In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became a dominant European power for almost 200 years. After ages of trade, the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony which was one of the most valuable colonies under European rule and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th and early 20th century. The Dutch exploited the native population and implemented a strong colonial social order that was based on rigid racial and social structures. The population was roughly divided into four groups: Europeans, Easterners - such as Chinese and Japanese landowners -, Indo-Europeans (the Indische community) and the indigenous people. Each group had its own status, with associated rights and obligations. In the early 20th century, when nationalism globally arose, local intellectuals began developing the concept of ‘Indonesia’ as a nation state which set the stage for an independence movement. The Indo-European, or Indische, community thought differently about the Dutch rule than the local, Indonesian population. The latter rejected Dutch presence completely, while the Indische community stood open for collaboration with the Dutch. During the Second World War, the Japanese occupied the Dutch East Indies from 1942 until 1945. Both Dutch and Indo-European prisoners of war were imprisoned and tortured in Japanese internment camps, as well as in separate camps which existed for Dutch and Indo-European civilians. After the Second World War, on 17 August 1945, Soekarno declared Indonesian independence together with Mohammad Hatta. This resulted in a four-year guerrilla warfare for Indonesian independence against Dutch colonial rule in which Indonesian nationalists fought against the Dutch forces and pro-Dutch civilians. This was also the historical period known in Dutch history as ‘Politionele Acties’ (‘Police Actions’) in reference to the two major military offensives undertaken by the Netherlands on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia. After four years of war, the Netherlands officially acknowledged Indonesia’s independence in 1949. Between 1945 and 1968, more than 300,000 of Indische civilians (Indo-Europeans) migrated from the former Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands.

This statue used to belong to my maternal grandmother, Wilhelmina Klaauwer-Van Hout – “Willy” to her loved ones. It is made from wood and wire. It is a very old statue and in a fragile state. The statue shows a street vendor, a salesman of satay, balancing his goods on his shoulder. My grandmother is the child of a native woman from Java and a Dutch man. Born in 1924, she was raised in Magelang, a town in central Java. My great-grandmother’s parents celebrated their daughter’s marriage to a European man. Due to their partly European background, my grandmother and her four siblings grew up privileged and well-off. Their lives changed when the Japanese occupied Java in 1942. My grandmother, her siblings and my great-grandfather were placed in torture camps. My greatgrandmother was spared because she was considered fully native to Indonesia. In the camp, my grandmother took care of her younger siblings. Even though they all survived the camp, my grandmother’s experiences during the war had a lasting impact on her and left her scarred. After the war, my grandmother married my Dutch grandfather. They migrated to the Netherlands in 1951. In the Netherlands, my grandmother was warmly welcomed by my grandfather’s Dutch family. She, however, had a hard time talking about what she endured in the torture camp and must have felt unheard. This statue was one of the few things she brought with her from Java.

-Mathijs

The statue always stood in the house of my grandmother. Last year, she moved and wanted to get rid of it. I asked her if I could have it instead, and that is how I inherited the statue. The statue now stands in my living room. When I see it every day, I remember all those visits to my grandmother’s home. It symbolizes how close I feel to my family, especially to my grandmother, and her traumatic story. When my grandmother turned 85, we took a family trip to Indonesia. I was 18 years old at that time and experienced Java through my grandmother’s eyes. That is when I began to understand the culture and the past in Indonesia. Since I did not live that traumatic past, the trip was also confusing especially because I understood that my grandmother, because of her Indische background, had privilege over the local people. My grandmother always felt that she is of a higher class than the locals and the visit simply confirmed that. This exposed to me an unfamiliar side of her. I also identified with my grandmother’s story of her torture and how that shaped her. My grandmother was silent and did not like to talk about her traumatic experiences, which eventually influenced both mine and my mother’s upbringing; I wonder if both my mother and I are also traumatized. I am proud of my roots and Indische heritage, no matter how painful the stories of the past have been. We are hospitable, welcoming to others, and care deeply for each other in the family.

-Mathijs