Project Wyldemerck
In 2022 Museum Maluku is working with Moluks Erfgoed on the archaeology project 'Wyldemerck: searching together for barracks in the woods'. In consultation with former residents, their children and grandchildren and local people, they want to carry out research into the Wyldemerck camp in Friesland. And for that your help is needed!
Project Wyldemerck
Remarkable heritage lies hidden in a densely overgrown wood at the Wyldemerck on the road from Balk to Koudum. In 1942 a work camp of the Dutch Labour Service (NAD) was built here, and between 1954 and 1969 the same barracks housed a Moluccan camp, the only Islamic camp, where several hundred Moluccans lived for almost 15 years in difficult conditions. After the Moluccans left, the barracks were demolished and sold and nature took over the site. By now it is present only archaeologically, but former residents and their families have always kept returning to the place. The aim of Project Wyldemerck is to search together for the traces, the stories and the meaning of the former camp.
An appeal from Project Wyldemerck
For Project Wyldemerck, Moluks Erfgoed and Museum Maluku would like to get in touch with former residents and their descendants, with young Moluccans who want to learn how to research the history of a camp, and also with people from the region who still have active memories of the camp. "We want as many people as possible around the table and want to shape the project from within the community. Then we will do preliminary research, gather stories and go into the field to see which traces remain."
Want to take part? Sign up via h.akihary@museum-maluku.nl.
OPENING MEETING
The opening meeting of Project Wyldemerck takes place on Saturday 14 May at Museum Sophiahof, where Museum Maluku is based. This meeting was previously planned for Saturday 16 April, but that date has been dropped. After several messages it was decided to start this project after Ramadan. Project Wyldemerck will then run until January 2023.
MOLUKS ERFGOED
Moluks Erfgoed was set up by the archaeologists Jobbe Wijnen and Marjolijn Kok. "We are contemporary archaeologists trying to give Moluccan heritage the attention it deserves. We are trying to bring Moluccan heritage within Archaeological Heritage Management so that the remains of the first thirty years in particular do not disappear unseen. At the moment our research has two focal points: designating De Punt as an archaeological monument and making an archaeological inventory of the 90 camps in the Netherlands through archaeological inspection of the sites."
The project 'Wyldemerck, searching together for barracks in the woods' is a collaboration between Moluks Erfgoed, Museum Maluku, Stichting Vrienden van BOEi (lead partner), the Dutch Forestry Commission, the municipality of De Fryske Marren and the Cultural Heritage Agency. More information? Check www.molukserfgoed.com
TAKING PART IN PROJECT WYLDEMERCK?
Do you like the idea of doing research, gathering stories and going into the field? Sign up via the button below.
