Shared histories since the birth of globalization
In 1667, the Dutch traded Manhattan for the English colony of Rhun, one of Indonesia's nutmeg-rich Banda "Spice" Islands. "Rhunhattan: A Tale of Two Islands" bridges Indigenous communities that continue to be impacted by this history to tell their own stories through participatory workshops, interactive multimedia exhibitions and a publication.
“Rhunhattan: A Tale of Two Islands” is a community-centered project connecting the shared experiences of the Bandanese of Indonesia and the Lunaapeew/Lunaape/Lenape (Indigenous people of Manhattan), whose fates crossed paths when the Dutch traded Manhattan for the English colony of Rhun in the Banda Islands to monopolize the nutmeg trade during the 17th century Spice Wars. This landmark exchange is intertwined with violence, dispossession, forced migrations, and enslavement that fortified the trade networks that continue to shape our present.
Began in 2016, Rhunhattan has focused on amplifying transnational perspectives on the ramifications of colonialism. Rhunhattan has been presented as installations, publications, and olfactory-activated talks at venues such as Honolulu Biennial 2017, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University; Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center, New York; Duke House NYU Institute of Fine Arts, New York; Galerie Nasional Indonesia; and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile.
17th century Manhattan was a backwater trading post compared with the Banda Islands, which were rich in nutmegs that grossly enriched the Dutch traders and was considered the crown jewel of the Dutch colonial empire. The islands were the focal point of a trade route that eventually established the merchants of Venice. In this VR experience, we step beyond the New York-centric perspective and journey to the Banda Islands.
Uncovers stories related to military control, domination, struggle, architecture and borders.
Numerous diamond-shaped Dutch forts built by the Dutch East and West India Companies across the world. In the first chapter, the viewer can focus on a certain area of the 360-degree environment to trigger a “gazing interaction” that would activate Fort Amsterdam and Fort Nassau in order launch the VR experience and 360-degree video content.
Exploring the embedded ideologies of technology, many of the scenes showing forts were filmed with a drone. By using 20th century military-derived technology (drone) to document 17th century military technology (fort), the visual language reinterprets and subverts the ideology belying the drone to narrate decolonizing perspectives.
Production shot of Fort Belgica, Banda Naira. March 2017. Photo by Alexandre Girardeau.
The virtual environment collapses the 10,000 miles between the two islands. A moment in history is brought into the present. The viewers experience simultaneously two structures which overlap in form but are geographically apart - the diamond-shaped Fort Amsterdam (now the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian) in Manhattan and Fort Nassau in Bandaneira, Indonesia.
The pink area is a 1:1 scale rendering of Rhun if it were overlayed over Manhattan. Rhun is roughly seven-times smaller than Manhattan.
360-degree photo of the Collector's Room in the Alexander Hamilton Custom House where the National Museum of American Indian is located within. This is the former site of Fort Amsterdam.
Production shot at Nailaka, Banda Island. April 2017. Photo by Alexandre Girardeau.
A collective of scholars, artists and activists in the US, Indonesia and the Netherlands collaborating to raise awareness on the aftermath of Dutch colonialism. Read our group statement here. See our recent activities here: https://bandaseries2021.wordpress.com/
In 2016-17 New York University, Asian/Pacific/American Institute generously supported the preliminary travel and research to Indonesia as well as the community engagement with Lenape culture bearers via a one-year art residency.