Team

The Heritage Lab is coordinated by Marit van Dijk and Asmara Pelupessy with support from Kim van Beek. International projects are led by Ruben Smit. The advisory council consists of Hester Dibbits (lectorate), Joke Bosch and Simone Stoltz (bachelor study management) and Youssef Zahri (head of educational support and business operations).

Marit van Dijk

Marit is a founding coordinator of the Heritage Lab and is an alumna of the Reinwardt Academy. She completed a master's degree in Social Geography in Ireland where she focused on the interaction between colonial history, public space and cultural memory. Marit's experience in the breadth of the heritage field spans advisory roles, research and concept development for municipalities and various heritage institutions. In her spare time she is actively involved in veganism.

Asmara Pelupessy

Asmara joined the Heritage Lab team in 2021. She holds an Interdisciplinary Studies BA from University of California Berkeley with a focus on the social history of photography and a MA from Leiden University in Photographic Studies. She has worked across culture, media and education including as Institutional Account Manager at RNTC Media Training Center and Education Director at NOOR Images photo agency. She co-edited the book UNFIXED: Photography and Postcolonial Perspectives in Contemporary Art.

Ruben Smit

Teaching at the Reinwardt since 2006, Ruben Smit became Manager International Programmes in 2015. Ruben has been involved in exchanges in: Yogyakarta, Bandung and Semarang, Indonesia; Moscow, Russian Federation; Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; Beijing  and Xi'an, China. Before the Reinwardt Academy, Ruben gained several decades of experience with cultural heritage in a variety of positions at different museums.

Kim van Beek

Kim joined the Heritage Lab team in September 2023. After a year studying French at the University of Amsterdam and a preliminary course at the Dance Academy, Kim completed Hotel Management School in Maastricht and worked for 15 years at the Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam. There she worked in the Front Office & Guest Relations and organised cultural events on behalf of the Cultural Embassy. Next to this, she developed herself as a cultural entrepreneur. Currently her work is focused on education and she is retraining as a French teacher.

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