund for collection improvementAllocation fund for Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

Subtotal

Addition to general reserve

2006

899,087 368,646

1,267,733

4,173,375 6,392,625

489,816

11,055,816

12,323,549

4,336,715 924,666

3,519,079 38,631

3,256,920

12,076,011

247,538

34,740

282,278

153,121 123,400 135,900 200,000

– 282,272

330,149

– 47,871

282,278

Budget

500,000 150,000

650,000

3,661,753 6,205,473

519,871

10,387,097

11,037,097

3,650,410 862,500

3,595,053 45,500

2,313,466

10,466,929

570,168

– 1,168

569,000

2005

541,435 358,133

899,568

3,777,675 6,288,106 1,374,074

11,439,855

12,339,423

4,187,995 991,583

3,456,900 331,883

2,501,029

11,469,390

870,033

24,267

894,300

C AT E G O R I S AT I O N O F O P E R AT I N G A C C O U N T

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G E N E R A L

In 2005, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science pub-lished the “Handbook for accounting for cultural subsidiesto museums”. In creating it, an attempt was made to alignwith Title 9 of Civil Code Book 2.This handbook stipulated additional rules with respect tothe structure of the annual accounts. The operating account,in particular, has a specific structure.

The bases have remained unchanged in respect of 2005,with the exception of the Prepension Provision in applicationof the Vendrik Amendment.

VA L U AT I O N B A S E S

Tangible fixed assetsThe tangible fixed assets are valuated at the purchase valueminus linear depreciations based on the expected economiclife. The collections were not valuated because these arenot owned by the foundation.

InventoryWork in progressThis pertains to the costs of work in progress. These costsare capitalised in proportion to the original planned dura-tion of the exhibition remaining in the next financial year.

InventoryThe inventory is valuated at the purchase price. If deemednecessary, a provision for unmarketability is included.

Accounts receivableAccounts receivable are valued at the nominal value minus a provision for incollectability.

B A S E S F O R F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T I N G

P R O V I S I O N S

Prepension ProvisionThe prepension provision has been created in connectionwith the fact that the pension fund offers inadequate coverfor the prepension rights promised to employees. Theprovision is based on a calculation of the cash value of the

prepension obligations. Disbursements by virtue of prepen-sion are deducted from the provision. (2005: “The provisionserves to cover the disbursements to employees who canmake use of the plan in the next five years. Given the shortduration, the provision is determined nominally.”)

L O N G - T E R M D E B T S

Investment subsidyThe long-term debt is comprised of amounts received from third parties to finance investments. Release occurs in proportion to the depreciations on the relevant assets.This release is credited to the operation account.

Other assets and liabilitiesThe other assets and liabilities are valued at their nominalvalue.

B A S E S F O R D E T E R M I N I N G R E S U LT S

DepreciationsThe depreciations of tangible fixed assets are calculatedaccording to the following percentages of the replacementvalue or purchase value.

Computer equipment: 20%Other equipment: 10% and 20%Inventory: 10%

Other benefits and costs The benefits and costs pertain to the financial year 2006.

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A U D I T O R ’ S R E P O R T

ASSIGNMENT

We have checked whether the financial statements incorpo-rated in this annual report of the Foundation “StichtingRijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde” in Leiden, the Netherlands,for the year 2006 were properly derived from the annualaccounts for the year 2006 of the Stichting Rijksmuseumvoor Volkenkunde audited by us. We have issued an unqual-ified opinion on those annual accounts on 12 April 2007.The board of the Foundation “Stichting Rijksmuseum voorVolkenkunde” is responsible for drafting financial statementsin accordance with the principles used in the 2006 annualaccounts of the Stichting Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde. It is our responsibility to issue an auditor’s report concerningthe financial statements.

ACTIVITIES

We have conducted our audit in accordance withNetherlands law. Accordingly, our audit has to be plannedand carried out in such a way that a reasonable degree ofcertainty is obtained that the financial statements have beenproperly derived from the annual accounts.

We are of the opinion that the audit information we haveobtained is sufficient and suitable to serve as a basis for ourdecision.

OPINION

We are of the opinion that the financial statements havebeen properly derived from the annual accounts in allrespects of material importance.

CLARIFICATION

For the insight that is required for a justified formation of an opinion regarding the financial position and the results of the Foundation and for a sufficient insight in the scope ofour audit, the financial statements of Stichting Rijksmuseumvoor Volkenkunde must be read in conjunction with the fullannual accounts from which the financial statements havebeen derived, as well as the unqualified audit certificateissued by us thereon on 12 April 2007. This clarification inno way detracts from our opinion.

Leiden, the Netherlands, April 2007

Berk, Accountants and Tax Consultants

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Colophon

composition Museum Volkenkunde text and editing Martijn de Rijk, Overveentranslation Meesterwerk Talen Tmprinting NPN Drukkersdesign Operadesign.com (Ton Homburg)photography Kjeld Duits

Tim EshuisBen Grishaaver Peter HilzKadir van LohuizenPeter Menzel Linda RoodenburgAns WestraMemisaSOS kinderdorpenAidsfondsStichting Kuyichi

Kuwait, Al Haggan family