DUTCH WALLS (2002-2005)
A series of installations made in response to the 400th anniversary of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company VOC at the Noorderlicht Photography Festival 2002 (Fries Natuurmuseum, Leeuwarden), Galerie Hooghuis Arnhem 2003, Lux Nijmegen 2004. Consisting of a combination of photographs, projections, drawings, texts and cloves.
Dutch Walls shows original texts from 17th century VOC documents, reporting the horrifying events on the Banda islands of 1621. These events have determined the spice trade in that area for centuries. The texts are juxtaposed with mostly lyrical descriptions of these islands by Edgar Wallace in the 19th century. The photographs and projections show details of walls of Dutch fortresses in Indonesia, together with images of the jungle. A heavy smell of cloves fills the exhibition space.