Java

Iswanto Hartono, Mirwan Andan, Hans van Houwelingen.
History ­- Memory – Commemoration / JAVA, 2024 / 69min.
JAVA is the first film in the series, recorded in Jakarta, Depok and Tangerang. What influence do location, politics, religion, education, family, historiography and fashion have on how history is remembered? How is it passed on to future generations? What history is commemorated? Leitmotiv in this film is the controversial memorials to Jan Pieterszoon Coen and Joannes van Heutsz (renamed the Indië-Nederland monument) in the Netherlands, and the absence of their monuments, which were demolished in 1943 and 1953, in Jakarta. After Indonesia gained independence, President Sukarno ordered the demolition of almost all colonial statues and the renaming of streets. Looking forward, the past had to be quickly forgotten. New monuments celebrating Indonesia’s independence were erected. In the Netherlands colonial memorials were preserved and became controversial. What does the presence or absence of these monuments mean? How do people remember and commemorate in the absence of memorials or in the presence of controversial statues?

Aceh

Iswanto Hartono, Mirwan Andan, Hans van Houwelingen.
History ­- Memory – Commemoration / ACEH, 2024 / 65min.
After JAVA’s release in February 2024, the second film within the project History Memory Commemoration, ACEH, was released on September 10 2024 in de Balie in Amsterdam. This film was recorded in Aceh and pictures how history is remembered and commemorated within the specific Aceh culture. The commemoration of Acehnese freedom fighters such as Tjoet Nja Dhien and Teuku Umar is accompanied by the celebration of the victory over the Dutch army, in particular the killing of Dutch general Köhler. The endless colonial wars in Acehnese history and an ever longing desire for independence are still palpable in the fighting spirit of today’s younger generation. The film shows the influences of religion and politics on historiography, education and fashion from a contemporary Acehnese perception.

South Sulawesi

Iswanto Hartono, Mirwan Andan, Hans van Houwelingen.
History ­- Memory – Commemoration / SULAWESI, 2025
SULAWESI is the third work in this project and will be released in the autumn of 2025. This film was recorded in Sulawesi in February 2025. Focusing on a future of independence and freedom few memorials have been erected to commemorate the suffering and misery of the colonial past. This film is recorded in Sulawesi and shows people’s remembrance and need for specific memorials to commemorate the victims of the atrocities of the Dutch captain Raymond Westerling, of the Special Troups of the Dutch military, during the independence war in 1946/47. This work reflect on the numerous large and impressive memorials in Sulawesi to commemorate the victims of Raymond Westerling,  and its echo in the present time.

East Kalimantan

Iswanto Hartono, Mirwan Andan, Hans van Houwelingen.
History – Memory – Commemoration / KALIMANTAN, 2025
KALIMANTAN is the fourth within this project of History, Memory, Commemoration. To this day, the discovery of oil at the end of the 19th century has had a major impact on the memory of the colonial past of the people of Kalimantan. Since the Batavian Petroleum Company (B.P.M.), later Shell, was founded in 1907, the economy and prosperity have continued to be determined by oil production. The large refinery in the midst of Balikpapan not only defines the physical center of the city but also the heart of communal remembrance. The current construction of Indonesia’s climate-neutral new capital, Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), on the east coast of this island, sheds new light on oil production, with major consequences for the original local populations. Their experience tumbles between the certainty of ancient history and an uncertain turbulent future.
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