On the 22th of February, I joined the slavery tour through Amsterdam along with my classmates. As it the title already suggests, the tour is about the history of slavery within Amsterdam, but also of the Dutch role within the slavery time. The interesting thing is that this tour doesn't only show you buildings or statues, but it also tells you something of the people that are behind these buildings, statues or paintings which made it really interesting. In the blog below, you will find my view on the slavery tour based on the Critical Succes Factors of intangible culture. Feel free to enlighten yourself! The tour started on the Dam square, which is in the center of Amsterdam (for those who don't know Amsterdam). First of all, the tour was divided into two groups, an English and a Dutch one. After the groups where divided, the tour guides started the tour with an explanation of the tour, what we could expect from the tour and they told something about the history of slavery in the Netherlands. After that, the tour started and we visited different interested buildings and places of which I never knew that it had something to do with slavery. Roughly, the tour took us from the Dam square to Koningsplein, where it wasn't even finished, but it had to be brought to an end due to a shortage of time, because we had to go to our classes at school. Funny enough, I was a bit disappointed that the tour had to be terminated, because I was really enjoying it.
I was disappointed because I thought that the slavery tour was a really interesting tour, not only because of the interesting background information that was given during the tour, but also because I learned to see my own city through different eyes. I wouldn't say that the image was particulary strong, but then again, I think it was quite clear what they wanted to show. I think it has to be difficult to create a strong image around this tour due to the limited amount of information and attention that is given by the Dutch government, who logically is not proud of their historical role in slavery. I do think that the tour is not something that particulary belongs to Amsterdam or its surroundings as wel that the tour is not an cultural activity. Yes ofcourse you could say well it happened in Amsterdam and so it is a part of Amsterdam, but then again, looking from a professional point of view: Is this something what local people do nowadays? Do people come to Amsterdam in order to see the history of slavery? Are there not other places who have much more memories and information about slavery then Amsterdam? Sure there are, so therefore I think that it only attracts those that have a connection to slavery or who are interested in it. However, I think that the tour itself was very well organized. Before I did this tour, I had no idea that Amsterdam once was involved in the slavery trade business, so in a way, the tour really learned to let me see the special within the ordinary looking at buildings or statues from a different perspective. I now know what happened there and therefore I will look at these buildings with new ideas, but also with new questions. I remember that one of the most beautiful places we went was De Nieuwe Kerk on the Dam square which I never visited before. Because the guides needed to tell us something about a woman that was buried within the church, it gave us the possibility to look around the church without paying for it which was really nice and impressive. By doing this, they gave me acces to for me, a rather unusual place, even if its right in the center of my hometown. One of the best things was the storytelling. The guides where really aware of the subjects they where talking about and gave us a lot of background information. This information was not only historical, but it was also about the Dutch treated their slaves and how (much of the time) a friendship began to arise between the owner of the slave and the slave itself, which was really interesting to see. To accompany their stories, they had a map of pictures and drawings which amplified their story and helped us to imagine the story more vivid, which was a really good thing. It also covers a lot of CSF's such as it gave us a clear profile of whose life we where experiencing and that it showed us personal photo's and memories. I also think that the tour showed the cultural diversity that was already there even in these times. The tour was really educational because of it insiders knowledge information and its unique and clear concept but it forgets to implement an ethical dimension to it, because it didn't really pay attention to the three P's (People, Planet, Profit), stakeholders where not consulted and locals had no benefit. Then again it was a very respectful tour, giving us insights from different perspectives and all of the tours that we did, where not really paying attention to the ethical aspect of a tour. What I really liked is that they really seemed to have thought of the use of senses as they had different small tastings that added a lot to the experience of doing the tour. These tastings were not really necessary to tell the story, but still they did it, which was really good in my opinion. It not only attracts the attention of a curious contender of the tour, but it also triggers the imagination of these contenders. To conclude, I think that the tour was very accessible to follow and understand because the pictures and the tastings helped to stay interested, the subject itself (a slavery tour in Amsterdam) is off the beaten track and it was a small scale and personal tour, which was beneficial for the overal experience that I had. Having done the tour, I think that it was one which was enjoyable, interesting and made me realize that we as a Dutch powerful nation, might not have been very kind in our turbulent history. Follow, like, pin it, love it.
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AuthorAnthony Voskuilen, a driven tourism student, football player, brother, son and friend. Determined to achieve greatness on whatever path life sends me. Become wise.
Do you want to read my blogs ? Sure ! Just click on the "read more" button and enlighten yourself. (all written in Dutch)
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