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Greetings from Assen: a message that does get through
Three striking murals are being created in the Moluccan neighbourhood in Assen to mark the district's 60th anniversary. One of them is Becoming Without Permission by artist Daniël-Michel Saptenno. He drew his inspiration from a Moluccan postage stamp that was never used. Read on and discover the story behind this remarkable mural.
A letter that never arrived
"I always work with the Moluccan postage stamp," Daniël-Michel says. "That is my foundation. That stamp is full of symbolism: it was made shortly before the independence struggle of the Republic of the South Moluccas by Henry Stolow, a stamp dealer with a monopoly. But the struggle was lost and the stamp was never allowed to be used. The message literally never arrived. Through my art that message arrives after all."
The initiative for the murals comes from the Moluccan tenants' association PMA (Perumahan Maluku Assen). Together with residents and artists they took stock of what the neighbourhood wanted. Vaart Welzijn, Actium Wonen and the municipality of Assen, united in Mijn Buurt Assen, support and facilitate the process. Besides Daniël-Michel, Suzette Huwae and Djunardo Suripatty are also working on murals. Two earlier works can be admired in the neighbourhood as well, by Dominique Latoel and Nicky Nahafahik.
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Daniël-Michel at work in Assen.
Two birds and a letter
Colourful birds and a butterfly appear on the new mural in Assen, all from the world of the postage stamp. "The Gouldian finch and the Papilio ulysses," Daniël-Michel says. "I put a letter in the claws of one of the birds. That letter is now on its way after all, without anyone having to give permission for it. The work is called Becoming Without Permission. It is about being allowed to exist, without needing anyone else's recognition for it."
The text accompanying the work:
Becoming Without Permission**
They silenced the stamp. But the message waited.**
Then, from Maluku's edge, the Gouldian Finch appeared: a letter with wings, blooming in impossible color.**
It sang without asking. Existed without proof.**
Carried without weight.**
So I knew: I, too may bloom, without permission. I, too am already in flight.
Among the people
The mural adorns a house at the edge of the neighbourhood, a spot where many people pass by every day. Daniël-Michel saw passers-by, both Moluccan and non-Moluccan, stop and look. "It often starts with: beautiful or not beautiful, which is subjective," he says. "But what matters to me is that people stop and wonder: what is this, actually? Then a conversation begins, and that conversation travels further. Someone hears my story, takes it home, shares it with someone else. Between painting sessions I sat under a parasol with Anis, the resident of the house, exchanging stories. The lads came by, the aunties came by, the neighbours came by. People stopped for a moment, asked a question. For me that is a win. With the work I open a conversation in a loving way."
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The final result.
The stamp as a world of its own
For Daniël-Michel the Moluccan postage stamp is an inexhaustible source. "I want to keep building out that world. Perhaps in the form of animation, sculpture, books… I do not know yet. There are so many more stamps: with fish, flowers, birds. Everything I make refers back to that stamp. Beyond that I draw the inspiration for my work mainly from life and how I experience it. I do not feel that I am only Moluccan, but also that I am Dutch. Like the birds on the wall, I am really hovering between two cultures."
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More work by Daniël-Michel in which the stamp recurs.
The mural Becoming Without Permission will be officially unveiled on Monday 18 August 2025 in the Moluccan neighbourhood in Assen. Anyone who wants to follow Daniël-Michel can do so on his Instagram for new works and stories.
