Film Screening + Talk: JAVA and ACEH

What does the presence or absence of colonial statues and monuments mean? How do people remember and commemorate when memorials are either absent or controversial? These questions are central to the films JAVA and ACEH (both 2024). The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers Mirwan Andan, Iswanto Hartono and Hans van Houwelingen.

The films are not so much about historical facts as about the way histories are told. They show how people’s memories are shared, commemorated and passed on to new generations.

JAVA and ACEH are part of the series History, Memory, Commemoration, a research project by cultural researcher Mirwan Andan (Makassar), artist Iswanto Hartono (Jakarta/Kassel) and artist Hans van Houwelingen (Amsterdam/Berlin). The project will ultimately result in seven films, each shot in specific locations in Indonesia and the Netherlands that relate to a shared colonial history.

Programme

• 16:00h Doors open
• 16:30h Welcome word and introduction
• 16:40h Screening of _JAVA_ (2024)
• 17:50h Short break with snacks
• 18:10h Screening of _ACEH_ (2024)
• 19:15h Reflection and discussion
• 20:15h Drinks in the GUD Instituut Living Room
• 21:00h End of event

Arus Balik

Nieuwe Instituut, Museum Het Schip and the Indonesian platform Gudskul present the project Arus Balik – Shifting Currents, an initiative to bring together architecture and design networks between the Netherlands and Indonesia, connecting their diasporas and recognising architecture and design as tangible witnesses to the colonial past. How can we reimagine the design heritage between the Netherlands and Indonesia, and how can this lead to new ways forward?