Traveling Exhibition
The Traveling Exhibition
In 1951 my father, then still a 10-year-old boy, set foot in the Netherlands. Together with 12,900 other Moluccan families, they had left Indonesia, thinking it would be a short stay. But the reality was different; Upon arrival, the Moluccan KNIL soldiers were told that they had been fired. An unthinkable blow. These men, who had fought for the Netherlands for years, felt abandoned.
Not much later my father met my Dutch mother and they got married. I, as their middle daughter, grew up first in Camp Snodenhoek and then in Elst, Gelderland. Despite our integration, the story of the Moluccans remained in the shadows, which led to frustration and the feeling of invisibility. I wanted to change that. This is how the idea for a traveling exhibition in sea containers was born. A practical and direct way to bring the Moluccan story to the fore. This exhibition has now traveled through the Netherlands for two years, sharing the story of the Moluccans with anyone who will listen.
