The Colonial World Fairs collection consists of objects collected in the Netherlands East Indies between 1870 and 1940.

At that time, the country now known as Indonesia was regarded unquestioningly as part of the Netherlands. The aim of the collection was to increase public knowledge about this exotic region. Colonial World Fairs gave large numbers of people the opportunity to become acquainted with their own colonies. It was quite clear how the Netherlands saw the East Indies. And it was equally clear how the Netherlands saw itself – or wanted to see itself.