UU Heritage Lecture by Jaswina Elahi

On 27 March, the UU Memory & Heritage Network and the Dutch Centre for Intangible Heritage organise the UU Heritage Lecture and present the annual Dr Albert van der Zeijden Thesis Prize. The award was given to the best thesis on intangible cultural heritage. The award was won by Myrthe Knip for her thesis “Wat je meeneemt als je alles moet achterlaten. De betekenis van Syrisch culinair erfgoed in herinneringen en migratie-ervaringen van Syrische Nederlanders.”

The afternoon focussed on diaspora and migration. This theme is central to both the Heritage Lecture and the nominated theses.

This year’s annual Heritage Lecture was delivered by Dr Jaswina Elahi, entitled ‘Uit de schaduw, in het zicht: Postkoloniaal erfgoed als contrapunt.’ Her lecture argued that postcolonial heritage is fundamentally transnational and performative, and that the gap between theoretical innovation in heritage studies and heritage policy practice must be bridged. Drawing on her position as a cultural scholar and as a descendant of indentured labourers, she analyses how heritage emerged within global colonial networks and continues to live on today through diaspora practices between Suriname, the Netherlands, India and Indonesia.

More information and a longer report on the event itself: https://www.immaterieelerfgoed.nl/nl/nieuws/myrthe-knip-wint-de-dr.-albert-van-der-zeijdenscriptieprijs-2025 

  Photos by: dr. Susanne Knittel