The project is a collaboration between artists Herlambang Bayu Aji, Ratri Notosudirdjo and Daisy Ranoe, UvA students and art historian Corina Apostol, who teaches the course Curating for Decolonial Inquiry.

During the preparation of the space, the balustrade, table, chairs and reproductions of colonial paintings were removed. According to Apostol, the decision was made not to replace everything: 'We deliberately leave traces of the past to question whether the colonial past can be erased or not. The aim is to challenge and commemorate the colonial history embedded in the space.'

Reproduction

‘Contrary to what many people think, the former VOC Room was only created in 1998,' shares UvA art historian Judith Noorman. 'Everything was reproduced, so no historical elements are being lost.'

The hall was originally intended as a representative space for hosting symposia and graduation ceremonies. At the time, the idea was to give the room extra prestige by referring to a past that people were proud of. 'It is important to realise that the "Golden Age" of 1998 is very different from that of 2025. What we did then, we would not do now. And I honestly expect our view of the seventeenth century will have changed again in another fifty years.'