On 28 March 2008, the historic collections of the Netherlands institute for Southern Africa (NiZA) were handed over to the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam.
In order to guarantee the continuity and management of the collections, and thus to create opportunities for their future study and consultation, NiZA and IISH have jointly decided to house the collection at the IISH.
The collections are made up of a large number of books, journals, documentation, archives, photographs, posters and several hundred videos, cassettes, badges, flags, T-shirts and other memorabilia. They have been built up since the 1970s by a number of former Dutch anti-apartheid and solidarity groups, which later merged with NiZA.
The collected archives consist of documents from organizations such as the South Africa Committee (from the 1960s), the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Angola Committee/Southern Africa Committee, the Eduardo Mondlane Foundation, Institute for Southern Africa and Broadcasting Company for Radio Freedom. They also include material from and about well-known activists, such as Sietse Bosgra, Conny Braam, Peter Waterman and Klaas de Jonge, and the archives of a number of local southern African groups. Together with all of the archives of anti-apartheid groups, such as the working group Kairos and SANAM Association, and those of private individuals like writer and journalist Martin Bailey, which are already housed at the IISH, this handover will create an unprecedentedly rich collection. This will not only include material on the Dutch movement, but also the European and South African ones.
With the help of a donation from the SNS Reaal Fonds, an extensive project has been set up to be able to realize the transfer of this material. The project will start in April 2008 and will run for three years. Kier Schuringa, NiZA's current archivist, will further organize and catalogue the collection during this period, so that it can be properly transferred to the IISH. During this period, the collection will continue to be accessible and, after completion of the project, the IISH will actively stimulate the use of the collection.
More information about the collection:
Kier Schuringa
Tel: +31 6 20474460
E-mail: ksc@iisg.nl
