
The
Artist
Maite Vanhellemont
Lives and Works in
Amsterdam
The work of Maite Vanhellemont (1990) moves at the intersection of family stories and collective history. In “A Little Memory of The Beginning”, she reflects on her Dutch-Indonesian background using archive material, photography, video, drawings and text. In May 2026 she will present this project in a solo exhibition during Kraków Photo Month (PL). In collaboration with FW:Books (NL), she will present a publication at the end of 2026.
In 2025, she was selected for the FOTODOK Talent Embassy, and in 2024, the project “Zoals mij gewoon is” (As as is common to me) was presented during SPOOR Art Festival (BE), in collaboration with Plan B Arts Platform.
She is also a lecturer at the University of the Arts in Utrecht (NL), a language volunteer for women at Stichting Dynamo in Amsterdam (NL) and is currently enrolled in the part-time master's program “Education in Arts” at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam (NL).
In 2025, she was selected for the FOTODOK Talent Embassy, and in 2024, the project “Zoals mij gewoon is” (As as is common to me) was presented during SPOOR Art Festival (BE), in collaboration with Plan B Arts Platform.
She is also a lecturer at the University of the Arts in Utrecht (NL), a language volunteer for women at Stichting Dynamo in Amsterdam (NL) and is currently enrolled in the part-time master's program “Education in Arts” at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam (NL).
Projects
2026
A Little Memory of The Beginning
The project "A Little Memory of The Beginning” (2022-2026) started with a picture of my grandmother, which was used to apply for Dutch citizenship in Indonesia in 1947. The title refers to a note she wrote on the back: A Little Memory of “The Beginning”.
Firstly, this sentence 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? 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 both oppressed, as well as part of the oppression. He fought against the Japanese occupation in Indonesia (1942-1943) as part of the Dutch army (KNIL) and was held hostage in a camp (1943-1945) where he had to work on the Burma Railway. Afterwards (1946-1947) he had to serve the KNIL again, fighting the Indonesian revolution, during which approximately 100.000 Indonesians have been killed.
In 1951, my grandparents, together with their three eldest children, including my father, left by boat for the Netherlands. They wanted to integrate as quickly and as well as they could. 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, I’m trying to find new rituals to engage with inherited memory and the stories that remain unspoken.
Firstly, this sentence 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? 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 both oppressed, as well as part of the oppression. He fought against the Japanese occupation in Indonesia (1942-1943) as part of the Dutch army (KNIL) and was held hostage in a camp (1943-1945) where he had to work on the Burma Railway. Afterwards (1946-1947) he had to serve the KNIL again, fighting the Indonesian revolution, during which approximately 100.000 Indonesians have been killed.
In 1951, my grandparents, together with their three eldest children, including my father, left by boat for the Netherlands. They wanted to integrate as quickly and as well as they could. 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, I’m trying to find new rituals to engage with inherited memory and the stories that remain unspoken.
Maite Vanhellemont
was nominated by
FOTODOK
in
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Each year every member of the FUTURES European Photography Platform nominates a set of artists and projects to become part of the FUTURES network.
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I’ve always loved photography, even if it sounds like a cliche. The first photos I took, I did without knowing how to do that, without paying any attention to framing, subject or composition. After a while, I began to understand what is happening in the space between me as a photographer and the subject I was photographing. And many years later, I also understood why I love to photograph. To communicate. A message, a concept, an emotion.
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