BINARY+1

i. Project description
short version, max. 150 words

BINARY +1

Coming from a Dutch and Moluccan background has raised questions about cultural identity. To some, I am either one or the other. This example of black-and-white thinking finds itself in the realm of binary structures. It forces to pick one of opposed sides, rather than explore what’s in the middle, or even outside the binary. Opinions are either true or false, left or right, black or white. Space for collective celebration of native ancestry is being limited.

Binary+1 is a visual self-search that questions my responsibility as a maker, as well as an individual being part of a greater whole. While wandering around in a digitalised reality, longing for communication with ancestral spirits of Maluku gets explored through symbolism. The environment merges into a hybrid landscape that is build by intuition, inherited values and invisible gifts. Within this envisioned world of dreams, acceptance is being created by leaving questions open and keeping answers in the middle.

addition to extended version
The Moluccan islands are geographically located in Melanesia. The cultural law of its inhabitants origin from the indigenous people of Maluku, the AlifURU. Keywords related to this research are: inheritance, perseverance and invisibility. The AlifURU are strongly connected to the spirit of their ancestors. This is where I find part of them, back in me.
Expressing roots through the work of an artist doesn’t need an explanation, what is more important is the urge that comes with it. The people, culture and land of Maluku are decreasing as they are under great suppression due to the political climate, human rights violations and genocide, colonisation and climate change.

ii. Research
what does the native belief system of the ALifURU looklike within binary landscapes?
The research will be presented visually by means of a video installation. The viewer is introduced to the desire to express my native ancestry within the Western landscape, as well as the emotions that are hidden within this topic. The motivation to express inherited values from the ancestors comes from questioning my responsibility as a maker and a descendant, hereby the focus is on the subject of perseverance and to live on.