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de Schaduw van de Witte Kebaya © 2026 video geen geluid
This art project explores colonial history, identity and feminine power. It is a personal and visual search for colonial relations in the Dutch East Indies, with the white kebaya – a blouse worn by Indo-European women – as a benchmark.
The inspiration arose during the farewell of my grandmother, who moved to the Dutch East Indies when she was two years old and after her death was laid out in the Netherlands in a sarong and white kebay. This caused outrage within the family: they thought it was too ‘native’. For her it was a sign of solidarity. My grandmother’s kebaya went down in ashes with her.
Clothing reflects more than fashion or climate. It reveals identity, origin and social position. The screening features scenes from my family archive and the EYE Film Museum archive, interspersed with close-ups from the visual arts project. The film can be seen outdoors, day and night, from February 21ste to March 24th 2026, at OBA library in Amsterdam
