An exhibition entitled “Once upon a time…the Netherlands and Taiwan” is currently underway through April 6, 2025, at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to celebrate four centuries of bilateral historical exchanges.
According to the Ministry of Culture, 14 prints and two paintings are featured in the exhibit, which recounts the shared history between the two sides since the Dutch landed in Taiwan in the 17th century. It is hoped that the diverse perspectives of the Indigenous, Han and Dutch people living on the island at that time will prompt audiences to reexamine the past and contemplate social issues such as transitional justice, the MOC said.
The display is a collaboration between the Taiwan Culture Center in Paris and Rijksmuseum, the ministry said. The Amsterdam facility also invited academics from Taiwan, Sweden and the Netherlands to write articles on the history of Taiwan and its cultural relics to be published in a special Formosa themed edition of Aziatische Kunst, a journal produced by the Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands, it added.
Hu Ching-fang, director of the culture center, said that 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of Fort Zeelandia’s establishment in the southern city of Tainan, adding that Rijksmuseum has continued to reflect on the Netherlands’ colonial history in recent years.
Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1789, relocated to Amsterdam in 1808 and reopened to the public in 2013 after extensive renovations. It is the Netherlands’ largest museum and has one of the best collections in the country, the MOC added. (POC-E)
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