Ketahanan

Co-creation

This exhibition was created together with people from the Moluccan community and is built around four themes: (de)colonisation, diaspora, resilience and future. Together they constitute a story with a chronology of some sort. Instead of a strict timeline, we use the themes as building blocks for a clear beginning, middle and end. This setup allows the story to develop from sensitive and poignant topics to a more hopeful perspective on the future. This is in line with the core message and with the wish of the community to highlight this sensitive history, but also make room for resilience and the way forward.

Themes

(De)colonisation
This theme deals with four centuries of colonisation and anti-colonial resistance, with political decolonisation in the twentieth century and cultural decolonisation in the twenty-first century. It shows how colonial ideas and power relations still have their effects in our society. We show how – often out of necessity – generations of Moluccans adjusted themselves, under a coloniser in the past and in the country of arrival later. What started as a way to survive became part of the collective consciousness of the communities. Traces of this colonial past are still visible in everyday life. Like other diaspora communities, the Moluccan community is actively working on decolonisation.

Diaspora
The Moluccan diaspora starts with the exodus of parts of the Moluccan community and the passage to the Netherlands. That journey had many different faces: some Moluccans came earlier to study, others arrived later as marines from Papua, by air, or after marrying someone who already lived in the Netherlands. The migration was a traumatic experience for some, and a life-changing event for nearly everyone. Living in a diaspora means being at home in two places at the same time and involves a lot of switching between cultures. Biculturality is a much discussed aspect of the Moluccan experience, but also a recognisable theme for other communities with a migration background.

Resilience
Resilience runs like a recurring theme through all the stories in the exhibition. That resilience already manifested itself in the colonial period, in anticolonial resistance and in the urge to survive under Dutch, Portuguese, British and Japanese rule. The passage to the Netherlands, the arrival, life in encampments, the discharge from the KNIL and the struggle for recognition also constantly called for resilience and perseverance. Resilience means two things here: the ability to adapt to continuously changing circumstances and the possibility to stay who you are, despite setbacks.

Future
The younger – third, fourth and fifth – generations give new meanings to what it is like to be Moluccan in the Netherlands. Their search often focuses on authenticity and connectedness: the desire to belong somewhere. Sometimes, this is expressed in giving up existing ideas or, on the contrary, the revaluation of native knowledge or the connection with the Moluccan islands and languages. Thus, this theme ends with an open-minded and hopeful gaze towards the future: the opportunity for new generations to realise a future in which the community's past is no longer a burden, but a strength.