In the book ROLE MODELS, 70 Moluccan success stories, photographer Ed Leatemia shares in words and images the impressive stories of 70 Moluccans in the Netherlands who have each achieved success in their own way. As a tribute to the first generation of Moluccans in the Netherlands, but above all to inspire and motivate the next generations to get the best out of themselves. On 21 March 2021 it will be exactly 70 years since the first Moluccans arrived in Rotterdam.
For his book, Ed Leatemia travelled around our country for a year and held conversations with a wide range of role models. Whether it's Johnny Manuhutu of Massada or the young dancer Jaïra Luhulima, they all feature in ROLE MODELS.
’’You cannot hope for a better past, but you can build a hopeful future.’’ That is the message that inspired Ed Leatemia himself to give his life, despite the past, a drastic turn and to work towards a bright future. With the book ROLE MODELS, Ed Leatemia wants to pass on that same message to the next generation of Moluccans in the Netherlands and inspire others to – no matter where you come from – build your own happiness and success.
About the exhibition
ROLE MODELS - 70 Moluccan success storiesThis book is my response to what happened to the Moluccan community in the 1970s, after our parents set foot on uncertain Dutch soil in 1951. It is my tribute to the generation that raised the seventy people portrayed. In this way I want to show how Moluccans developed reactive leadership into creative leadership, in a society that hardly seems to grasp the pain endured by the Moluccan people.
TRIBUTE TO THE 1ST GENERATION
In Moluccan circles, feelings were hardly talked about at the time. Moreover, we lacked good role models and success stories to look up to. But powerful journalistic photo reportages in daily and weekly publications such as NRC, Vrij Nederland and Nieuwe Revue appealed strongly to my emotions as a frustrated young Moluccan. Those powerful news photos also tapped into my latent creativity, which led me to buy a Zenit camera for 30 guilders in 1977. My passion for photography would only become visible after a life of drugs had passed.
PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
ROLE MODELS, 70 Moluccan success stories is also an indirect salute to all the Moluccans who do not receive specific attention through this book but actually deserve it just as much. It is immediately the highlight of my career as a photographer, but I feel more grateful than proud, because it wasn't achieved entirely on my own strength. To emerge from that darkness I needed God's grace and strength, because I didn't start from zero, but from minus one hundred.
ROLE MODELS
For years I photographed Moluccan events, but I wanted to initiate a project of my own. In February 2019 I asked in prayer: 'How can I serve my people and be a blessing to them?' In the weeks that followed, the idea grew to portray Moluccan success stories. I wrote a plan based on my youth, which was shaped by the Moluccan hostage-takings, train hijackings and hard-drug addiction of the 1970s. At the age of seventeen, I myself fell prey to heroin, just like many young people.
TRAIN HIJACKING AND HEROIN
In 1997, in De Koepel prison, my coach Kees van Zijtveld told me: 'Ed, you cannot hope for a better past.' I was on my own and begged God for help. After years of failed attempts, I managed to get clean: within a week I was off heroin, after two weeks off cocaine and after a month off methadone, cold turkey and without medication or therapy. Here, in 2003, at minus one hundred, was my turning point towards recovery, which was eventually allowed to lead, among other things, to this book. I no longer had to hope for a better past. I could start building a hopeful future.
ED LEATEMIA
