In this solo exhibition at Museum Sophiahof, Indisch Herinneringscentrum in The Hague, The Netherlands, artist Lisette Ros displays the visualizations of phases one and two, titled ‘(the Act of) Uprooting’ as part of her research into (her) unfamiliar roots.
Video work ‘(the Act of) Uprooting’ in Indonesia (00:13:48 minutes)
Video impression ‘(the Act of) Uprooting’ in The Netherlands (00:04:47 minutes)
Custom-tailored two-piece suit
Handmade, sundried batu bata brick with artists’ pulled out hair
Photo prints of live performance in Indonesia by Angga Baktif
Selection of analogue photos taken in Indonesia by Lisette Ros
2023, 2024
Selection of archive vmaterial and handpicked flowers of Ros’ grandfather
1917 – 1980s
Read more below.
TEXTILE, CLAY AND HAIR
In the ‘Ontdek Meer’ space, Ros’ signature suit – worn in her videos and performance – is on display. Made together with a local tailor in Solo from burlap-like fabric, the suit reflects traditional Javanese attire. The suit is an essential part of the entire work. Lisette carried it and its leftover material with her for months, and now it’s exhibited without her presence.
Also featured is a batu bata brick she handmade in Bandung from Javanese clay soil, sun-dried and embedded with her pulled-out blond dyed hair, a personal element of her performative research method. This action symbolizes her exploration of suffering, endurance, merging Ros’ nature with that of the location, and a way of approaching her unfamiliar roots.
CONTEXT
The ‘My Self’ series is an ongoing research into the self and the identification process. The sixth part is about (Ros’) unfamiliar roots which are located in Java and Ambon – part of the former Dutch East Indies. The active research for My Self, the (Unfamiliar) Roots kicked-off in 2023 in Central- and East-Java, where her grandfather was born in 1916.
Phases one and two are funded on exploring like a child and mapping identity, and took place in Indonesia as well as in The Netherlands as part of researching the identification process on the basis of the (discovered) pathways of her ancestors.
CONCEPT
After passing away many years ago, when Lisette was only eleven, her grandfather is still the catalyst why she wonders about this connection to Indonesia. One of the effects the artist suffers from as a third generation Indo is called ‘Indisch (Ver)zwijgen’: to effectively remain silent about your past life in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, for the rest of your future life elsewhere. Feelings that someone can carry with them for a lifetime and (unconsciously) pass on to future generations. What happened when Ros’ grandfather at the age of ten, in 1926, was snatched away from his familiar surroundings in Java? Has he suffered from the displacement of ideas, habits, traditions, systems, social behavior and his daily life rhythms? How did his identity before and after take shape?
Is all this nevertheless sensed in the (ancestral) memory stored in the (her) body? Can these relationships be revised and possibly (re)built?
From the peephole perspective and peeking from above and below, to digging in the Javanese soil to gather information about the environment and Mother Earth: the artist searches for the invisible beginning.
VIDEO WORK: ‘(the Act of) Uprooting’ in Indonesia
In this video work Lisette Ros yearns to unearth secrets from our (family’s) past in what is now Indonesia, understanding that they are key to her (our) identity, -memory and -sense of belonging.
Ros searches for the essence by thoroughly uprooting. ‘Uprooting’ refers to the process of removing something or someone from its original position, including the roots or foundations; to move from their native or habitual environment, their home-base. It is associated with helplessness, shock, fear, mourning – a feeling of loss of identity and control. Of not belonging.
TBA VIDEO IMPRESSION: ‘(the Act of) Uprooting’ in The Netherlands
On Dutch ground the artist digs further beneath the surface, reaches for Mother Earth and searches for the essence. Ros needs to change her technique, because the sumptuous Mother Earth is generally covered in the (urban) Netherlands; she has to roughly make way for a neatly calculated ‘urban planning’; securely hidden under leveled asphalt, concealed by stable brickwork and the like.
This video impression is an edit featuring recordings of her live performance in Amsterdam and other footage captured during her research at various botanical gardens with tropical greenhouses in The Netherlands, and butterfly gardens, partly referencing Ros’ memories of- and with her grandfather.
© Installation views by Sanne Frich
© Documentation photos by Angga Baktif
© Supported and facilitated by Museum Sophiahof, Indisch Herinneringcentrum
© Supported by Cultuurfonds
© Lisette Ros