Shared Heritage Reception
On Thursday, 25Th September 2008 I was invited to attend a "Shared Heritage Reception" in the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science in the Hague.
The Dutch Government has a new policy about international co operations with its ex-colonies, one of them is Indonesia, and they wanted to socialize this new policy. The main thing is about allocation of budget which now distributes through the Embassies in the partner countries.
I met the Indonesian delegation from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Indonesian Embassy. We were together most of the time simply because there were a lot to catch up. But some people came to talk to us, too, and we had good laughs and conversations. We even thought about a join cooperation for a very interesting project with one of the Dutch partner.
In this sort of occasion I thought how small the heritage network is. I met the people and I encountered the names which are very familiar already in the network for years. One or two new names but mostly are the old boys and girls. On one side this gives comfort, on another side sometimes I wonder why heritage doesn't attract a lot of people like other professions. I am sure the gathering of doctors, architects or lawyers will be well attended by hundred or even thousand audiences. Heritage is really a nucleus.
During the conversation, came up the question what is the meaning of shared heritage for the ex-colonies. The term is proposed and based on the needs of the Netherlands. It is interesting to know and learn what the partner countries proposal and needs of their heritage. Are they willing to share, too?
After the reception, I went to dinner with Cor Passhier and Pak Gatot from Indonesia. We wanted to find an Indonesian restaurant but ended up in an Italian restaurant who provided Indonesian soup (soto) and rice. What an idea.
The Dutch Government has a new policy about international co operations with its ex-colonies, one of them is Indonesia, and they wanted to socialize this new policy. The main thing is about allocation of budget which now distributes through the Embassies in the partner countries.
I met the Indonesian delegation from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Indonesian Embassy. We were together most of the time simply because there were a lot to catch up. But some people came to talk to us, too, and we had good laughs and conversations. We even thought about a join cooperation for a very interesting project with one of the Dutch partner.
In this sort of occasion I thought how small the heritage network is. I met the people and I encountered the names which are very familiar already in the network for years. One or two new names but mostly are the old boys and girls. On one side this gives comfort, on another side sometimes I wonder why heritage doesn't attract a lot of people like other professions. I am sure the gathering of doctors, architects or lawyers will be well attended by hundred or even thousand audiences. Heritage is really a nucleus.During the conversation, came up the question what is the meaning of shared heritage for the ex-colonies. The term is proposed and based on the needs of the Netherlands. It is interesting to know and learn what the partner countries proposal and needs of their heritage. Are they willing to share, too?
After the reception, I went to dinner with Cor Passhier and Pak Gatot from Indonesia. We wanted to find an Indonesian restaurant but ended up in an Italian restaurant who provided Indonesian soup (soto) and rice. What an idea.
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