Introduction Sarah Johnson and Fanny Wonu Veys
This publication is part of a larger focus by the Dutch National Museum of World Cultures (NMVW) – an umbrella organisation comprising of the Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam), the Museum Volkenkunde (Leiden) and the Afrika Museum (Berg en Dal) – and the Wereldmuseum (Rotterdam) on the provenance of its collections. In March 2019, the museum took an important step to embed provenance into its practice and policy with the publication of Return of Cultural Objects: Principles and Process, which identifies the principles on the basis of which the museum will assess claims for the return of objects of which it is the custodian. As part of this proactive policy, the museum works with countries and communities of origin to assess places for the justifiable return of objects to the original owners. In the summer of 2019, two researchers were hired for the fulltime investigation of the museum collections’ provenance. The purpose of this publication is also proactive – it aims to assess how the museum can better highlight provenance both in the display of existing collections and in the collecting of new objects. This inaugural edition is roughly divided in 7
