Research Center for Material Culture

13/05/2026

SYMPOSIUM | Another Gathering: The Beauty We Inherit on May 20

What does it mean to be in the wake of absence? Until its restitution in November 2025, "Ama O Ghe Ehen", a 18th-century bronze plaque depicting a mudfish, was held in the Museum de Fundatie's collection since its acquisition in 1937.

On May 20 The Research Center for Material Culture at Wereldmuseum and Museum de Fundatie explore the process and implications of this return, and what restitution might mean in the context of this plaque.

Join us for a day of conversations, lectures, screenings, sonic interventions, and performances.

📍May 20 | 9:30 - 17:30 | Wereldmuseum Leiden
🎟️ Free registration via: https://ow.ly/wsOr50YVxKj

Photo: Ama O Ghe Ehen (Fish Plaque), 18th Century, Brass (bronze), 43 x 18 cm. Court of the Oba of Benin, Nigeria. Courtesy of the NCMM, on behalf of the Oba of Benin. Photograph by Martijn Schmidt.

06/05/2026

REIMAGINING THE ARCHIVE | What happens if we reimagine the practice of art history as a form of world making, using archival research alongside imaginative thinking?

The Research Center for Material Culture at the Wereldmuseum, in close collaboration with the Radboud University Nijmegen and Wereldlab, invites Shola von Reinhold, Satch Hoyt, Eunsong Kim and Carine Zaayman for the programme Making Worlds: Reimagining the Archive.

Making Worlds is a continuing collaborative programme between Wereldlab and Radboud University, featuring presentations, conversations, and performances by artists and scholars who are animated by the problems and possibilities of the archive—a space of collection and categorisation shaped by coloniality.

📍Waalhalla Centrum: Winselingseweg 12, 6541 AK Nijmegen
📅May 22. 15:00 – 17:45 PM
🎟️Register for free via: https://ow.ly/1QM550YRK4r

28/03/2026

ARTIST TALK | Rogue Agents of History on April 24

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam and the Research Center for Material Culture welcome artists Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind for an artist talk in direct connection with the opening of the exhibition Rogue Agents of History.

During this talk, Sansour and Lind be will in conversation with the curator of the exhibition Nat Muller. Their conversation will focus on the central themes and questions that arise from the exhibition and the newly commissioned film A Sunken Tale of Losses Delayed.

🎟️Book your free tickets via: https://ow.ly/CNZO50YwWfl

ON ROGUE AGENTS OF HISTORY

Rogue Agents of History is the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by acclaimed Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour. She works primarily with film, photography, and installation. Central to her work is the interplay between myth, documentary and historical narrative, often explored through the lens of science fiction.

23/03/2026

UNDESIRABLES | Performance lecture on 16 April

In the early 20th century Dutch planters founded a private secret service in Sumatra to surveil, intimidate and exile those they labelled as ‘undesirables’. Their reports reveal anxiety about union organizers, women’s movements and satay vendors passing revolutionary messages. Using the archival documents against the grain, artist filmmaker Sabine Groenewegen unearths resistance to racial capitalism despite attempts to suppress it.

During this performance lecture organised by The Research Center for Material Culture and Framer Framed, Sabine Groenewegen shares from her ongoing research on the Dutch colonial plantocracy. Groenewegen's research is a furtherance of her artwork Surrounding Silences that was on display in the exhibition Imprints at Wereldmuseum Amsterdam in 2024-2025.

📍Framer Framed
📅16 April, 19.00 - 20.30
🎟️Capacity is limited for this event, please send an email to [email protected] to register. Read more on the programme: https://ow.ly/qJcX50Yqb4l

📷: Nationaal Archief, Archiefnummer: 2.20.46, Inventarisnummer: 61. Stukken betreffende de oprichting, werkzaamheden en rapportage van de Inlichtingendienst van de Deli Planters Vereeniging.

05/11/2025

KUNSTINSTALLATIE | Fillke Pewma vanaf 8 november

Voor veel inheemse over de hele wereld, zoals de Mapuche uit Zuid-Amerika, is dromen geen persoonlijke of geïsoleerde ervaring. Dromen verbindt ons juist met herinneringen, met ons grondgebied en met de toekomst die we willen creëren. Dromen is een manier om toegang te krijgen tot kennis en op een andere manier met onze wereld om te gaan.

Vanaf 8 november presenteert Wereldmuseum Leiden, in samenwerking met de Mapuche-gemeenschappen (EPEW Collectief en Stichting FOLIL), de kunstinstallatie Fillke Pewma.

De installatie combineert textiel, hout en foto’s uit de collectie van het museum, getransformeerd tot nieuwe droomlandschappen. 💭Deel jouw droom en krijg er één terug, gebaseerd op het Mapuche-idee van wederkerigheid.

Naast de installatie zijn er workshops en een publiekslezing over fotografie, textiel, herstel en wederkerigheid. ℹ️ Lees snel meer via: https://ow.ly/K3S450XiVqK

15/10/2025

BUILDING BLACK CIVILIZATIONS | Te zien vanaf 31 oktober

Een miljoen zwarte LEGO®-stenen, bijna zeven meter lang en gebouwd door Ghanees-Canadese kunstenaar Ekow Nimako. In Building Black Civilizations – The Nile 3025 CE ontdek je een toekomstig Afrika vol kracht en fantasie.

🌇Laat je meevoeren in een monumentaal kunstwerk, ervaar de verwondering van Afrofuturisme en bouw zelf mee aan een collectieve toekomst. In de expo liggen tienduizenden LEGO®-stenen klaar.

Wil jij als een van de eersten deze nieuw expo zien? Kom dan naar de Artist Talk met Ekow Nimako op 30 oktober. 🎟️Lees meer en boek je gratis tickets via: https://ow.ly/eSWZ50XbBPM

26/08/2025

ARTIST TALK | With Joiri Minaya on September 17

What does it mean to be hospitable? This year the Research Center for Material Culture (RCMC) explores the concept of hospitality. As inviting guests often requires burdening them with visa paperwork and hostile border police upon arrival, the RCMC began to feel the impossibility of hospitality and questioned its ethics. On the other hand, they looked at the ease with which Western Europeans can travel, and how tourism from these countries can often advertise the fantasy of hospitality in locations that bear this expectation with a heavy colonial history.

Join us in Wereldmuseum Amsterdam on September 17, as RCMC research fellow Joiri Minaya will reflect on her work concerning the ideas of hospitality, the neocolonial tourism industry, and the notions of diaspora and diaspora identity making. Throughout her work, she has been exploring the exploitation of the Caribbean in the tourism industry and how tropical identity has become a product.

🔗This artist talk is complemented by a workshop with artist Raziel Perin on September 14. Book your free tickets for the events via: https://ow.ly/5Wlc50WFVOg

24/06/2025

The Research Center for Material Culture is pleased to invite you to our upcoming talk with artists Hangfeng Chen and Jing He from our Made in China exhibition. This conversation is a continuation of the conference De-Imperialising Histories and Blazing Forms, which will take place on June 25th-26th.

30/05/2025

22/05/2025

STATEMENT WERELDMUSEUM GAZA | We value the many voices addressing our role and responsibility.

At Wereldmuseum, we look with horror and grief at the ongoing human suffering and the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza. Once again, we call for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages. We see it as our mission to contribute to a more just and equitable society for everyone. We speak out against the genocidal violence committed by the Israeli state against Palestinians in Gaza, as affirmed by numerous analyses of the International Court of Justice, human rights organisations, and UN rapporteurs. Working towards justice means daring to be critical – without resorting to division or exclusion.

We stand with all those working to end the violence, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. We do this in the way most natural to a museum: through art, exhibitions, public programming, and education. This is where our dedication lies. We believe that by continuing this work, the museum remains a space where dialogue is possible – dialogue that can lead to solidarity and new forms of action.

Please find the full statement on our website. ➡️ https://www.materialculture.nl/en/statement-gaza