Zo comfortabel
Earlier this week actor and musician Joenoes Polnaija posted a collage on social media. A set of photographs of exactly 25 Moluccan young people in the prime of their lives. The photographs were taken during the video shoot for the track ‘Zo Comfortabel’, made by a number of leading Moluccan artists. I was there at the shoot myself. With my own eyes I saw how Moluccan young people are taking the baton from the older generation.
A remake after twelve years
‘Zo Comfortabel’ is a remake of the track ‘Comfortabel’, released in 2010. The original comes from the first solo album ‘Goed Ontmoet’ by producer SirOJ (Joris Titawano). Because SirOJ entered into a unique collaboration with two other Moluccan artists – Jiggy Djé (Vincent Patty) and Wudstik (Jermain van der Bogt) – ‘Comfortabel’ grew into a true Moluccan evergreen.
Whether SirOJ expected twelve years ago that a remake of this track would be made in 2022, I doubt. Yet that is what happened, because here I am on a summery Monday morning around the corner from the Leidseplein in the heart of Amsterdam. All the bars and restaurants are closed, except for one club. Small groups of Moluccan young people fill the street and talk exuberantly with each other, right in front of the entrance to that one club.
The video shoot
Once inside it turns out that the video shoot for ‘Zo Comfortabel’ is in full swing. The three artists from 2010 are there, as are Elijaz (Eli Latumahina), Sterre (Sterre Tapilatu), JAEL (Giovanni Jano), JONES (Joenoes Polnaija) and producer Sim Fane (Sam Lawalata), who all contributed to the remake. The set is filled out with Moluccan extras from all over the country. Among them are ‘the 25’ from Joenoes’ collage.
READ ON BELOW THE PHOTOS
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Photos by Raoul Laisina / @XAOUX
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Photos by Raoul Laisina / @XAOUX
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Photos by Raoul Laisina / @XAOUX
Photos by Raoul Laisina / @XAOUX
What strikes me is the interplay between young and old. Jiggy Djé and Wudstik clearly have to get used to the boisterous Moluccan crowd, but after a short while they thaw. There is laughter and photographs are taken. Knowledge is shared and work gets done. What binds the group, besides their Moluccan roots, is above all the positivity they radiate.
“Without then, no now. Without now, no future”
Back to** Joenoes’ collage**. “Without then, no now. Without now, no future,” he writes under his post. Words that also have meaning for my work at Museum Maluku, and in particular around the project with the fourth generation. Using the stories of the past to create fertile ground for the coming generation. And by ‘the past’ I mean not only the period 1950/51, but certainly also the stories from long before, and long after, that time.
For me personally, the video shoot for ‘Zo Comfortabel’ was a fine example of how a collaboration between Moluccans of different backgrounds and ages ought to be. I can imagine that making the track in the studio must have been at least as inspiring. The song can now be found on all streaming services, including Spotify. The video can be seen below and on the Noahs Ark channel on YouTube.
And the collage with ‘the 25’? That eventually became the artwork for ‘Zo Comfortabel’.
Editorial team Miguell Kaidel
