Saba and Sint Maarten heritage projects receive NWO grants

The Saba Archaeological Center Foundation and the Sint Maarten National Heritage Foundation received NWO Museum Grants. Their projects are among 16 awarded in the latest funding round.

NWO’s Museum Grants programme funds research by museum professionals on collections, heritage and museum practice. The results are to be shared through open-access publications.

S. Balfour leads Saba’s project, Collecting Without a Framework: Developing Collection Management and Storage Standards for the Saba Heritage Center in the Context of the Caribbean Netherlands. The research will examine collection-management practices in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom and the European Netherlands as Saba prepares to open a heritage centre in 2029.

The Sint Maarten project is led by S.M. Dehaney, whose name is given by initials. From Salt Pond to Emancipation: Slavery, Labour, Ruin, and Memory in the Sint Maarten Museum examines slavery and emancipation through sites, ruins, family memories, museum collections and archives. It also covers salt production, plantation life and Indigenous history.