Batik, Beats & Bumbu | With Q&A
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Thu 11 Jun
Indonesia was a colony of the Netherlands for more than 350 years. After the Second World War, around 350,000 Indo-Dutch people came to their “homeland,” where they quietly tried to build a new life. The first generation sought above all to integrate without drawing attention and is the last generation with firsthand experience of the Dutch East Indies.
The second generation draws on their parents’ tempo doeloe and forms a bridge between the first and subsequent generations, and between the Netherlands and Indonesia.
The third generation is curious about its cultural heritage and the land of its ancestors, exploring what has been passed down and what it means today.
In this film, director Claire Pijman follows a new generation of creators who are shaping a shared cultural past in their own way.
From the fashion studio Guave, where Myrthe Groot and Romee Mulder reinterpret batik in contemporary fashion.
Sekan—DJ, photographer, and founder of the record label Jiwa Jiwa—breathes new life into Indonesian pop music from the 1970s and 1980s. Culinary artist Vanja van der Leeden looks beyond the familiar rijsttafel, while the popular band Nusantara Beat uses music to build bridges between languages, styles, and generations.
In collaboration with artists from Indonesia, a story unfolds about identity, exchange, and the rediscovery of meaning in what has been handed down.
- Direction
- Claire Pijman
- Duration
- 114 min
- RELEASE
- Thu 11 Jun
- Year
- 2026
- Language
- Dutch
Make it a full night out
At Natlab, you don’t just come for the film. You come for the whole evening. Start with good food in our café-restaurant, then head into the screening room, and stick around afterwards for a drink.
Our kitchen works with fresh, seasonal ingredients and a menu that moves with the moment. Lunch, dinner or drinks: join us whenever it suits you.
Come early. Stay late. Make a night of it.