Collection
The Tropenmuseum collection currently contains over 340,000 pieces, of which 175,000 are Material Culture (objects), 155,000 are photographic material (photographs, albums, slides, negatives etc.), and 10,000 other imagery (drawings, paintings, documents etc.).
Search online in the Tropenmuseum collections
In the spotlight: Emilie van Kerckhoff
Emilie van Kerckhoff traveled in the first half of the 20th century to North Africa, India, Japan and the Dutch East Indies. What she saw in the streets, in temples and palaces, she captured in her sketchbooks with pencil drawings and water colors. Together with Sara Swart, Van Kerckhoff made her first trip to Java in 1910. At the Borobudur and the Kratons of Yogyakarta and Solo, she focused on a multitude of new shapes and colors. Click on the images to view the sketchbooks.
From there she traveled on to Bali and Sri Lanka (then named Ceylon).
And by the end of the year she was in Japan.
On the way to her home in Italy, she visited India and Egypt.
Emilie Kerckhoff elaborated her sketches and notes later on. These formed the basis for a book about Java that was released in 1912. Not only the books but also the original sketchbooks are in the collection of the Tropenmuseum. In the library of the Royal Tropical Institue you can request to see her book Beelden van Volksleven en Bedryf, geteekend en toegelicht door Emilie van Kerckhoff (Images of People, Life and Work, drawn and illustrated by Emilie Kerckhoff).
Virtual Collection of Masterpieces (VCM)
Twenty nine museums from Asia and twenty six from Europe have contributed around 1000 masterpieces to the Virtual Collection of Masterpieces (VCM). This web-accessible selection of images and accompanying information on Asian masterpieces from Asian and European museums is a fantastic search tool for people from various levels interested in art and cultural history. The VCM project promotes mutual understanding and appreciation between the peoples of Asia and Europe, specifically through the use of works of art and culture.
Read the presss release of VCM. Click on the banner to visit their website.
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