Amsterdam Museum collaborates with the Museum of the City of New York and native New Yorkers
Four hundred years ago, the first Dutch settlers arrived in the area that is now New York. Their mission from the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was to establish the colony New Netherland, with its capital New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of present-day Manhattan. The Amsterdam Museum, together with the Museum of the City of New York and representatives of the Lenape – original inhabitants of this area of the United States – are creating an exhibition about this shared history.
The exhibition Manahahtáanung or New Amsterdam? The Indigenous story behind New York is on display at the Amsterdam Museum aan de Amstel from 16 May to 10 November 2024. This exhibition looks from an Indigenous perspective at the decades-long period of Dutch colonisation of the area, its impact on the Indigenous inhabitants and their struggles. A sequel to the exhibition will be on show at the Museum of the City of New York in autumn 2025.
Imara Limon, curator, Amsterdam Museum: ”Colonialism in Suriname, the Caribbean and Asia is receiving increasing attention in the Netherlands and also at the Amsterdam Museum. But Amsterdam also left deep traces in North America through colonial activities. I was surprised how little most Amsterdamers and New Yorkers know about New Amsterdam and the Lenape. All the while, the name Amsterdam was used to make the area their own. We are honoured to work with representatives from the Lenape and the Museum of the City of New York to showcase this underexposed part of Dutch colonial history.”
The reason for the collaboration and exhibition is that 2024 will mark four hundred years since the Dutch arrived in America at the mouth of the Hudson River to…
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