Zoomed in
Afternoon tea at Maduraweg 4, Taroetoeng 1930. That is how I once began a research report on the albums of Machteld Honig in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The photographs in the album showed a life of luxury, but after the last black pages there was a later addition: a photograph of an embroidered sampler from camp Semarang. Samplers of this kind were used to pass on messages with embroidered texts and images, sometimes with satirical humour, about the camp food or about the terrible camp commander. There was no thread, so coloured threads were pulled from the hems of dresses and skirts to embroider the texts. A similar sampler is currently in the display case of the semi-permanent exhibition ONS LAND. And I know that here too, beneath the coloured embroidery threads, lies a story of sorrow, despair, fear and uncertainty. And of survival, hope, love and humour.
The story behind a photograph or object
As a cultural anthropologist specialising in the conservation and management of visual collections, albums and objects like these are an example of how important it is to hold decades of images in your collection: 1 photograph (or 1 object) can already show a context, tell a story and so be shared. With as wide an audience as possible and with future generations.
That single photograph added to an album full of wealth, privilege and happy moments raised so many questions: what happened, when, why, with whom and where? In the hope of finding a story, a context. To explain how the sampler eventually came to be added to the belongings of that beautiful life of luxury. I began doing research in order to fill in that story. And so to give the album a context, as well as to give the loose object, 'sampler from the camp', more meaning and more story.
Since 1 September I have been doing a similar kind of work for the photographic collections of Museum Maluku, in order to gain more overview and insight into all our images. So that in the end, with permission, we can share them with you and with everyone who is interested.
Opening a new album full of photographs is like the beginning of a long journey
This story behind the object and the life story behind a photographic collection is what I love to occupy myself with. But it cannot be done without a good system, without careful collection management. Opening a new album full of photographs is like the beginning of a long journey: first you make sure everything is in order before departure and the most important things are arranged. You make sure the photographic collection is safe, cared for and preserved for a long time (think of climate control, not too much light, acid-free packing material). That the photographs are well described and registered in an online system, so that everyone, now and in future, will always be able to find them again. So that they can eventually become living images, accessible to all, in which someone else can recognise themselves, with which a story can be carried out into the world. Something you can talk about, or fall silent over. Silent together. Insight into the past gives knowledge and connection in the present and for the future. It is a familiar psychological refrain, but in my enjoyable, inspiring world of collection management and conservation it is more important than ever. In this way every collection becomes a treasure chest of stories, within the museum and beyond, worldwide. A source for 'storytelling' in the broadest sense of the word, in which Museum Maluku plays such an important part.
On the 3rd floor of Museum Depot Rotterdam
Afternoon tea at Metaalhof 3, Museum Depot Rotterdam, October 2023. I am standing on the 3rd floor of a building that is somewhere between a haunted castle from the Efteling theme park and an enormous multi-storey car park. Cool, immaculately climate-controlled and pitch dark, all for the conservation of large museum collections. A sort of Night at the Museum. Just keep breathing. Long corridors, steel gates, fluorescent tubes in the aisles (if you can find the switches) and pitch-dark catacombs. Every so often I nearly jump out of my skin as eyes stare at me from behind the gates and out of the wings: you have arrived at the masks, followed by the shields and figures of the Wereldmuseum. I am standing alone in our part of the depot, collecting all the household goods, textiles and military clothing for Head of Collections Huib Akihary over these days, to be added to the new exhibition 'Uitgepakt: Van kist naar kast'. Every box, every object I take off the shelves gets a silent greeting and passes through my hands, with respect. The house where it was once 'at home' is no more, is now a memory, but the object will contribute again to a visible life story. To insight, to overview, to recalling memories and a story to share with you and with anyone who wants to see it.
In this way a ship's chest becomes a treasure chest. First loose objects, but now in a realistic depiction of a living space in a barrack, as it was in the early 1950s. I register the object, keep track of its location and prepare it for departure to Sophiahof in The Hague. In the week after that I assist Huib and pack coins for the offering dish (piring natzar), we unpack the military clothing and household goods, and I take up the hems of some curtains. I adjust object locations in our system and label the objects, subtly so that visitors barely notice. That too is part of my work for now, which gives a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure, but sometimes also moves me and makes me fall silent. I have great admiration for all the hard work of our Head of Collections and of all the staff – volunteers too – who make their own indispensable contribution. My work on the photographic collection has only just begun, but it will hopefully be the basis for many 'new journeys' and unpacked photographic collections. We have a wealth of material, from image and sound to objects and books, to zoom in on. And with which to fill cupboards full of stories in the future. You are always welcome to come along. We keep you posted!
Esther de Graaf Photographic Collections Officer (and temporary assistant curator)
