Heritage is no longer just about monuments; today, the focus also extends to people and their stories. Take Amsterdam’s Chinatown, for example.
Although the Chinese community has been an integral part of the city center since the early twentieth century, the places where they live and go about their daily lives are often overlooked and under threat. There is frequently a vast difference between official historical accounts and the lived experience of a neighborhood.
In the display cases on the third floor, the photo exhibition "The Diaspora in Moments and Places" beautifully captures the living heritage of the Chinese diaspora. Through a unique blend of historical and contemporary photographs, personal interview excerpts, and official documents, you can immerse yourself in the collective memories of this distinctive Amsterdam neighborhood. Curators: Yan Zhou, Diwen Tan (TU Delft).
Cultural heritage identification have evolved from a monumental lens to a more people-centred approach. The “Chinatown” in the buffer zone of Amsterdam’s world heritage property, was an supporting element in nomination. Despite diaspora’s continuous presence in the city center since the early 1900s, the spaces and places they have lived in and shaped are nowadays underrepresented and under threat. There exists a perpetual tension between the heritage that is selected and the heritage that is lived.
This exhibition showcases the collective memories and living heritage created and maintained by the Chinese diaspora. Through paired historical-contemporary photographs, interview excerpts, and policy extracts, this heritage is brought into the forefront. Curators: Yan Zhou, Diwen Tan (TU Delft).