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In 2014 Hans Schiebroek started funding on the restoration on the Karikop cemetery in the city of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, India. In 2017 the Dutch Dodenakkers Foundation (stichting Dodenakkers.nl) and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) were asked by the Prins Bernard Cultuur Fonds to advise on this project. Together with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) a workshop was organised on the possible restoration of the big tomb of Anthonia Steelant-Nilo and the obelisk of Adriana Mossel-Appels.

Sadly, Mr. Schiebroek passed away in 2018, and the Dodenakkers Foundation took over his initiative. A restoration architect, Mr. Sakthi Murugan Rajendran, was found and Dr. S. Suresh from INTACH would supervise the project. Funding was to be done by the Prins Bernard Cultuur Fonds.

PARAMARIBO - Many old cemeteries have been neglected or overgrown. The realization that there is historical value is still insufficient when looking at how this funerary heritage is handled. A lot of money is needed for the maintenance of old cemeteries.

The Platform Historical Cemeteries was set up for the structural approach and maintenance of the old cemeteries. "Together we are strong. By working together, however cliché that may sound, you can achieve more. It is important that this sector is now better organized", says Johan Roozer, policy advisor at the Ministry of Education and Culture. He is the initiator of this project together Stephen Fokké from the Suriname Built Heritage Foundation (SGES).

Indian architect Kaanan Thakkar is currently working on a thesis on the Dutch Cemetery in Surat as part of the Advanced Masters in Conservation of Monuments and Sites at RLICC (KU Leuven), Belgium. Her research includes an internship at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.

Through a specific case scenario of Surat in Gujarat, Kaanan Thakkar wishes to understand the cultural significance of the cemetery in the perceptions of local communities as shared heritage, while also building upon narratives that explain their unique trans-cultural architectural and heritage characters and recommending their possible integration in the local urban landscape as a factor of sustainable development.