What remains today of the Dutch Period in Sri Lanka is a mutual heritage that evolved from the interaction and exchange of elements between the Sri Lankan and Dutch cultures. The Central Cultural Fund in Sri Lanka approached Dutch cultural institutions with the proposal to establish a cultural relationship programme, aiming to preserve built heritage from the Dutch Period. With the close involvement of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, this programme came into practice by the establishment of the Mutual Heritage Centre in 1999. The Centre has been in operation for the last two years and several meaningful heritage preservation projects are now underway, with the assistance of the Dutch Cultural Fund.

For the purpose of successful implementation of the proposed and ongoing projects of the Mutual Heritage Centre, the technical assistance programme has been set up by the two governments. This programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (19.2 mln Rs) and is currently being implemented. The programme aims at institution building of the Mutual Heritage Centre, as well as establishing a sustainable network within and between the two countries in the field of Mutual Heritage.

Another example of the valuable cooperation in the field of mutual cultural heritage is the archive programme, implemented by the National Archive in The Netherlands and the Department of National Archives in Sri Lanka, with a facilitating role for the Central Cultural Fund and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The programme, called Towards A New Age of Partnership (TANAP), encompasses activities such as the development of digital finding aids, courses in old-Dutch handwriting, microfilming the VOC records, a boxing project and the restoration of ancient documents. The documents, written in many languages, contain information about a variety of subjects, for instance, intrigues at the court in Kandy, populations that have disappeared over the years, local prices of products, weather reports, regional customs, clothing, religion and ancient traditions. Even the oldest handwriting in Tamil is to be found in the VOC archives. The remains are often in a very poor condition, which motivated the initiators of the TANAP programme to undertake immediate action to save an important part of mutual history.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka and The Netherlands undertake a joint effort to renovate the Dutch Reformed Church in Galle. This church was established in Ceylon in 1642, and is the oldest Protestant Church in Sri Lanka. The church was built and completed in August 1755 and it has since withstood the test of time. The main purpose of this mission, financed by the Dutch Cultural Fund (14.7 mln Rs), is to share knowledge, experience and information with the Central Cultural Fund concerning the restoration of the Galle Dutch Reformed Church.

The most actual and well-known project is the “Avondster Project”. The Avondster, a VOC ship from the 17th century, which was wrecked on 23 June 1659 in the harbour of Galle, is now being excavated. The rescue excavation of the Avondster is a top priority, but this project has also provided an ideal opportunity to develop maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka. This project is part of the Mutual Heritage Programme of the Sri Lankan government and will be implemented before the end of 2004. The project, funded by the Netherlands government (66 mln Rupees), also aims at training a team of Sri Lankan archaeologists.

For an etxensive and illustrated overview of mutual cultural heritage worldwide, link to  www.atlasmutualheritage.nl

Press release: Bilateral Cultural Co-operation 

Background on Cultural Coop

The Netherlands to support the Southern Cultural Triangle Programme.

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