Heritage group urges city to Intervene over UvA Changes to Kartini Hall
The Association of Friends of the Amsterdam City Centre (VVAB) has submitted an enforcement request regarding the renovation of the Kartinizaal. According to the VVAB, changes were carried out without the necessary permit, and the university must restore the fireplace in the room. However, the request does not seem very likely to succeed.
“Disfigurement of a national monument,” is how the Association of Friends of the Amsterdam City Centre (VVAB) describes the renovated Kartinizaal in the Oost-Indisch Huis. In a letter to the municipality of Amsterdam, the heritage association requests that enforcement action be taken against the UvA, because, according to them, several changes were made without a monument permit. As a result, stakeholders were allegedly “deprived” of the opportunity to file objections or appeals.
The modifications to the fireplace are particularly a thorn in the association’s side. During the renovation, the decorations and ornaments were lost. According to the VVAB, the fireplace in the former VOC Room now gives a “dismantled impression.” “Completely unnecessary, even if another story about the VOC needs to be told – quite the opposite, in fact,” writes the association.
Renovation
The Kartinizaal has long been a subject of debate. The room was known as the VOC Room until 2024 and for years contained a reconstruction of a VOC meeting setup, with a balustrade, a long table with chairs, and replicas of colonial paintings.
Due to growing discomfort with the presentation of the colonial past, the UvA ultimately decided to redesign the room. The name was changed, the meeting setup was removed, the painting replicas were taken down, and the fireplace thus lost its ornaments. In its new layout, the room is primarily intended for teaching and research on themes related to the colonial past, slavery, racism, and inclusivity.
According to a UvA spokesperson, research into the cultural-historical value of the interior, including the fireplace, was conducted prior to the renovation at the university’s request. The Municipality of Amsterdam’s Bureau for Monuments and Archaeology concluded that the fireplace – which was only placed in the room in 1998 – has no particular historical value. The faculty then decided to give the fireplace a different appearance.
Permit
A spokesperson for the municipality of Amsterdam stated that changes to so-called “permanent parts of a monument” – such as a beam layer or fireplace – are generally subject to a permit. No permit application for work in the former VOC Room is known to the municipality. Stadsdeel Centrum has now received the enforcement request. An investigation is underway into exactly which work was carried out and whether a permit was required. In practice, much of that investigation falls again to the Bureau for Monuments and Archaeology.
The UvA therefore expects that the request will have “a good result” for the university. “We followed the proper steps in the process, and the Bureau for Monuments conducted research on the interior,” the spokesperson said.
The VVAB, however, assumes that the municipality will decide that the UvA must restore the fireplace to its original state.
