The carriage has been restored since 2016 and will be ready in 2021. The carriage will not start running again immediately, but will be on display to the public in a glass area from June to November. The Glass Carriage was used during the restoration and will be in 2021.
It is not yet clear whether the Golden Coach will be seen again on Budget Day in 2022, the royal family will make a decision about this later.
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Colonial image
In recent years there has been a lot of discussion about whether the Golden Coach is still of this time, because of one of the side panels. It shows a picture of a white woman on a throne. Indians and people of African descent submissively bring merchandise.
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Karwan Fatah-Black, historian and teacher of colonial past at Leiden University said earlier to RTL News that he thinks the Golden Coach should be moved to a museum. “The carriage is clearly a reference to colonial submission, with the Indians and people of African descent bringing trade goods to the white woman.”
According to the historian, propaganda is actually depicted on the carriage. “The image actually says: ‘white is above everything and black is there to serve us.” The panel radiates that people were proud of colonial rule and how glorious it was thought that the Netherlands was a world empire. “
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Follow discussion
It is not yet clear whether the controversy about the carriage played a role in the decision to place the carriage in a museum. Willem-Alexander said earlier that he would follow the discussion and after the restoration he wanted to decide what should be done with the carriage.
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In any case, the Amsterdam Museum is proud that the carriage is temporarily coming to the museum. “I am very happy that we are getting this on loan for a temporary exhibition”, general director Judikje Kiers told RTL Nieuws.
Usage and history
According to her, the exhibition will deal with many different aspects of the Golden Coach: “The use, the history, but also the conversation that we now have about the carriage.”
A total of six halls and a courtyard have been cleared for the carriage and the exhibition around it. “We really get it on loan for that period, what happens with it afterwards is not up to us,” says Kiers. “For now I am very happy that the carriage is coming to us. And what the future of the carriage will be, that is up to the king.”
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The carriage must remain in a museum. That says Jerry Afriyie, foreman of action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP). “The Golden Coach has never been heard on the street,” he says. “We have to learn to let go of the past, as long as we carry it with us, society is far from coming together.”
‘Transition without bullshit’
Afriyie prefers to see it immediately clear that the carriage will never take to the street again. “I think they want a transition without bullshit now. But sometimes it is better to pull the plaster off in one go.”
By placing the carriage in a museum, the complete story can be told, according to the KOZP foreman. “The king and queen also have a responsibility towards society. If they do drive, they will show themselves to be insensitive to this.”
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