HOLLANDAISE – A JOURNEY INTO AN ICONIC FABRIC
HOLLANDAISE is the catalogue the exhibition that took place from 10th April to 1st June 2013. Fabrics have played an important role in the decolonization of knowledge; it tell stories, family stories, stories of trade, of work, of creativity, of skills. The background for this project is the long-standing commercial relationship between The Netherlands and the African continent. The titles refers to the colourful printed fabrics that are exported from The Netherlands to Africa, and are generally known in West Africa as “hollandaise” or “Ducth wax”. It was Dutch textile companies who developed mass production and commercial applications for Indonesian Javanese batik in the middle of the 19th century, and found their largest markets at the Atlantic shores of Africa. Today the distinctive wax prints are regarded as typically African: a story of globalization and identity.
With works by: Godfried Donkor, Abdoulaye Konaté, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Willem de Rooij, Billie Zangewa.
Authors: Jelle Bouwhuis, Koyo Kouoh, Senam Okudzeto, Françoise Vergès and Kerstin Winking.