A Little Memory of The Beginning

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project © Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project © Maite Vanhellemont - Working period in Indonesia, 2024, one of the many envelops with archival material, “Photo’s Manado (before the war)”. View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2022 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Topics Archive, Documentary, Photobooks, Social Issues
  • Location Indonesia, Indonesia
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Throughout their lifetime, my grandparents never shared much about our family history, but it has left its mark on my father's upbringing, and therefore also on me. Within this project I reflect on my Dutch-Indonesian background.

This project started with a picture of my grandmother, which was used to apply for Dutch citizenship in Indonesia (former colony of The Netherlands) in 1947. She was twenty one years old at the time. The title refers to a note she wrote on the back of this photo: A Little Memory of “The Beginning”. To me, this sentence has a double meaning. Firstly it refers to her personal experience at the time. It makes me wonder to what extent she was aware of what kind of beginning was starting? She grew up in the former colony speaking both Dutch and Malay, she knew all about Dutch history, she was able to sing the national anthem and could name all the names of the royal family by heart, but she had never been to the Netherlands before. Secondly, the title also has a literal meaning, because there is very little knowledge about this specific period in the life of my grandparents.

Based on what I do know, from family members and collective history, I think you could say that my grandfather was an example of someone who was both oppressed, as well as part of the oppression. From 1942 to 1943 he fought against the Japanse occupation in Indonesia as part of the Dutch army (KNIL) and was held hostage in a camp from 1943 to 1945 where he had to work on the Burma Railway. Afterwards, from 1946 to 1947 he had to serve the KNIL again, this time fighting the Indonesian revolution, during which approximately 100.000 Indonesian independence fighters and civilians have been killed. In 1951, my grandparents, together with their three eldest children, including my father, left by boat for the Netherlands. Once there, they wanted to integrate as quickly and as well as they could, but it turned out to be much more difficult than they expected. Throughout their lifetime, my grandparents never shared much about this period in their lives, but it has left its mark on my father's upbringing, and therefore also on me.

Within this project I reflect on my Dutch-Indonesian heritage. Through archival material, photography, video, drawing and text I try to trace fragmented family histories across time and geography. Through artistic research and embodied practices, like haptotherapy and family constellations, I’m trying to find new rituals to engage with inherited memory and the stories that remain unspoken. This results in a constellation of images that are intimate, partial and searching, which mirror the incomplete nature of diasporic memory and invite reflection on what it means to belong. In collaboration with publisher FW:Books (NL), I will present this project as a publication at the end of 2026.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘New ritual’ in our family garden in Indonesia, in collaboration with my father Frank, my aunt Lydia and uncle Alfrets, 2024. The durian tree depicted in this image is the oldest tree in garden and is referred to in our family as as ‘De boom van Opa John’, my great-grandfather, who planted it over a hundred years ago. (part 1)

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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My grandmother’s passport photo with which she applied for Dutch citizenship in 1947. She was twenty one years old at the time. The title of this project refers to a note she wrote on the back of this photo: A Little Memory of “The Beginning”.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Working period in Indonesia, 2024, one of the many envelops with archival material, “Photo’s Manado (before the war)”.
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Working period in Indonesia, 2024, one of the many envelops with archival material, “Photo’s Manado (before the war)”.

© Maite Vanhellemont - My father in our family garden, Indonesia, 2024
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My father in our family garden, Indonesia, 2024

© Maite Vanhellemont - ‘found footage’ from our family garden, Indonesia, 2024.
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‘found footage’ from our family garden, Indonesia, 2024.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Sketch #2, , in preparation of the making of a portrait of my father.
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Sketch #2, , in preparation of the making of a portrait of my father.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Portrait of my father, Frank Persijn, The Netherlands, 2022.
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Portrait of my father, Frank Persijn, The Netherlands, 2022.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘His first memories are on the boat’, drawings, sketches, filmstills (2023) and archival material (1951). This work is inspired by something my father always says when I ask him about his childhood memories. He always replies that his earliest memories are on “The Cheshire”, the English naval vessel that brought him to the Netherlands in 1951. (part 1)

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
i

‘His first memories are on the boat’, drawings, sketches, filmstills (2023) and archival material (1951). This work is inspired by something my father always says when I ask him about his childhood memories. He always replies that his earliest memories are on “The Cheshire”, the English naval vessel that brought him to the Netherlands in 1951. (part 2)

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘New ritual’ in collaboration with my second cousin Andrea, Indonesia, 2024. The new ritual took place at ‘pantai Lopana’, the beach in the village Lopana where my grandmother was born and a lot of my family members still live. Many childhood memories unfolded on this beach for my grandmother, my niece Andrea, and myself.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘A Little Memory of the Beginning’, drawing (2023) based on archival material (1951). This drawing is based on a family photo most likely taken in Jakarta, not long before my family started their journey to the Netherlands in 1951. F.l.t.r: my aunt Agnes, my grandfather Coen, my father Frank, my grandmother Agnes and two friends of my grandparents.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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Archival material (1951), family photo most likely taken in Jakarta, not long before my family started their journey to the Netherlands in 1951. F.l.t.r: my aunt Agnes, my grandfather Coen, my father Frank (held by my grandmother), my grandmother Agnes and two friends of my grandparents.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘New ritual’, planting of a new durian tree, in collaboration with my father Frank, my aunt Lydia and my uncle Alfrets, selection of film stills, Indonesia, 2024. This work consists of a short video of the ritual. It depicts my father, aunt and uncle planting a new durian tree in our family garden.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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New durian tree, Indonesia, 2024. ‘Result’ of the ‘new ritual’ in collaboration my father Frank, my aunt Lydia and my uncle Alfrets.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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Traces of the ‘new ritual’, in our family garden in Indonesia, in collaboration with my father Frank, my aunt Lydia and uncle Alfrets, 2024 (part 2).

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘Memory sign’ made in collaboration with uncle Alfrets, Indonesia, 2024. This type of sign is commonly made in North Sulawesi (where my family is from) and placed in front of houses to share important family events such as funerals, weddings, graduations, etc. It is usually made of styrofoam and artificial flowers, always in very bold colors.(approximately 130 x 60 cm).

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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Gunung Soputan (Soputan volcano), Indonesia, 2024. This is one of many volcanoes in North Sulawesi, but this one is visible from my grandmother's birthplace. In local culture, volcanoes are often referred to as “silent witnesses” that must be approached with respect. This particular volcano often appears on the background in my family’s archive material.

© Maite Vanhellemont - Image from the A Little Memory of The Beginning photography project
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‘New ritual’ in collaboration with my father Frank, based on something oma Mien, my great-grandmother, always used to say: “If you wash yourself in the Sendoan river, you will return.” This short video depicts me and my father, washing our hands and feet in the river near our family garden.