In October 2016 it is exactly 400 years since VOC captain Dirk Hartog became the first European to set foot on the west coast of Australia. This event is being celebrated extensively in both the Netherlands and Australia during this ‘Dirk Hartog Year’. To mark and reinforce this long and warm relationship, the Dutch king and queen will be visiting Australia at the end of October, at the head of a Dutch business delegation. On Wednesday 5 October there will be a special Australia afternoon in Het Scheepvaartmuseum.
Programme
15:45 Doors open.
16:00 Presentations by underwater archaeologist Martijn Manders and the Australian author Peter FitzSimons (Batavia) with adventurous stories about the VOC ships that foundered off the coast of Australia, followed by the official presentation of Boemerang magazine by the Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Brett Mason, and the director of the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency, Mr Cees van ’t Veen. Boemerang is a special one-off publication by the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency, DutchCulture, the Dutch National Archives, the Australian Embassy in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Embassy in Australia. It contains various articles on the relationship between the Netherlands and Australia throughout the centuries. You will receive a copy of Boemerang to take home.
17:00 Network opportunity with Australian refreshments kindly hosted by the Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands Dr Brett Mason.
18:00 End of event.
Location: De Kamer van De Ruyter, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Kattenburgerplein 1, Amsterdam.
Language: English.
Admission is free after registering your attendance with DutchCulture here.