Featured

  • Mahina – An ode to women

    November 7, 2021

    Each year the 21th of March is marked as the commemoration day of the first Moluccan KNIL soldiers arriving in the Netherlands. Accompanying these soldiers were Moluccan women — the focal point in expressing and conveying Moluccan culture. The traveling exhibition […]

  • The making of Mahina

    May 26, 2020

    A look behind the scenes by one of the theme portraits of the cultural project ‘Mahina – An ode to women’. In this theme portrait Danny Kolanus dances the ceremonial Tnabar Fanewa. Danny Kolanus’ family came to the Netherlands in the early 1950s as a result of forced migration […]

  • Generasi yang Pertama

    September 22, 2015

    A short film about the first generation of the Moluccan community in a small town Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. The film was shown during the first presentation of the book ‘Van Ambon Manisé naar de Bomenbuurt’. A memorial book that consists of self-written stories […]

  • Performing Tradition

    August 18, 2015

    A cultural exchange between two Christian village congregations from Maluku and Papua took place at the conference center of a resort on Ambon Island. Through this event, I try to visualize the impact of such an exchange on Moluccan adat, the traditional customary law in Moluccan villages.

  • Empowering Youth

    April 30, 2015

    This third photo essay is about an angkatan Muda. It’s about a youth service that is being held every Thursday for people in the age of 18 years to about 35 years. angkatan Muda means ‘young generation’. As if a daily practice takes place they go to one of these services […]

  • Women in Worship

    April 22, 2015

    This second photo essay is about an ibadah wanita . This church service is only intended for women. Every Wednesday an ibadah wanita is being held in each specific area (unit-sector) in the village. ibadah wanita means “women who worship God”. In such a church service […]

  • Spiritual Devotion

    April 15, 2015

    Prayers influence everyday life in the Moluccas. These cultural and religious expressions are embedded in many social activities that are rooted in the core of Moluccan society, among Muslims and Christians, today. In the following series of three photo essays, different church services […]

  • Waiting for the Pelni

    December 16, 2014

    Almost 9 hours after schedule time the Pelni* service arrived from Saumlaki [Tanimbar Islands] in the port of Tual [Kai Islands]. In this part of the world timetables for public transport are far from ideal, given the fact that these passenger ships through rough seas visit various islands […]

  • Lau kopot’o – Bearer of culture

    April 1, 2014

    In her village Hulaliu on the island of Haruku near Ambon, Augustina Noija-Laisina – called Grandma Au – learned the song Lau Kopot’o. In it, the ancestors are called to send fireflies to light the way in the dark. This also means the call for ‘enlightenment’ in difficult times. […]

  • Dealing with Exorcism

    October 2, 2012

    A rare glimpse into the life of a village community on Ambon, one of the Moluccan islands. Pastor Ina and her husband, Pastor Eddy, are leading a Pentecostal church community in the village of Suli. Almost every day they are confronted with cases of spirit possession […]