NWA Consortium- Faculteit der Humaniora

Hoe ga je om met beladen erfgoed en complexe geschiedenissen?

Doe mee aan de training Sharing Stories on Contested Histories en werk samen met internationale collega’s aan actuele vraagstukken rond koloniale collecties, restitutie en meerstemmige storytelling.

Deze training wordt in het najaar georganiseerd door de Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed en is bedoeld voor erfgoedprofessionals uit de partnerlanden van het Nederlandse International Heritage Cooperation Programme, waaronder Suriname.

Meld je aan en draag bij aan een internationale dialoog over het navigeren van complexe geschiedenissen en hun nalatenschap.

📆De deadline is op 28 mei 13.00 CET.

📎Meer informatie vind je op deze website: https://english.cultureelerfgoed.nl/topics/i/international-heritage-cooperation/projects/training-sharing-stories-on-contested-histories.

📸 Remco Vermeulen

On December 3, 2025, young heritage specialists from Suriname, including Sushmeeta Ganesh-administrative assistant and researcher within the NWA Consortium project- entered into dialogue with Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the President of Suriname, Her Excellency Jennifer Geerlings-Simons and the Ministers of Education of both Suriname and the Netherlands about the future of heritage in Suriname.

In this context, Dr. Cheryl White, project manager of the NWA Consortium project, wrote an article highlighting the importance of creating space, policies and opportunities for Surinamese heritage professionals to help shape the country’s heritage sector.

Read the full article online: “Are Surinamers a Part of the Heritage Sector’s Future?' in AfroMagazine.

Link: https://afromagazine.eu/are-surinamers-a-part-of-the-heritage-sectors-future/

For the past month, Chamul Sardjoe, Biology student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, completed an internship at Naturalis Biodiversity Center through the NWO project.

During his internship in Leiden, Chamul carried out both academic and practical research in the ethnobotanical and reptile collections of Naturalis. The knowledge gathered during this internship will be used in his Bachelor's thesis.

Through his internship, Chamul was able to answer one of the sub-questions of his thesis, namely 'what was collected during the colonial expeditions in terms of plants and animals that are targeted in envenomation therapies?'

On March 27, Chamul presented the results of his internship to his supervisors, including Prof. Tinde van Andel and Dr. Caroline Fernandes Caromano, as well as to the Ethnobotany team of Naturalis.

Chamul is currently writing his internship report and continues to work on his Bachelor’s thesis. The NWO Consortium team wishes him all the best with the next steps of his research.

Within the scope of the NWO project (Faculteit der Humaniora), one Biology student from the Anton De Kom Universiteit van Suriname was offered the opportunity to complete a one-month internship at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands. The internship provides both academic and practical experience in ethnobotanical and collection-based research, supporting the objectives of the NWO project: research into museum collections and the voices of tribal communities in Suriname.

Currently, Biology student Chamul Sardjoe is in the Netherlands participating in this internship at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. During his first week, Chamul worked with the alcohol collection. Together with fellow intern Daan Zielinski, he is checking the identification of amphibians and reptiles that were collected during colonial expeditions in Suriname at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, they are researching the local names of these species.

This internship not only contributes to Chamul’s Bachelor’s thesis in Biology, but also strengthens the partnership and collaboration between the Anton De Kom Universiteit van Suriname and Naturalis.

We wish Chamul much success with his research and look forward to the results of his internship.

From February 15 to February 28, Dr. Caroline Fernandes Caromano, postdoctoral researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center (one of the consortium partners), was in Suriname to conduct research complementary to the NWO project.
During these two weeks, Dr. Caroline participated in the NWO consortium meeting for the preparation of the annual report. She also guided a biology student from the Biology Department at the Anton de Kom University in finalizing his bachelor’s thesis research proposal. The biology student obtained a one-month internship at Naturalis Biodiversity Center through the NWO consortium project.
In addition, Dr. Caroline held a meeting with the Mulokot Foundation to seek permission to study selected Wayana objects housed at the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam. She visited Stichting Surinaams Museum to examine a seed necklace and gave a presentation at the Faculteit der Humaniora, Anton de Kom University of Suriname on February 26.
The presentation, titled ‘Encapsulated in Body Ornaments: Environmental Knowledge and the Role of Local Actors in Surinamese Ethnographic Collections’, focused on the provenance research she is conducting on Indigenous and Maroon collections. These collections were most likely brought to the Netherlands during early 20th century colonial expeditions and are currently housed at Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Wereldmuseum. Through her research, Dr. Caroline aims to identify the distribution and uses of specific materials and objects from Suriname.

On Thursday, 22 January 2026, the book presentation of 'Ramsewak Shankar: A Technocrat as Minister, Manager and President of Suriname' was held at the University Guesthouse.

The book, written by Dr. Eric Jagdew, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and a researcher within the NWO project, highlights Suriname’s political history, processes of democratization and the personal experiences of Mr. Ramsewak Shankar within the country’s national history.

Mr. Ramsewak Shankar was the fourth President of Suriname and served from 1988 to 1990 as the first democratically elected head of state after the period of military rule.

Images: Public Relations AdeKUS, 2025.

Wan Bun Nyun Yari | Gelukkig Nieuwjaar | Happy New Year 🎆

Wishing you all the best in 2026 ✨

Happy Holidays from the NWO Consortium Team 🎄

From September to November 2025, Sushmeeta Ganesh participated as a researcher of the NWO consortium project in the Sharing Stories on Contested Histories (SSoCH) Program 2025, organized by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
The program focused on key themes such as provenance research, (virtual) restitution, collaboration with source communities and navigating complex historical, public and political contexts. These themes closely align with the objectives of the NWO consortium project, which aims to reinterpret cultural heritage together with Surinamese tribal communities.

During the state visit of Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to Suriname, Sushmeeta, together with fellow heritage specialists, had the opportunity to engage with Their Majesties, the President of Suriname, Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, and her spouse, as well as the Surinamese and Dutch Ministers of Education, Science and Culture. During this meeting, she shared insights from the NWO consortium project and highlighted the importance of community-centered heritage research and international collaboration.

The knowledge and experiences gained through the SSoCH program will be applied to ongoing heritage research and practice in Suriname.

Within the NWO Consortium Project, Santosh Singh is currently undertaking a PhD in Humanities. From September 2025 to January 2026, Santosh is attending a semester study at the Reinwardt Academie which is an integral part of his doctoral trajectory.
Alongside the academic program, Santosh also gave a presentation at Reinwardt Academy on the role and objectives of the Stichting Surinaams Museum, where he fulfills the role of content director. In this role, visits were also made to consortium partners, including the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, contributing to knowledge exchange and institutional collaboration.

💡 In September, Dr. Cheryl White returned to the Wereldmuseum for her second research visit within the NWO Consortium Project. She explored Indigenous and Maroon objects brought from Suriname during the KNAG expeditions, discovering pieces that call for deeper research.

🤝 Together with Dr. Eric Jagdew (Dean Faculty of Humanities, History Department), she met with Dr. Mirjam Shatanawi (Lecturer and UNESCO Chair Museum Collections, Repatriation and Interculturality) and Menno Welling (Program Manager Master Applied Museum and Heritage Studies), partners from the Reinwardt Academy to shape a future Museology minor at the History Department of the Faculty of Humanities.

🎤 The visit wrapped up with Dr. White’s lecture at Utrecht University, part of the Lecture Series '50 Years of Surinamese Independence: Histories, Legacies & Heritages', organized by Dr. Debby Esmeé de Vlugt and supported by a Van Oostrom grant.