Who are you, and what gives you energy in your work?
“I’m Wayne Modest, Director of Content at Wereldmuseum. What inspires me every day is the question: ‘How can we make this museum truly accessible to everyone?’ We have a wonderful collection and a fascinating history, but above all I want to break down barriers. I hope people from the neighbourhood feel: ‘This is our museum.’ That doesn’t happen automatically, and it’s exactly that challenge that motivates me.”
What is something local residents may not know about Wereldmuseum?
“Many people know us as a museum about colonial history and world cultures. What is less well known is that, since the 1960s, we’ve also been collecting modern and contemporary art from around the world, including works by the Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu. Modern art is often seen as a Western phenomenon, but we want to show that it is a global story. That’s something many people don’t expect.”
What is your hidden gem in the Plantage neighbourhood?
“For me, it’s Plantage Dok. I take guitar lessons there, and every time I’m struck by how much creativity comes together in that place. There are musicians, lectures, people meeting one another, and people sharing meals. It has such an open and welcoming atmosphere. To me, Plantage Dok shows what a cultural space can be: a place where people meet, exchange ideas, but above all create and make things together. That’s exactly what I want for Wereldmuseum. Working together is perhaps my favourite Dutch expression. When organisations create things together, it’s not only the museum that flourishes, but the whole neighbourhood. I truly believe that.”
How do you see that collaboration?
“I’d love to see us create many more programmes together. Artists collaborating with musicians in the museum, dance, theatre… There are so many ways to experience culture. The Plantage neighbourhood has everything it needs to make that happen. I’d love to bring all those creative forces together.”
Which Amsterdam resident would you most like to have coffee with?
“Actually, not one particular person. I’d love to have coffee in our Great Hall with a group of Amsterdam residents who truly represent the diversity of the neighbourhood, and ask them: ‘Tell us, what kind of museum would you like us to be? I want people to genuinely feel: this is our museum.’
“This autumn, on 10 October, we’ll open our exhibition Disco, featuring a dance floor inside the exhibition. I think that would be a wonderful way to meet more people from the neighbourhood—on or beside the dance floor.”
Which experience from your life has shaped the way you work today?
“Before moving to the Netherlands, I worked at a museum in Jamaica, next to a disadvantaged neighbourhood where people faced very different daily challenges. One of the things we did was connect young people from difficult areas with art in which they could recognise themselves or imagine new possibilities. That’s where I learned that a museum isn’t only about masterpieces or exhibitions. It’s first and foremost about the people who live around it. That’s what I hope to achieve at Wereldmuseum: an accessible place where people can come together, create together and where everyone can see something of themselves.”
Who would you like to see featured in the next edition of Faces of the Plantage?
“I’d like to pass the baton to Jozien Jansen of Splendor. I’d love for us to collaborate. I want people to do more at our museum than simply look at art. By bringing together other art forms—dance and music, for example—I hope to create an experience that lifts everything to another level. My question for them would be: ‘How can we work together to create a place where people can experience art and culture in all its forms?'”