“Colonial heritage cannot be studied from a European perspective alone”

“European universities thrived during the colonial era, and traces of this history remain visible today,” says Gertjan Plets, Associate Professor of Heritage Studies. He is leading the new international project Colonial Legacies of Universities: Materialities and New Collaborations (COLUMN). “Buildings bear the names of controversial figures, research collections have colonial origins, and botanic gardens are silent witnesses of expeditions. We will be investigating how colonial knowledge networks operated and how universities today can address this legacy.”

International collaborations to address colonial heritage in academia

Supported by the European Union’s Horizon Programme, COLUMN brings together nine academic and cultural organisations from eight countries. A standout feature of the project is the involvement of principal investigators from Suriname and South Africa. Guest curators from formerly colonised countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and Mexico also participate as equal partners. “This might seem like an obvious approach, but it’s not yet the norm,” Plets explains. He and his colleagues initiated COLUMN to ensure that the colonial history of universities is explicitly not viewed solely from a European lens.

“Research into colonial heritage has traditionally been Eurocentric and reflective,” Plets observes. “But projects on colonial heritage cannot be studied from a European perspective alone. And critiquing existing practices is vital, of course, but we must also create new frameworks and languages to truly decolonise heritage. So we aim to actively reshape the academic debate and take it in a new direction.”

Colonial heritage of Utrecht’s Botanic Garden and University Museum

Utrecht University (UU) played a pivotal role in the colonial system, Plets notes. “In COLUMN, we focus on the period between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. During this time, UU organised expeditions, produced knowledge on the exploitation and governance of colonised regions, and even trained administrators and staff for the colonial economy. In return, it received funding and access to scientific resources.”

COLUMN’s Utrecht-based research focuses on the colonial history of the Botanic Gardens and the collections of the Utrecht University Museum (UMU). Cultural History Assistant Professors and co-applicants Mette Bruinsma and Richard Calis will be leading a team developing new educational materials about the gardens. “Many of the plants and knowledge here were collected during the colonial era from Indonesia, Suriname, and southern Africa,” Plets explains. “The Botanic Gardens already collaborate with Anton de Kom University of Suriname, and this partnership will now be further strengthened. We are particularly keen to translate new insights about the colonial past for wider audiences.”

At the UMU, researchers and staff are creating new ways to make anthropological collections accessible. “Take, for example, the research on the Nias masks – plaster casts made during the colonial period of the faces of residents of the Indonesian island of Nias. I’ve been working on this with collection manager Reina de Raadt and Jakarta-based exhibition curator Sadiah Boonstra for three years. We opened an exhibition on Nias in November 2024 and are now continuing to collaborate with local communities, while also sharing these findings with European audiences.”

Rewriting the colonial legacy of universities

By the time COLUMN concludes in 2029, the project will have produced two international exhibitions, educational materials for botanic gardens, and a handbook on ‘how to decolonise your campus’. “Researching colonial heritage offers a unique opportunity to build international partnerships based on renewed relationships and connections,” says Plets. “We hope to bring about fundamental changes in how heritage is understood, managed, and presented. These global partnerships are key to making that possible.”