On August 15, 2023, the victims of the Second World War in the former Dutch East Indies were commemorated in over fifty places in the Netherlands. The war experiences and the large-scale displacement that followed are still affecting two million people in the Netherlands with an Indies family war story and in the Dutch society…
Half goed is niet goed, half waar is niet waar, halfheid leidt tot niets. ~ Multatuli, Max Havelaar The following is an opinion piece and a personal story. I’m writing this for The Indo Project as I feel that many supporters of The Indo Project have a similar story to tell. It’s the other…
In the last few weeks, The Netherlands’ colonial closet was ripped wide open in a fight about who gets to determine what the former colonial power did and did not do in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). It started with the Revolusi exhibit in the Rijksmuseum about the Indonesian independence, which is now open to…
The official opening of the exhibition Ons Land – decolonization, generations and stories, was February 8th, 2022. Representatives of The Indo Project were invited to take a sneak peek at the Sophiahof Museum in The Hague. ‘Ons Land’ is Dutch for Our Country. This exhibition is about Dutch colonial history in the East and how…
We’ve all been there. Just go back in time and think of your elementary school antics. In the schoolyard someone lashes out and says But you’re a moron. The answer that may come back when there is no good answer: No, you’re a moron. And then there is always that line of last resort and…
The Back Story In light of the upcoming REVOLUSI exhibit at the Rijksmuseum which deals with the independence struggle of Indonesia, one of the Indonesian curators, Bonnie Triyana, publicly announced that the word “bersiap” should be (and was going to be) omitted from the exhibit. He argued that the term, when used by Dutch people,…
by Han Mouthaan FOREWORD For clarification purposes: The Dutch civilians of the former Dutch East Indies endured two types of camps during AND after WWII. The first type were the WWII Japanese concentration camps, 1942-1945. The second type of camps were internment camps during the Bersiap period 1945-1947, a tumultuous time that followed the end…
By: Hans Vervoort Translated from Dutch by Willem ten Wolde “Homesickness is: knowing the way in a house that no longer exists,” is one of the most beautiful statements by writer Rudy Kousbroek (Pematang Siantar 1929 – Leiden 2010). Rudy undertook a nostalgic trip back to Sumatra in 1979 and later—with a television crew in his…
The annual TIPTALKS – educational seminar, will be held on October 7th. Join this cultural event organized together with SoCalIndo. Tickets via Eventbrite https://theindoproject.eventbrite.com The Indo Project Cordially Invites You to the 4th Annual TIP TALKS event in cooperation with SOCAL INDO. Tickets via Eventbrite https://theindoproject.eventbrite.com The theme of this year’s EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR is…
The Never Before Told Story Of A Forgotten Period After WWII And A Gruesome Discovery In The Mountains Of Java. By Hans Vervoort. The War Cemetery, Kembang Kuning, in Surabaya is impressive. Thousands of white crosses for World War II victims stand in neat long rows and if you walk past them they regroup in…