Context: Hidden Connections

Why do we know so little about what happened on the plantations in the former Dutch East Indies? The horrific history of contract labor on Deli in Sumatra, which forced people to work for the western entrepreneurs, seems to have been covered up. This also means that the stories of resistance, which did indeed exist, were often not recorded but only passed on orally. This deliberate oppression and denial of the plantation workers and their experiences is still palpable. In the multi-year research project Hidden Connections, the Van Abbemuseum unravels its own origins in this colonial past. From March 2, 2024, the museum will present the results in an exhibition, podcast and heritage platform. An art project will follow in the autumn of 2024, involving young makers to create new work that reflects on this research. 

Founder Henri van Abbe

The Van Abbemuseum was named after Henri van Abbe (1880-1940), the founder of the Karel 1 - cigar factories, once the second biggest employer in Eindhoven and the surrounding area. The tobacco for Karel 1 cigars was sourced largely from plantations in the Dutch East Indies. Even though Van Abbe was not based in the Dutch East Indies, the tobacco he bought from Deli, on the island of Sumatra, had a big impact on the region and its inhabitants. In 1933, Van Abbe founded a museum for contemporary art, funded partly with money he had made from tobacco. Besides a building, Van Abbe donated 26 paintings from his personal collection, including works by Isaac Israëls, Carel Willink and Jan Sluijters.

Ongoing research

Over the last 10 years, the Van Abbemuseum has become increasingly aware of its roots in the tobacco industry. The donation of the Van Abbe family archive to the museum in 2018 was the starting point for ongoing research into its past. The initial results have been presented in the museum since autumn 2021. On 2 March 2024, this presentation will be expanded to include new work inspired by this research. Why have events on the plantations in Sumatra been kept hidden? And why don’t we know anything about the different forms of resistance to it? Author and historian Reggie Baay has searched Dutch archives for forgotten stories about this period. At the same time, artists and researchers Ferial Afiff and Dwihandono Ahmad spoke to descendants of contract workers on the plantations in Deli. Isabelle Britto also did research to find out how much Henri van Abbe could have known about the conditions there.

Hidden stories of resistance

Curators Reggie Baay and Bibi de Vries will present the results of the research above in the exhibition Hidden Connections. Archive material, audio and video interviews and illustrations in the exhibition will all focus on the perspective of the plantation workers in Deli and their working and living conditions. Graphic designer Gayle Tjong-Kim-Sang took inspiration for her huge wall drawings from the inventive ways contract workers chose to express their anger, sadness and to warn eachother. Plantation owners were not always aware of resistance, but if contract workers were caught, they were thrown into prison, abused or even murdered. One form of resistance was a story, De Slang van Sumatra (which translates as ‘the snake of Sumatra’). This parable warned workers about a man-eating snake in Deli. After eating its prey, it excreted gold for the Dutch. Another example of resistance is that of improvisation during theater and wajang performances, with which the workers not only criticized Western companies, but sometimes also told satirical stories about the plantation owners.

Addition to the Delinking and Relinking collection presentation

The exhibition Hidden Connections will be located in the basement of the collection building at the Van Abbemuseum. The long-term Delinking and Relinking collection presentation (2021-2026) can currently be seen on the three floors above; it allows visitors to experience art by smelling, hearing, feeling and seeing it. Hidden Connections, as the literal and figurative foundation for the multi-sensory Delinking and Relinking collection presentation, will enlighten visitors on the origins of this long-standing display and offer a new perspective on the circumstances in which it was created. This new chapter will provide a more complete historiography that includes the contemporary significance of the museum’s colonial past.

Collective memory

The Van Abbemuseum places great importance on the permanent preservation and communication of the stories from its Hidden Connections research. They are part of our cultural heritage and must be findable by and accessible to everyone. With this in mind, the museum is working with Erfgoed Brabant, the province’s knowledge and expertise centre, and is integrating its ongoing research into the platform Koloniale Historie Brabant (a platform on Brabant’s colonial history). On 14 May 2024, the museum will also launch a podcast with Reggie Baay and Aldus' producties. In it, Baay will explore why it is we know so little about this colonial past via a search in which he attempts to uncover his own Indonesian family history. In autumn 2024, this will be followed by an art project in which young people are asked to create new work that reflects the research results. The Van Abbemuseum hopes these artistic expressions will ensure the stories endure even after the exhibition ends and become part of collective memory.

Podcast

In the three-part Verborgen Verbanden: een onbekende koloniale erfenis podcast series, listeners follow Baay as he researches his family history; it includes contract labour in Deli’s plantations on the island of Sumatra. The podcast is part of the exhibition Hidden Connections at the Van Abbemuseum.