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From Batavia to Jakarta in prose, poetry and film

Art Deko(lonisatie) -
Nukila Amal - foto Serge Ligtenberg
Nukila Amal - foto Serge Ligtenberg


The past is what has been, governments cherish hush-hush policies, but history remains alive in the family memory. How do younger generations look at the making of Indonesia? What is left of the aspirations of their parents? Has the decolonization process been completed? Young writer Nukila Amal projected herself in the time and looked at the past through her father's eyes. In addition she gave her own view on history. Roaming the streets past buildings, streets and squares the Jakartan poet Zeffry Alkatiri brought images from past and present to life. In his collection Dari Batavia sampai Jakarta, 1619-1999 he describes the eventful history of the Indonesian capital. His poems were framed by historical and contemporary film and sound material about Batavia and Jakarta. Martin de Vletter of the Dutch Architecture Institute did comment on the images and talked with Zeffry Alkatiri. Joss Wibisono hosted the conversation. Dutch and English spoken.