Resistance Redux
The performance shows a visual, musical and physical interpretation of the history of Moluccans in the Netherlands. In fifteen minutes, the young actors guide the audience through this history and the development of how we perceive this history. The past of the Moluccans is still sensible in the present, even though many of the Dutch citizens are not fully aware.
The youngsters researched this past, and spoke to Dutch-Moluccan People of the first, second and third generation, last of whom is of their own age. All of this conversations were different in context and emotion. Many of these stories and the feelings that come with them, were new to the participants of this project. They made an attempt to understand the feelings of a whole population being unheard.
After this research, they tried to find out how to relate themselves to this information, and established their very own personal connection with a history they now realized is a shared one. All this led the youngsters and their director to create an energetic performance, influenced by Moluccan cultural elements, that shows a wide variety of these perspectives.
Historical Context
When the Dutch VOC discovered spices on the Moluccan Islands, they colonised the islands now known as Indonesia. During this time the local population was brutally murdered and the spices were shipped to Europe. After three centuries of colonial oppression and after the second world war, Indonesia declared their independence. The Moluccan population largely choose the side of the Netherlands, fighting in their army (KNIL) against Indonesia with the idea of getting their own islands back.
When the UN declared that Indonesia should be independent, this created a threatening situation for the Moluccan soldiers who had fought on the Dutch side. As a temporary solution, Moluccan soldiers and their families were brought to the Netherlands. The idea was to let them return home after a few months when the situation in Indonesia would be safe again. Because there were not enough houses to accommodate the 12.500 people, they were put in barracks. The living conditions were very bad and the Moluccans got no chance of integration into the Dutch society because the government stuck to the fact that their stay was only temporary.
The promise of returning home to the Moluccan islands was never fulfilled. The way the Dutch government treated the Moluccans created feelings of isolation, incomprehension and resistance which led to several conflicts.
