Between policy and practice: the impact of global decolonization on the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, 1960‑1970

Abstract

This article examines the impact of global decolonization in the 1960s on the National Museum of Ethnology (NME) in Leiden, The Netherlands. It focusses especially on how the newly found independence of many countries around the world influenced the mission that the museum set for itself, and how decolonization impacted exhibitionmaking and acquisition policies. The goal of the article is to better understand how the museum saw its own role and its praxis in a period of significant global political changes that deeply affected the way ethnographic museums functioned.