Museum Vrolik

29/06/2026

We promised to share the provenance stories behind the empty stands from the exhibit: 'Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik’ (link in bio). Stand 9: People of Marken.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, fueled by nationalistic motives and racist ideas about ‘national characteristics’, European anthropologists attempted to racially classify not only people in colonies, but also the people of Europe.

Lodewijk Bolk’s student J.A.J. Barge (1884-1952) studied both skulls from mound villages and skulls excavated from the cemetery on the North Holland island of Marken. The skulls from Marken were interesting to anthropologists because they were thought to have been deformed by wearing traditional hats. Coincidentally, the search for the ‘original Dutch people’ not only involved a belief in the existence of ‘races’, but also research into traditional clothing, dialects, and the architecture of old farms. All of this was linked to stereotypical character traits, such as ‘the reserved Frisian’, ‘the exuberant Limburger’, ‘the thrifty Zeelander’, etc. This was called the ‘regional’ or ‘national character’.

Image: Marken, Waterlands Archief.

21/05/2026

We promised to share some of the provenance stories behind the empty stands from the exhibit: 'Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik’ (link in bio). Stand 29: Gerie.

Museum Vrolik’s collection includes two skulls of men of Bengali descent who lived in Batavia (Jakarta, Indonesia). We know the name of one of them: Gerie – he died in one of Batavia’s hospitals. Gerie may have been part of the ‘Bengali Lancers’, originally around 100 Bengali cavalrymen served in the Dutch East Indies Army in 1817. These cavalrymen fought in the Java War (1825-1830). The second skull may also have belonged to a lancer. This skull was sent by the head of the military medical service in the Dutch East Indies.

Photo: Bengali lancer on horseback in full dress uniform, made by Joannes Adriaanszoon around 1823, collection National Military Museum.

08/05/2026

We promised to share some of the provenance stories behind the empty stands from the exhibit: Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik.

Stand 42: Sawek

The 1903 Dutch North New Guinea expedition was organized to explore the north coast of New Guinea. The expedition’s medical officer, Gijsbert van der Sande, collected over 900 ethnographic objects in exchange for to***co, beads, knives, and axes. Likely, he also collected human remains. A year after the expedition, the anatomist Bolk registered five skulls from New Guinea in the museum catalog. However, only two entries include specific place names “Amboebaken” and “Zoëk”. Amboebaken is the Amberbaken district on Vogelkop. Zoëk is Sawek on Supiori Island. The Papuan community in the Netherlands helped determine the latter name. Indeed, both places were visited by the 1903 expedition.

📷Photo 1: Map of Van der Sande during one of the expeditions to New Guinea .
📸Photo 2: This photograph was taken during the 1903 expedition to North New Guinea by Van der Sande, Wereldmuseum.

05/05/2026

https://www.folia.nl/nl/actueel/173806/moet-museum-vrolik-zijn-naam-veranderen

English:
https://www.folia.nl/en/actueel/173806/should-museum-vrolik-change-its-name

De nieuwe tentoonstelling in Museum Vrolik gaat over de toekomst van menselijke overblijfselen van koloniale herkomst. Het museum stelt inmiddels wel de vraag: kan de naam ‘Museum Vrolik’ blijven? ‘Koste wat het kost de naam behouden is met de kennis van nu niet meer vanzelfsprekend.’

30/04/2026

We promised to share some of the provenance stories behind the empty stands from the exhibit: Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik.

Stand 6: Skull looted from the Temple of the Sun

Around 1840, Willem Vrolik received a Peruvian skull from the Amsterdam physician A.W.F. Herckenrath (1794–1869). The skull had been stolen from the tombs of the Sun Temple Coricancha in Cusco, Peru. Herckenrath had received the skull from the American zoologist John Edwards Holbrook (1796–1871) from Charleston, South Carolina. Herckenrath’s younger brother Leon probably played a role. Leon Herckenrath was a businessman and politician who was also living in Charleston at the time and moved in the same circles as Holbrook. Holbrook received the skull from his old college friend, the notorious American skull collector and racist Samuel George Morton (1799–1851) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

📷Photo 1: This image shows part of the Sun Temple Coricancha in Cusco, Peru, once one of the most sacred sites within Inca culture. The Santo Domingo monastery, as seen here, was built in the 17th century by Spanish colonialists on the walls of the temple.
📸Photo 2: John Edwards Holbrook by Daniel Huntington (1816-1906)

30/03/2026

New exhibition: 'Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik.'

The preservation and display of human remains in museums remains a deeply sensitive and painful issue, especially for descendant communities from former colonies. Museums that care for these collections, such as Museum Vrolik, carry a responsibility to confront their colonial and racist histories, through research, transparency, and dialogue.

What might the future look like if all human remains were finally laid to rest?

Perhaps only empty display cases would remain, powerful reminders of a past shaped by colonial collecting practices. These spaces would not be empty of meaning, but filled with stories, accountability, and reflection. Through careful research and storytelling, we aim to move beyond objectification and restore humanity to those whose remains were once reduced to scientific specimens.

This is the starting point of the exhibition 'Imagine – the future of human remains of colonial contexts in Museum Vrolik.'

The upcoming weeks we will share these stories with you via our social media channels.

Read more on our website: https://www.museumvrolik.nl/en/visit-the-museum/exhibition-imagine/