The Tropenmuseum Amsterdam houses about 12,000 textile objects that were
collected over a period of 160 years. The majority of the objects were
amassed during the time that Indonesia was a Dutch colony, the former
Netherlands-Indies. This study presents the collection and the stories
of the makers and users of the fabrics as well as those of the
collectors who brought them to the Netherlands, who have studied and
exhibited them. The textiles originate from all over the archipelago,
from Aceh on Sumatra, to Tinambar in the east. A small part of the
collection was made in the Netherlands for artistic or commercial
reasons.