Cultural heritage international

'Cultural heritage ('national heritage' or just 'heritage') is the legacy of physical and intangible attributes of the past of a group or society that are selected from the past, and inherited, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. What is considered cultural heritage by one generation may be rejected by the next generation, only to be revived by a succeeding generation.' (source: Wikipedia, December 2009)

This dossier is about cultural heritage in the international development cooperation field. The preservation of cultural heritage and national cultures is part of Dutch foreign policy and development cooperation. The focus of this dossier is on international cultural heritage work, with particular references to the Netherlands, including activities of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). Due to its colonial past, KIT has cultural relations with countries such as Ghana, Brazil, Suriname, Indonesia, and South Africa.

This dossier is a joint activity of KIT Tropenmuseum (TM), KIT Tropentheater (TT), and KIT Information & Library Services (ILS), developed by Sonja Wijs, Paulien Schuurmans and Minke Valk.