In my quest to unravel the history of Batik, I also started unravelling another history, the Dutch history, the colonial one and my own. I started asking myself what is being Dutch and what are we actually talking about if we are referring to “typical Dutch”.
The more typical Dutch traditions I explored, the more I learned we are a culture that’s is mixed with, influenced, inspired and changed by other cultures. And instead of celebrating this, learning from this shared history and heritage, we dig our heels in the sand (I found a Dutch expression that is actually a correct English expression, the miracles haven’t left the planet yet!). Happily I also discovered that more and more, especially young people, are exploring Dutch culture and are putting it into a new, fun, interesting and educational perspective.
DRACHT by Kasper Jongejan
Let me start with the ‘Dracht‘ (‘Wear’) collection by Kasper Jongejan. I got a tip about this exhibition at KAF in Almere and was happy I was just in time the visit it the last week. Such a pity I didn’t know it earlier, because ‘House of Arts’ was great and had many nice artworks. And what a location! I would love to make a work there!
Jongejan’s collection is a new invented traditional wear for Almere. Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands on the reclaimed land of the province Flevoland. The first residents arrived in the seventies, a time in which almost no one wore traditional wear in the Netherlands except maybe some newcomers. Jongejan based his ‘DRACHT’ on the Dutch traditional wear from Marken and Huizen, two villages near Almere with a striking traditional wear, and on the three biggest ethnic groups of Almere, people from Suriname, Antilles and Morocco. I loved that these traditional wears were on display too. It was for me a wonderful reference to the whole ‘being Dutch’ discussion, because all these wears can be found nowadays in the Netherlands. And frankly, the ones from Marken and Huizen will be hard to find in everyday life.
ETNOMANIE by Ellie Uyttenbroek
Next, ETNOMANIE at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam. This weekend is already the last weekend, so go check it out!!
ETNOMANIE plays with the idea of and how to deal with the big collection of ethno-historical photographs in Dutch museum collections. Most of these stereotypical images are gathered and made in the 19th and the beginning of 20th century in Asia, the Middle East, Noth Africa, North America, but also nearer to home. The Nederlands Fotomuseum invited Ellie Uyttenbroek, a so called style profiler, to make a show out of these pictures.
“I look at the people in these pictures the same way as I look at people in the street today. And I use what I see to produce small style profiles”
She selected 380 portraits on their style. The exhibition consist of huge, curtain-like, prints of coloured-in black and white photos with short style phrases like “DUKDUK, Onesie streetwear“& “Indigogo girls, the holy source of long-lasting levi’s autentic rugged jeans” on the ground. In a small room are the actual black and white, almost miniature, photographs. Only a small part got the special coloured in treatment, but I do like the selection on style. Such a simple, yet great idea. I regret not buying the book, if you go this weekend, buy me a copy!
