What does true inclusion look like when museum networks stretch across continents? In this ICOM Talk Jude De Wolff-Finies, director of Terramar Museum, Bonaire, explores the deep contrasts and surprising parallels between Bonaire and the European Netherlands in how cultural infrastructure is designed, funded, and imagined.
Drawing from both personal experience and institutional case studies, Jude reflected on the responsibilities of museums within a transatlantic Kingdom still grappling with its colonial past. How can Bonaire’s cultural institutions claim their place as equal players in the Kingdom's heritage landscape?
Museums as platforms for building equitable futures
Museums today are more than guardians of the past-they are platforms for building equitable futures. In the context of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which spans both Europe and the Caribbean, the role of museums and cultural institutions takes on added weight: they serve not only as centers of heritage but as instruments of recognition, economic opportunity, and social resilience across historically unequal geographies.
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Terramar Museum
About the speaker
Jude De Wolff-Finies is a cultural innovator, creative entrepreneur, and connecting leader with deep roots in Bonaire and a global outlook. With a strong background in heritage management, cultural project development, and international collaboration, she is deeply committed to the sustainable cultural development of the island. As director of the Terramar Museum, she successfully led its redesign, resulting in above-average scores on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, as chair of the Cultureel Centrum Bonaire (CCB), she is working to strengthen the institutional foundation of this historic cultural institution.
Jude is currently specializing in cultural diplomacy, focusing on developing strategies that strengthen Bonaire’s position within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In her recent case study for CCB, she explored how cultural infrastructure can support postcolonial justice, equal dialogue, and sustainable collaboration between Bonaire and the Netherlands. For Jude, cultural diplomacy is not merely a formal policy tool—it is a community-driven approach that centers heritage, arts, and local voices.
Her vision is deeply inspired by the sustainable lifestyle of her ancestors, who lived in balance with nature, community, and tradition. As co-founder of Frente Kultural, Aliansa Kultural, and the Across The Isles Foundation, and as a board member of the NGO Platform Bonaire, Jude is a key figure in the island’s cultural ecosystem.