CELEBRATION OF DENIAL AND THE UNDEFINED EXOTIC Celebration of Denial and the Undefined Exotic is meant to stir up our national consciousness by reinterpret the past and claims space for the voice of the ethnic minority Indo- Europeans and Moluccans in the Netherlands. History around former colony ‘The Dutch East Indies’ is mysterious. Maybe even a secret. Governments whom prefer not to look back, pay effort to keep information unknown for the people. For me, this history carries along a lot of questions. With this project I try to understand current family scars that touch identity on a personal and national level. It seems that celebration is a perfect form to gloss over denial. But how can (Dutch) identity be shaped with closed eyes?

 

 

 AJOOO, LATEN DE DANSEN!
 Almost 2 million people in the Netherlands are descendants of The Dutch Indies. National consciousness about the Dutch Indo community in the Netherlands mainly consists as representation of the colonial realm. Previous political imaging, traumatic war and many experiences after crossing the earth to start a life over; all led to a mixture of (his)stories commemorrated in a display of nostalgic gatherings called: Kumpulans. These cultural events seem to be constructed and hold together by common memories. Perfectly screened to leave room for joy only. Or is it not? In this work I investigate the presentation of the erased colonial past during Kumpulans. How do nostalgia and rejection of the past coexist? What does a cultural construction mean in order to understand the past? In the end - selective or not, the memories we built upon seem real to us.
SPICED INHERITAGE Although families from the former Dutch- Indies have been able to blend in the Netherlands quite smoothly, it is noticeable that there are still plenty of question marks and black holes in history. 
Much has been left behind in Fatherland Indonesia, Malucu and Papua and with that, unresolved mysteries are tangible. Motherland (Netherlands) offered new perspectives for next the generation - the generation I find myself in. Interestingly enough this generation sometimes seems to have more questions about the past than about their future. With little information that is left over I started a yourney to find out who we are.
THE SUFFOCATION OF THE PARADE HORSE A memory that evokes a colourful, tropical warm memory to some, simultaneously means a black hole where history seems to be denied, for others. These two emotional extremes offer a life- changing contrast in the post- colonial time we live in today. With the series ‘The Suffocation of the Parade Horse’ I investigate the experience of several Indo's opposite the former colonial unequal inferior position in the ‘here and now’. With regards to this intense topic which I personally feel attached to, I have allowed scientific facts to influence my one- sided opinion. This series shows my search for a modern, symbolic, intuitive and emotional translation of the history that Dutch society has hid until today. Dutch government reassured the representation of existing premeditated colonial (oldfashioned) memories through publicity. Public memories about the Dutch- Indies have been the main influence throughout different generations on the view and understanding of the Indo- European identity in the Netherlands. These memories and assumptions were never (politically) corrected on a bigger scale. These exotic and romanticized representations often provide a nostalgic longing for the place that once was a geographical place (and now just seems to be a showroom) instead of inspiring the desire to uncover the story and get to know different sides and perspectives of the story. Due to the lack of space for the Indo-Europeans to present themselves and grow in their identity, the past power relations seem to be an on- going situation in today’s society. However, throughout the 70’s an identity crisis emerged in the Netherlands. This identity crisis is still tangible in the community.